The Tree of Ten Suns
The Fusang Tree (扶桑, Fúsāng) is one of the most dramatic images in Chinese mythology — a colossal tree growing in the eastern sea where ten suns take turns crossing the sky.
The Myth
According to the Shanhai Jing and related texts:
- Ten suns (each carried by a golden crow) live in the Fusang Tree
- Each day, one sun rises from the tree, crosses the sky, and descends in the west
- The suns bathe in a pool at the base of the tree each morning
- One day, all ten suns rose simultaneously, scorching the earth
- The hero Hou Yi (后羿) shot down nine suns with his bow, saving the world
The Tree's Description
The Fusang Tree is described as:
- Growing in the Tang Valley (汤谷) in the far east
- Immensely tall — its branches reach into the sky
- Rooted in the ocean
- Its trunk is so large that multiple people cannot encircle it
- Luminous, glowing with the residual heat of the suns
Cosmic Tree Comparison
| World Tree | Culture | Function | |---|---|---| | Fusang | Chinese | Houses the suns, eastern axis | | Yggdrasil | Norse | Connects nine worlds | | Tree of Life | Various | Source of life and knowledge | | Jianmu (建木) | Chinese | Central world tree, ladder to heaven |
Note: Chinese mythology actually has multiple cosmic trees — Fusang in the east, Ruomu (若木) in the west (where the suns set), and Jianmu (建木) in the center (connecting heaven and earth).
The Hou Yi Story
The Fusang Tree is central to one of China's most beloved myths:
- All ten suns rise together, causing catastrophic heat
- Crops wither, rivers dry up, people suffer
- The archer Hou Yi shoots down nine suns
- One sun remains, establishing the current cosmic order
- Hou Yi's wife Chang'e later steals the elixir of immortality and flies to the moon
This myth connects the Fusang Tree to the origin of the current world order — it's the setting for the moment when primordial chaos was tamed into the familiar cycle of day and night.
Modern Interpretations
Fusang has found new life in:
- "Fusang" as a name for Japan: Ancient Chinese texts used Fusang to refer to a land in the far east, which was later identified with Japan
- Fantasy fiction: The concept of a sun-tree appears in Chinese web novels
- Art: Modern artists reimagine the Fusang Tree as a stunning visual set-piece
- Astronomy education: The ten-sun myth is used to teach about solar phenomena in Chinese culture
The Fusang Tree stands as one of mythology's grandest images — a tree so vast it holds the suns themselves, rooted in the ocean at the edge of the world, marking the boundary between the known and the infinite.