Xiwangmu

or Hsi Wang-Mu

In ancient Chinese Daoist mythology, the queen of the female immortals.

A former mountain spirit who had been transformed into a beautiful woman, she ruled a paradise called West Flower, while her husband, Mu Gong, guarded males in his East Flower paradise. Her garden contained rare flowers and the peach of immortality, which blooms once in 3,000 years.

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▪ Chinese mythology

Chinese“Queen Mother of the West”Wade-Giles romanization  Hsi Wang Mu 

      in Daoist mythology (Daoism) of China, queen of the immortals in charge of female genies (spirits) who dwell in a fairyland called Xihua (“West Flower”). Her popularity has obscured Mugong, her counterpart and husband, a prince who watches over males in Donghua (“East Flower”) paradise. Tradition describes the queen as a former mountain spirit transformed into a beautiful woman from a quasi-human with a leopard's tail and tiger's teeth. Her fairyland garden was filled with rare flowers, extraordinary birds, and the flat peach (pantao) of immortality.

      A Daoist romance relates that during a visit to Wudi, emperor of the Han dynasty, Xiwangmu gave him the famous peach of immortality. He was anxious to bury the stone, but Xiwangmu discouraged him by saying that Chinese soil was not suitable and, in any case, the tree bloomed only once in 3,000 years.

      The Hongwu emperor, who was the first Ming (Ming dynasty) emperor (1368–98), was presented with a pantao stone discovered in a treasure house of the previous (Yuan (Yuan dynasty)) dynasty. Ten engraved ideographs identified the stone as that given to Wudi by Xiwangmu.

      According to Daoist myth, Xiwangmu's birthday is celebrated by the Baxian (“Eight Immortals”) with a grand banquet during which Xiwangmu serves special delicacies: bear paws, monkey lips, and dragon liver. Pantao are offered as the last course.

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