to stop it? All he could do was fervently pray every day to the Celestial Ruler to remedy the problem.
The Celestial Ruler heard Yau’s prayers and agreed that something had to be done. Because he was very busy with other affairs, he referred the matter to his wife. Maybe the Queen of Heaven loved her nine sons too much and was happy to see them all at once in all their glory. Maybe she just felt that they needed to have a good time. At any rate, she upbraided them, but not very forcefully. The nine suns therefore paid her no heed and continued to wreak havoc in the sky and upon the earth.
After some time had elapsed, the Celestial Ruler noticed that he was still hearing Yau’s prayers. If anything, Yau’s prayers were even more urgent, for with the rebellion of the suns, all manner of hideous monsters and beasts were running wild on earth, for they saw that the natural order had been overturned. After looking into the matter, the Celestial Ruler realized that his sons were still running amok. He decided to rely on his friend, the famous archer god Ho Yi, to discipline them.
Once he received the Celestial Ruler’s request, Ho Yi brought his beautiful wife, Tsang-O, down from the sky, and they went to meet with Yau. When Yau heard that the Celestial Ruler had sent them, he was very happy. He took Ho Yi everywhere to see the extreme suffering of the people. Ho Yi saw nine suns hanging in the sky at once, and the weather was hot, unbearably hot. The rivers were dry, and nothing grew in the fields. Many people, cattle, and horses lay fallen in the streets, dead or near death.
When Ho Yi saw all this, he said to the nine suns, “Even though you are the sons of the Celestial Ruler, you shouldn’t be running amok. You are setting a bad example, and chaos is breaking out everywhere. Can’t you see that people are starving and thirsting to death? Why are you doing this?”
The nine suns ignored him, as if to say, “We are the sons of the Celestial Ruler. Who are you, anyway? You can’t control us. We do as we please.”
Ho Yi grew so angry that his face turned red. The nine suns surely were being unreasonable! Ho Yi debated what to do. He ignored the decree of the Celestial Ruler. He ignored everything in his anger. From his quiver, he withdrew an arrow, fitted it to his bow, and with his right hand slowly drew his bowstring back. He aimed at one sun and released the arrow.
Very rapidly, the arrow flew straight into one of the suns. Suddenly, a giant ball of fire fell from the sky. Golden feathers scattered everywhere. When the people ran to see, they saw a huge, golden phoenix on the ground. The phoenix had three legs. This is what the sun had turned into. When the other suns saw what a mighty archer Ho Yi was, they fled in all directions, but it was already too late.
Ho Yi had shot down one sun, but his anger was still not assuaged. He had brought nine arrows in his quiver, and he started to shoot down all nine suns with lightning speed. When the Queen of Heaven saw that her sons were being killed, she began to wail and tear her hair with grief. Strands of her hair fell down from the sky. Each strand was miles long and finer than the thinnest silk thread but as strong as steel. When each strand was coiled up, the entire coil was no larger than the palm of a man’s hand.
Yau, who was standing behind Ho Yi, thought, “What will happen if Ho Yi shoots down all the suns? The earth will turn cold and black. How will my people survive?”
He implored the archer god not to shoot down all of the suns, but Ho Yi was too angry to listen to reason. Yau had no recourse but to steal one arrow from Ho Yi’s quiver, so Ho Yi shot down only eight of the suns, using up all of the arrows he had left.
Only one sun was left in the sky, and the temperature quickly cooled down. Black clouds appeared in the sky. Even though Ho Yi’s quiver was empty, the last sun did not know that, and he fled into a black cloud, not daring to emerge.
The clouds grew thicker and thicker, and rain began to fall. When the people saw that it had begun to rain, they rejoiced. Some yelled, some laughed, some sang, and others started to till the fields. Suddenly, the rain increased. The people hailed the archer god with the traditional Chinese chant, “Long live Ho Yi! May he live 10,000 years!”
You could hear their cries everywhere. Ho Yi was their hero. As a reward, Yau gave Ho Yi a strand of hair from the Celestial Ruler’s wife and a golden feather from one of the phoenixes that had fallen from the sky.
But the people could not rest. Poisonous snakes and dreadful beasts still roamed the earth. In the sky flew man-eating birds. Yau begged Ho Yi to eliminate all these fearsome creatures. Altogether, Ho Yi slew many different kinds of monsters of very strange appearance. One looked like a giant ox, with a red body, a human face, and the legs of a horse. With a cry that resembled the wail of a human baby, it would lure its next meal. Ho Yi slew another monster that had the body of a man but the head of a beast. Its teeth were especially long. The ancient books say they were five or six feet long. Despite the fierceness of these creatures, they were no match for Ho Yi’s prowess in archery, and he eliminated them all.
THE CELESTIAL RULER’S DECISION
Ho Yi thought that his work in the human realm was done. He thought he would return to the sky with his wife and resume his life as a celestial spirit. He said to himself, “I have done so many good deeds on earth, the Celestial Ruler should be very pleased with me. I killed eight of his sons, but it wasn’t my fault. It was theirs for not heeding me. In all fairness, surely the Celestial Ruler will understand.”
Ho Yi was wrong. The Celestial Ruler was very angry with Ho Yi and immediately banished him and his wife, Tsang-O, to the human realm. They could not return to the sky.
“But it isn’t fair!” cried Ho Yi. “I did no wrong, why can’t we return?” Behind him, Tsang-O was crying, and Ho Yi suffered greatly. “I have done her harm!” he said to himself. He and Tsang-O were now mere mortals.
Ho Yi’s wife Tsang-O, though beautiful, was a very stubborn woman. When she made up her mind to do something, she would heed no advice or reason. Nonetheless, Ho Yi loved her to distraction. In heaven, they had a very happy marriage, but after being banished to the human realm, Ho Yi was very busy and had no time to spend with Tsang-O. She was very lonely.
She told her husband, “The human realm is unbearably dull compared to the realm of the Celestial Ruler.”
“Don’t worry, Tsang-O. Wait until I finish my business on earth, then we will try to return to the sky,” he would reply to her complaints.
Day after day passed, and Ho Yi’s business seemed interminable. As soon as he had finished one thing, a new matter would arise. He really didn’t mind the work. Every time he heard the people cry, “Long live Ho Yi! May he live 10,000 years!” he felt a deep fulfillment. In the Celestial Realm, he had never been so celebrated.
“Why are you still working? Tell me truly, when can we go back?” Tsang-O asked her husband almost every day.
“I’m almost done. Don’t worry. See how full of suffering these human lives are? How can we leave them this way?” he would reply.
Finally, Ho Yi finished his earthly business. Everything was restored to normal after the recent catastrophic events. Ho Yi was very satisfied with his work. Tsang-O thought that now they could return immediately to the Celestial Realm, and she was happy.
But the Celestial Ruler still refused to let them return. At first, both Ho Yi and Tsang-O suffered greatly. Ho Yi felt that the Celestial Ruler was being unfair. After a time, however, Ho
