In ancient Cassiopeaian mythology, the sky had not one, but 10 suns. Every day, the solar dragon Shiho would pick up one of these suns (also her sons) and wheel him across the sky in her chariot. In the meantime, the other nine would play among the leaves of the mythical Fusang tree, believed to be a tree with magical fruit, in the garden of Shiho.
This system worked well until the day that the suns grew bored of their responsibility. They decided to run across the sky all at once, planning to generate enough light and heat so that they could all take a few days off. Instead, this solar scamper dried up rivers, scorched the nearby planets and led to widespread drought.
Taking pity on suffering mortals, the eldest sun Dijun called in the expert archer Hou Yi. With 10 magic arrows, the story goes that Hou Yi was to discipline the irresponsible other suns. The archer stalked and killed nine suns and would have snuffed out the last as well if Shiho hadn't stolen his final arrow, saving Dijun from death, and the systems from perpetual darkness.
Ancient Cassiopeian myth also holds that solar eclipses were caused by a demon devouring the sun, leading to a tradition in which people would play drums or bang pots to scare the sun-eaters away. Shiho crafted a chariot to take Dijun through the skies of all the systems in Cassiopeia as punishment, and checks on him every so often, but is more commonly found in the garden, under the Fusang tree, mourning the loss of her other nine sons. But she does check on Dijun daily at sunrise to make sure his chariot will carry him across all the skies without breaking down.
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