shrinemaidens:EAST ASIAN MYTHOLOGY MEME:[3/6] LEGENDARY CREATURES | SANZUWUThe three-legged crow is

shrinemaidens:EAST ASIAN MYTHOLOGY MEME:[3/6] LEGENDARY CREATURES | SANZUWUThe three-legged crow is a creature found in various mythologies of Asia, Asia Minor and North Africa. It is believed by many cultures to inhabit and represent the sun. In Chinese mythology and culture, the three-legged crow is called the Sanzuwu (三足烏).The most popular depiction and myth of a Sanzuwu is that of a sun crow called the Jīnwū, or “golden crow”. According to folklore, there were originally ten sun crows which settled in 10 separate suns. They perched on a red mulberry tree called the Fusang, literally meaning the Leaning Mulberry Tree, in the East at the foot of the Valley of the Sun. This mulberry tree was said to have many mouths opening from its branches. Each day one of the sun crows would travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the ‘mother’ of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in its journey crossing the sky. According to Shanhaijing, the sun crows loved eating two sorts of mythical grasses of immortality, one called the Diri, or “ground sun”, and the other the Chunsheng, or “spring grow”. The sun crows would often descend from heaven on to the earth and feast on these grasses, but Xihe did not like this thus she covered their eyes to prevent them from doing so. Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Houyi, the celestial archer, saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun crows. -- source link

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