Page 311 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 304
Raven

wu ya

On the oldest stone reliefs that have come down to us the raven is already depicted as the
creature of the sun, together with its counterpart, the moon hare. As the sun is
associated with fire and the moon with water, we should expect to find a fire-
bird in the sun, but this cannot be substantiated from the texts.
Legend has it that there were once ten sun-ravens which generated so much heat that
mankind was likely to perish – but then the archer Hou Yi shot nine of the searing suns
down. So now there is only one raven in the sun – but it has three legs.

The archer Hou Yi, shooting down the nine suns.
These are symbolised by the ravens lying on the ground

A red raven was the symbolic creature of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050–256 BC),
because the Zhou identified themselves with the sun. A three-legged raven was
the messenger of the goddess Xi-wang-mu, and these ravens brought her food. The
legend also tells how the celestials engaged in tournaments and competitions: the suns