The Decameron

Among China's cultural relics forbidden from leaving the country was a bronze money tree.

On the money tree were nine sun god birds. The branches of this bronze sacred tree looked very similar to the branches of the sacred Fusang tree in the Han dynasty T-shaped silk painting from Mawangdui.

Legend had it that there had once been ten suns in the sky, and a great tree called Fusang stood in the sea. The ten suns slept beneath its branches, taking turns coming out to serve in the sky and shine upon the earth. Whenever one sun was on duty, the other nine sun god birds rested on the branches. The nine sun god birds on the money tree, together with the sun in the sky, made up the ten suns.

The thing connecting heaven and earth was this sacred tree. The immortals in heaven and mortals on earth communicated through Jianmu, the tree that reached the heavens, which served as a bridge. But sometimes the sun god birds came out all at once and brought disaster upon mankind. To save humanity, Hou Yi drew his bow, nocked his arrows, and shot at the nine suns. Exploding fireballs appeared in the sky, and Three-Legged Crows fell from above. In the end, only one sun remained in the heavens.

When there had been other sacred birds before, they could take turns resting. But with only one sun left, it had to remain on duty every day. Even a hardworking horse could be worked to death, and sometimes the sun god bird became too exhausted to endure it and needed rest. Once it rested, the earth began to grow cold, and people suffered another kind of disaster. At such times, they hoped the sun would rise again.

In Maya culture, the sun