Which archer shot down nine of the ten suns?

The archer who shot down nine of the ten suns was Hou Yi. In a famous Chinese myth, ten suns appeared in the sky at once, scorching the Earth and threatening humans, animals, and crops.

Hou Yi was a celebrated archer who was sent to save the world. He shot nine suns from the sky and left one shining, restoring a livable balance between heat and light. The story explains why only one Sun crosses the sky each day while also presenting Hou Yi as a heroic culture figure.

The myth is closely connected with the story of Chang'e. After his feat, Hou Yi received two portions of an elixir said to grant immortality. He did not want to become immortal without Chang'e, so he kept the potion rather than drinking it. Later versions of the legend connect Chang'e’s ascent to the Moon with that elixir.

A common mix-up is confusing Hou Yi with figures such as Sun Wukong, Erlang Shen, or Nezha. Those characters belong to other famous Chinese stories; the ten-suns episode specifically belongs to Yi, often called Hou Yi in popular retellings.