Macau Dog Names

As with most creatures from World Myth, the Tiangou was deified in order to explain a natural occurrence in our world. For the ancient Chinese, this occurrence was the apparent disappearance of the Sun during a total Solar Eclipse. In their minds, the Sun had been devoured by a celestial hound who would then spit it back out after an elapsed period of time. Shrines and temples were erected in Tiangou's honor. Even to this day, one can find images of a cloud riding hound in all forms of Chinese art and in various forms of Chinese media. If we were to compare the Tiangou to any other creatures from World Mythology, we'd compare it to Cerberus from Greek Lore; both dogs have some terrifying aspects to their character but neither is inherently evil per se. In fact, Tiangou has done just as much to inspire reverence as he has done to inspire fear.

If nothing else, Tiangou represents the concept of "repentance" to its fullest extent; Tiangou is a dog who has a very complicated relationship with his former master. Once upon a time, the creature was prone to act as if it didn't belong to a pack and wasn't really designated to do as it was told. Tiangou acted on its own code and lived for its own sake. This actually pit Tiangou against the famous mythical archer Hou Yi; Hou Yi attempted to tame the creature and take him up as his personal pet. Tiangou didn't really get with the program and distance was created between the two. All of that changed after Hou Yi performed his most famous feat - shooting down the Suns.

That wasn't a typo by the way; legend has it that 10 Suns used to dot the skies of ancient China. Hou Yi took it upon himself to shoot down 9 of them. He was rewarded by the powers that be with a pill that would allegedly make him immortal. Hou Yi's Wife Chang'e took the pill for herself in a bed to stay forever young. Chang'e did in fact become immortal, but she also became as weightless as a cloud and drifted off into the sky! Tiangou licked up what remained of the pill, grew to a massive size, and chased after her. Whenever a Solar Eclipse occurs, it's believed that Tiangou is attempting to retrieve Chang'e by swallowing the Sun and Moon whole, then spitting them back down to Earth. So far, Tiangou has yet to succeed, but imagine the devastation that would be caused if he ever did...