Xihe

Mother of the Suns

Goddess who bore the ten suns and drove the sun chariot, also the name of an ancient calendar office.

Xihe has two faces in Chinese tradition: goddess and office. As the wife of the high god Dijun she bore the ten suns and bathed them at the eastern pool; as a figure in poetry she drives the sun’s chariot across the sky. The same name belonged to the calendar officers of the Yao court who observed the sun and fixed the year — myth and astronomy sharing a single title.