The sun brings people light and hope. In the early days of human society, many nationalities in the world had myths about the sun. In the early myth of the sun god, the sun was closely related to birds.

1. The Sun and Hibiscus In Greek mythology, Apollo, the sun god, came to the earth as a crow. In ancient Egypt, the eagle was the incarnation of the sun god, but in the concept of North American Indians, birds (representing the sun) and snakes (representing the earth) were combined to give birth to Indians. The Maya, who respected the sun god the most, also believed that crows were the embodiment of the sun god.

Golden crow

In China, there are many myths and legends about the close relationship between the sun and birds, the most famous of which is the myth that Houyi shoots the sun. "Huainanzi" records: "Ten days after Yao came out, the grass was burnt. On the tenth day, Yao's life was wiped out. On the ninth day, the Japanese, China and Ukrainians all died. They all lost their wings and left for one day. " The image of the sun is the sun. When the sun is shot, the sun will die. Huai Nan Zi was written in the Han Dynasty, but the view that the sun is the sun appeared as early as the pre-Qin period. The Shan Hai Jing in the pre-Qin period recorded: "There is a tree in the Tang Valley, which is in Wu every day." Another important message here is that the habitat of the sun is the hibiscus tree.

In the ancient sun myth, this magical tree, Fusang, is always mentioned. Sun, the incarnation of Sun, lives in a place called Sui Valley in the East China Sea. There is a hibiscus tree here, which is 300 miles high. The sun lives in this tree.

Sanxingdui bronze sacred tree

There are other names for Fusang in pre-Qin literature, such as "Ruomu" in Shan Hai Jing and Zhuangzi. In the real world, it is impossible for mulberry trees to grow in seawater, so how did the legend of hibiscus come from? According to scholars' research, in the earliest language, "Fusang" represents a cloud between the sea and the sky, which is rendered by the brilliance of the sun. Because it looks like a tree, the ancients imagined it as a sacred tree. From generation to generation, people increasingly believe that there are hibiscus trees in the sea and the sun lives here. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, Fusang gradually developed into an oriental place name, and even in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fusang became synonymous with Japan.

The hibiscus tree in film and television dramas

Second, the historical connotation of Houyi shooting the sun is one of the most famous myths in China. Who is Hou Yi? Is the story of his shooting at the sun just a legend? In ancient history, Houyi was a Dongyi nationality in the East, not the same as Huaxia nationality in the Central Plains. Hou Yi once occupied the Central Plains. Around the time of Taikang in the Xia Dynasty, Taikang had no road and the people were poor. The Lord of the poor family easily led his troops to drive Taikang away, but he thought he was good at shooting and no one could beat him, so he was arrogant and extravagant, and the throne was quickly taken back by Xia people.

Hou Yi

The shooting of the sun by Houyi actually symbolizes a calendar reform in ancient times. In ancient times, although there were no 10 suns in the sky, there was a timing system of 10 months, that is, there were 10 months in a year, 365 days in a year, allocated to 36 days in each month, and the remaining 5 days were leap. Under the influence of this concept, people believe that the reason why Xia Dong changes greatly in a year is that there are 10 suns in the sky in charge of 10 months respectively. But as we all know, after many cycles, the world corresponding to the month will change greatly, causing the weather to be hot and cold, and the corresponding seasons do not match.

Hou Yi entered the Central Plains, replacing the status of the royal family in Xia Dynasty, and "went to Xia government because of Xia people". The calendar used by the Dongyi people is different from that used by the Chinese people mentioned above. They use a lunar calendar that is roughly equivalent to our lunar calendar today. In the mythical structure, it became that Hou Yi shot nine suns, leaving only one sun on duty every day.

Descendants shoot the sun

But this explanation is far-fetched and cannot convince everyone. Therefore, some scholars pointed out that Hou Yi shot off for nine days because there were nine uprising tribes at that time, and Hou Yi conquered nine tribes and restored peace in the world. No matter what the real history is, what is reflected behind the myth of Houyi shooting at the sun should be the revolutionary deeds made by Houyi at that time.

Third, ancient sun worship Although there is a legend that Hou Yi shot at the sun, China still worshipped the sun god in ancient times. All the emperors in China offered sacrifices to the sun, which is called "Mid-spring offering sacrifices to the sun and Mid-autumn offering sacrifices to the moon".

The ancients in China believed that Fuxi and Nu Wa were the ancestors of human beings, while Fuxi's word "xi" was regarded by scholars as referring to the sun. From Fuxi to Tai Hao, to Levin, to the Yellow Emperor, it can be said that the name of the sun god has changed. In the silk paintings unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb in Han Dynasty, Fuxi is the sun god and Nuwa is the moon god.

Mawangdui silk painting

China's early belief in the sun god was also recorded in the Songs of the South. The sun god in Chu mythology is Dong Jun. The first four sentences of the article "Dong Jun" write: "I want to go to the East and shine on my threshold. Fujia' an is bright at night. " Chu God is personified. Compared with the sun god in the Central Plains, the sun god is the sun, and Dong Jun is a handsome guy driving a car with six dragons. Dong Jun starts from the east every day, and then goes west along the established track. Dong Jun describes the grand occasion of Chu's offering sacrifices to the sun god. After a grand song and dance activity, Dong Jun appeared slowly in a peaceful atmosphere, and the scene was very beautiful.

Fu Baoshi's Nine Songs Atlas Dong Jun

Fourthly, the legends of the sun of all ethnic groups in southern China are more abundant. Many ethnic groups in the south have myths or epics about shooting at the sun, especially the Miao nationality.

In Miao mythology, Tianwang and Wang Di dug up nine suns and nine moons, and all the crops withered. The hero "tree" was shot down on the eighth day of August, and then hid in January for the rest of the day. The hero asked the rooster to call it out. Other myths have similar plots.

Miao ethnic group

There is also a myth of "burying the sun" in Yi mythology. Seven suns appeared in the sky, almost killing people. A hero named Allah took off six suns from his back and buried them in the soil.

The sun god in Naxi area is even more bizarre. The sandman released nine suns to work with Taiyang Yuan. There is a beautiful young girl in the local stockade. In order to save the villagers, she took the initiative to go to the Dragon Palace for help. After she crossed the mountains and reached the seaside, she attracted the three princes of the Dragon Palace with her wonderful singing. The two hit it off, and the Dragon King was very satisfied, so he ordered Prince dragon three to accompany her home for emergency. It's a pity that Prince dragon three also lost to the drought demon. At this time, a great god passed by and saw the terrible situation, so he ordered a snow dragon to help him. After defeating the drought demon, the Great God ordered Long Xue to swallow seven suns, and let Long Xue carry the eighth sun on his back, let it cool down and put it in the night sky as the moon.

Naxi language

According to the legend of Dulong, there are two suns in the sky. A hero shot the sun blind and had to come out as the moon at night. The mother sun hid, and the hunter asked the rooster to call her out every day. After the hunter died, the soul went to the sun and became a black spot on the moon that we could see. This myth of "shooting the sun into the moon" also exists in Gaoshan nationality. The moon comes from the sun, which actually reflects a simple idea that the light of the moon comes from the sun. This is indeed a scientific fact.

Delong

There are also legends of shooting at the sun in the sun myths of northern nationalities such as Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan, and there are stories of heroes shooting at the sun.

Looking around the world, India and the United States also have many sun myths. All nationalities in the world happen to have the myth of the sun. What is the explanation for this phenomenon? It should be that human beings experienced a drought in the early days, but our ancestors could not explain this phenomenon, so they all conceived myths and legends about the sun. Just like the legend that all nationalities in the world have floods. China has Dayu to control water, and the west has Noah's Ark. Perhaps mankind experienced a period of flooding in the early days.

The myth of the great flood

Wen Shijun said that sun worship is the main belief of many nationalities in the world. In the myth of the sun god of various nationalities, there are many beliefs that the sun is a witch god. In ancient times, the ancestors' cognitive ability was limited, and their knowledge of the world mainly came from observation, so they thought that the sun could fly like birds, and the sun was the most powerful bird-the sun. Tracing back to the source, the merchants all said that "the mysterious bird was born in heaven", and the mysterious bird was the sun, so it can be seen that the Shang Dynasty also worshipped the sun god extremely. There are myths about the sun in the beliefs of many nationalities in the world, which shows that people's explanations of incomprehensible natural phenomena in the early days of human society have certain similarities.

Refer to Xiao Bing: Songs of the South and Myths, Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985.

He Xin: The Origin of the Gods-Worship of the Sun God in Ancient China, Guangming Daily Press, 1996.

Du Jinwei: Research on Ancient Sun Myth, Master's Degree Thesis of Chongqing University, 20 14.

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