What is the golden crow?
The kin’u (golden crow) is a crow said in ancient Chinese mythology to live in the sun. Shining gold and said to have three legs, it is also called the “three-legged crow” (sanzuwu). A symbol of the sun itself, it has been depicted as a crow within the sun in ancient tomb murals and ornaments.
Ten suns and the master archer
In Chinese mythology, there were once ten suns in the sky, each with a crow living in it, taking turns crossing the sky. But one day all ten suns rose at once, scorching the earth and making the people suffer. The master archer Yi then shot down nine of the suns, leaving only one, it is said.
Golden crow, jade rabbit, and the Yatagarasu
While the golden crow lives in the sun, a rabbit was said to live in the moon, called the moon rabbit (Jade Rabbit). “Kin’u gyokuto” (golden crow, jade rabbit) means the sun and the moon, and by extension “the passing years.” The three-legged crow of Japanese mythology, the Yatagarasu, is also thought to be connected with the golden crow.
