According to Chinese mythology, there were originally ten sun crows which settled in ten separate suns. Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to 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. One day all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; the celestial archer Houyi saved the day by shooting down all but one of the birds.