Yi 羿, also called Hou Yi 后羿 "Lord Yi" or Yi Yi 夷羿, was a mythical person of ancient China. He is known for his famous rescue of the world that was threatened to be burnt by the rise of ten suns. He shot down nine of the suns and so secured the survival of mankind and the earth. This is said to have happened during the reign of Emperor Yao 堯. The nine suns, when falling down from the sky, tansformed into nine islands in the sea. As a formidable archer, he also killed all harmful animals to help mankind. The book Huainanzi 淮南子 describes the fierce animals that threatened humans in all parts of the empire. In the southern swamps, there was an animal with a large mouth called Zaochi 鑿齒. In the north, nine gigantic children spat water to extinguish the direly needed hearth fires. In the east, a terrible windstorm blew down the huts of the people. There was also a large snake in Lake Dongting 洞庭湖, and an animals called Xieyu 猰{犭+俞} devouring the people in the Central Plain, and another animal called Fengxi 封狶 ate its cattle. All these montrous creatures were killed by Yi. A third story of Lord Yi goes that he shot out the left eye of the Lord of the Yellow River 河伯 as a punishment for the turbulent waters that had killed a lot of people. Because Yi was a god that had come down to earth for the sake of mankind, he had to ascend to Heaven once more, which was not possible. At least, he was provided a medicine of immortality by the Queen Mother of the West 西王母. Later on, Chang E 嫦娥, the goddess of the Moon, invited him to ascend to the Moon instead. His nephew Feng Meng 逢蒙 is said to have killed Lord Yi. There is also another story that Yi was the head of the Qiong people 有窮氏 during the Xia period 夏 (17th-15th cent. BCE). For his efforts in shooting down the suns (?) he had been enfeoffed as Lord of Yuju 于鉏 (modern Puyang 濮陽, Henan) and was allowed to become regent for King Tai Kang 太康. He moved his residence from Ju to Qiongshi 窮石 (modern Mengxian 孟縣 or Gongxian 鞏縣, Henan) so that he was closer to the capital Zhenxun 斟{尋+阝} (modern Gongxian, Henan). He deposed King Tai Kang and enthroned Zhong Kang 仲康, later Xiang 相. As a regent he neglected his duties and engaged in hunting pleasures rather than in a benevolent style of government. Lord Yi entrusted regency to Han Zhuo 寒浞, by whom he was soon killed. Sources: Li Jianping 李劍平 (ed. 1998). Zhongguo shenhua renwu cidian 中國神話人物辭典, p. 496. Xi'an: Shaanxi renmin chubanshe. Xiong Tieji 熊鐵基, Yang Youli 楊有禮 (ed. 1994). Zhongguo diwang zaixiang cidian 中國帝王宰相辭典, p. 11. Wuhan: Hubei jiaoyu chubanshe. Zhongguo baike da cidian bainweihui 中國百科大辭典編委會 (ed. 1999). Zhongguo baike da cidian 中國百科大辭典, p. 551. Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe.