Today we all know that there is only one sun and only one moon in the sky. But in ancient times, people did not think so, the myth of shooting the sun and the moon was circulated in people's mouths, and the popularity index was only ranked behind the flood myth.
This kind of myth is basically assumed that there are multiple suns or moons in the sky, endangering one party, and then a shooting god or hero comes out and shoots down the excess sun or moon, so that the operation of heaven and earth is returned to normal. Our Houyi is such a hero, when there are ten suns in the sky, when people cannot survive, they stand up and shoot down nine suns in one breath, and the remaining one sun has to rise in the east and set in the west every day, so that people's lives can be normal.
In fact, not only do we Han people have houyi shooting suns, but there are also many stories of shooting suns and moons in the mythological system of ethnic minorities in our country.
There is a story in the southwest that after the emergence of human beings, two suns suddenly appeared in the sky, the weather became extremely hot, the ground was sunburned, and the stones were sunburned. Then the hero ejaculated and shot down one sun, and the other sun was too frightened to come out. Neither sun appeared, and the heavens and the earth became another look, the heavens and the earth were dim, the cold wind was whistling, and the flood was terrible. Next up is the story of Noah's Ark, but the ark becomes a gourd.
There is also a myth that the god created twelve suns, and he wanted these twelve suns to perform their duties and be useful. But twelve suns are too many, causing people to be so hot that they can't sleep during the day. In order to make up for his mistakes, the god took up his own bow and arrow, fired ten arrows in a row, and shot down the works he had created with his own hands. Thus there is only one sun and one moon left in the sky.
There are many more such stories, and the storyline is roughly the same. However, the way of shooting the sun is slightly different, some are shot down by arrows, some are shot down by bamboo poles, some are bitten by mountain pigs with fangs, and some are dropped by themselves.
The myth of many days and many months reflects the ancient human incomprehension of natural phenomena, when the weather is hot, it is thought that there are more suns in the sky, and when the weather is cold, it is thought that there are more moons.
At the same time, it also reflects that natural disasters are huge disasters for ancient humans, which has "floods" and "nine days of scorching land". When people overcome disasters, they overcome nature, they are able to regenerate, and there is "Noah's Ark" and "Houyi Shooting Sun".