|
Ba
A daughter of Heaven, in Chinese mythology. She signified drought.
|
Bixia
Yuanjin
This Chinese Taoist Goddess is responsible for dawn and childbirth, as
well as destiny. Dawn and childbirth are two concepts often, and quite
understandably, linked in world mythology: the rising of the sun, the
bringing of light to the earth, is equated with the child emerging from
the darkness of the womb to the light of the world. |
|
|
Ch'ang-O
Originally a woman who lived on earth and became a goddess when she drank
all the water of immortality that was given to her husband by the gods
as an award, thereby cheating him of that honor. She became goddess of
the moon.
|
Chao
san-Niang
Goddess of wig salesmen
|
Chien-Ti
A Chinese ancestral mother who accidentally swallowed a multi-colored
swallow's egg and gave birth thereafter to the ancestors of the Shang
dynasty.
|
Chih
Nii
("heavenly weaver-girl") Goddess of the star Alpha in the Lyre.
She is the daughter of the August Personage of Jade, for whom she wove
seamless robes. When she neglected her weaving duties in favour of her
husband, her father banished her to the Lyre, separated from her husband
by the Milky Way with permisison to meet him once per year. Her festival
was celebrated on the 7th of July.
|
Chih
Nu
She was the daughter of Yu-huang, a Jade Emperor of China (High God of
China). One day she left the heavens to bathe. While she bathed a cowherd
took her clothes, after being told to do so by his ox (who is also his
guardian spirit). Chih Nu was unable to return to the heavens without
them so she married the cowherd. They had two children, and seven years
later she found her clothes and returned to the heavens. The cowherd asked
what to do and his ox told him how to get to the heavens. Chih Nu confessed
that she was the wife of the cowherd and he was made immortal. The cowherd
and Chih Nu became gods of two separate stars and could only meet on the
seventh month of the seventh year.
|
Chiu
T'ien Hsuan-nu
("dark maiden from the ninth heaven") A popular goddess and
the protagonist of many plays. A mortal man fell in love with a picture
of a beautiful girl, she came to life and married him, bearing him a daughter
and then returning to the picture. She taught him the art of love and
the art of fighting. |
|
Chuang-Mu
Goddess of the bedroom.
Chun
T'I
Goddess of the dawn.
Dark
Maid, the
The Chinese goddess who sends the rain and snow.
Dha-shi-zhi
A female bodhisattva of Chinese Buddhism, whose name means "the Strongest".
Through the power of her love she managed to break the circle of rebirth
for everyone. In the heavenly paradise the souls appear before her in
the shape of flowers.
Dou-mu
The Chinese goddess who supervises the register in which the life and
death of each person is recorded. She is venerated by those who wish a
long life and personal compassion. Her name means "Mother of the
Great Wagon". Dou-mu is portrayed sitting on a lotus throne and has
four heads, with three eyes in each, and eight arms -- four on each side
of her body. In Taoist temples a hall is often dedicated to her. She is
also venerated by Chinese Buddhists.
|
Eastern
Mother, the
The Eastern Mother and the Western Mother were early Chinese goddesses
connected with Shamanism. |
Feng
Po-po
The Chinese goddess of the winds, literally "Madam Wind". She
is represented as an old, wrinkled woman, sitting on a tiger riding on
a path made of clouds. On quiet days she placed the winds back in the
bag she carries over her shoulder.
|
Fu-Pao
The Yellow Emperor of China was another hero with an unusual conception.
His mother, Fu-Pao, sat outdoors one night watching an unearthly light
play across the sky, and she became inpregnated. Her child Huang-Ti, the
Yellow Emperor, gestated for two years (another common phenomenon among
heroes) before his birth.
|
Ganomai
Originally an ancient Chinese goddess whose name, means "first mother".
She was later changed into a male divinity.
|
Gong
De Tian
The Chinese goddess of luck. In her left hand she holds a 'wish-fulfilling'
pearl. With her right hand she makes a gesture of boldness. She shows
many similarities with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.
|
He
Xian-gu
(He Hsien-ku, Ho Hsien-ku) One of the Ba Xian, the Eight Immortals, and
the only female among them. They acheived immortality through Taoist practices.
She lived during the Tang Dynasty and spent her life as a hermit in the
mountains. A spirit appeared to her in a dream when she was fourteen.
He told her to grind a stone known as the "mother of clouds"
into powder and eat that powder. She would then become as light as a feather
and attain immortality. She followed these instructions and also vowed
never to marry. Soon after she was able to fly from one mountain peak
to the next, gathering fruit and berries for her mother. She herself had
no longer any need of nourishment. One day the emperor summoned her to
his court but she disappeared along the way and became an immortal. According
to another myth she had lost her way in the mountains while gathering
tea. There she met a scholar (rumored to have been Lu Dong-bin) who gave
her a peach to eat. After that she never felt hungry again. She was portrayed
as a girl wearing a lotus on her shoulder
|
Heng
O
The Chinese moon goddess, symbol of the cold and dark principle yin. She
tried to steal the draught of immortality from her husband, the celestial
archer Shen Yi, but he caught her before she could drink all of it. The
draught gave her the power to ascend to Heaven, but, since she had drunk
only part of it, she only got halfway up and had to settle on the moon.
Heng O is portrayed in beautiful robes with in her right hand the lunar
disc, sometimes sitting on a tree-legged toad. She is the younger sister
of the river god He Bo.
|
Hsi
Wang Mu
Originally a goddess of plague and pestilence, with a human head, a tiger's
teeth and a leopard's tail. She became the Taoist Mother goddess of the
western paradise, a gracious goddess with a palace on Khunlun, the mountain
at the far west of the Other World. A herb of immortality grew there;
as well as a magical peach tree whose fruit took 3000 years to ripen;
she would serve this fruit to gods and immortals at a Peach Festival.
She was depicted as a beautiful woman, sometimes winged, with unkempt
hair to represent her powers of sorcery. |
Ji
Nu
(Chi Nu) A Chinese stellar goddess.
|
Jian
Di
(Chien Ti) Chinese ancestral mother who accidentally swallowed a multi-colored
swallow's egg and gave birth thereafter to the ancestors of the Shang
dynasty.
|
K'un
The Chinese earth mother, the Receptive, who nourishes all things and
to whom all things return in the end. Her name is also that of the I-Ching
trigam of three Yin (broken) lines. |
|
Kuan-Yin
Chinese Goddess of Mercy. Her distinctly androgynous features emphasize
the tao of yin and yang, the dance of opposites in balance, which creates
inner peace. Kuan-Yin corresponds with Artemis, Greek goddess of field
and forest, and to the healing Celtic water-goddess Sequana.
This Goddess of Compassion was the most beloved of Tibetan Buddhism's
ancient deities. She exudes the equipoise to which we aspire to while
immersed in our daily round, relieves suffering, heals and protects those
in need, while radiating calm serenity. Kwan Yin's gentle features emphasize
the Tao of yin and yang, the dance of opposites in balance, which creates
inner peace.
This Goddess of Compassion was the most beloved of Tibetan Buddhism's
ancient deities. She exudes the equipoise to which we aspire while immersed
in our daily rounds, relieves suffering, heals and protects those in need,
while radiating calm serenity. Kwan Yin's gentle features emphasize the
Tao of yin and yang, the dance of opposites in balance, which creates
inner peace.
Chinese Goddess of Compassion whose name means "she who hears the
weeping world". Kuan-Yin was willing to keep her human form even
after reaching enlightenment because of her deep concern for human life.
She never turned away from anyone's cries, no matter how often she was
asked for mercy and wisdom. The lotus sceptre in her right hand contains
the nectar of wisdom.
After attaining enlightenment, she decided to remain in her human form
until all earth's inhabitants gained enlightenment as well. Her followers
exercised compassion toward all beings, never eating the flesh of any
creature, and lived completely non-violent lives. She was often portrayed
holding a willow branch accompanied by Lung, the celestial dragon. Lung
is a beneficent creature, bringing rain for the crops in the spring. Some
say that the reason the moon changes phases is because Lung slowly swallows
the moon and then slowly releases it. It is a Buddhist belief that water
sprinkled with a willow branch can bring purifying energy.
Lady
Meng
A goddess who lives just outside the exit from Hell; responsible for preparing
the Broth of Oblivion from which all reincarnating souls must drink on
their way to their new incarnation. This Broth makes them forget their
previous lives, their speech and their existence in Hell.
Lei-zi
(Lei-tzu) The Chinese goddess of thunder. She taught the Chinese the art
of breeding silkworms. She is the consort of Huang-di.
Lo
Shen
Goddess of rivers.
Ma-Ku
Goddess of springtime.
|
Mang
Chin-I
Goddess of the womb.
|
Nü-gua
(Nü-kua) The Chinese creator goddess who created the first humans
from yellow earth, after Heaven and Earth had separated. Since this process
was too tedious and time-consuming she dipped a rope into mud and then
swung it about her. Soon the earth around her was covered with lumps of
mud. The handmade figurines became the wealthy and the noble; those that
arose from the splashes of mud were the poor and the common.
Nü-gua is one of the most popular goddesses and is worshipped both
as the intermediary between men and women, and as the goddess who grants
children. She invented the whistle, instituted marriage and instructed
mankind in the art of building dams and channels for irrigation. Nü-gua
is also credited with the restoration of the universe after it had been
devastated by the monster Gong Gong. A particular myth tells that at a
certain time the cardinal points where no longer in the proper place,
exposing the nine realms. Nü-gua melted colored stones to mend the
azure skies, cut off the lags of a turtle to support the cardinal points,
and slayed a black dragon to save the land of Qi. Another myths states
that beyond the northwesters ocean there live ten ghosts who were fashioned
from her bowels. Her alleged husband (and brother) is the god Fu Xi. Like
her brother, the lower part of her body is portrayed as that of a dragon.
When they are represented together, their tails are intertwined. She holds
a compass, the symbol of Earth, and her husband holds a set square, the
symbol of Heaven.
|
Nu
Wa
Goddess of those who arrange marriages.
|
Pa
Goddess of drought.
|
Pa
Cha
Goddess of grasshoppers.
|
Pan
Jin Lian
(P'an Chin Lien) The Chinese goddess of fornication and prostitution.
According to myth, she was a young widow caught making love by her brother-in-law.
He killed her lover. The widow became the patroness of prostitutes, who
frequently make obeisance to her as they enter their places of business.
|
P'an
Niang
Goddess of vaccination.
|
Qui
Gu-niang
(Ch'i Ku-niang) A daughter of the Jade Emperor, Yu-huang. She is known
as the "Seventh Lady" and is venerated by all girls wanting
to know whom they will marry.
|
Ran-deng
(Jan-teng) A Chinese beggar-woman and a future Buddha.
|
Sao-ch'ing
Niang
Goddess of good weather.
|
Sheng
Mu
Goddess of black magic.
|
Shun
I Fu-jen
Goddess of famine and floods.
|
Sien-Tsang
Goddess of silk cultivation.
|
Song-zi
niang-niang
(Sung-tzu niang-niang) In Chinese myth, the "Lady Who Bestows Children".
She is sometimes found in the company of Zhang Xian.
|
T'ien
Fei
Goddess of sailing.
|
Tian
Hou
(T'ien Hou, or Tin Hau in Cantonese), literally Empress of the Sky, is
a goddess said to protect fishermen. Many temples in her honor can be
found along the coastline of China where there are, or were, fishing communities.
Ocean goddess who rode across the sky on clouds and, with her wind servants,
looked for sailors in danger. She then hastened to their rescue.
|
Tian-mu
(T'ien-mu) The Chinese goddess of lightning whose name means "Mother
of Lightning".
|
Ts'an
Nu
Goddess of silkworms.
|
Wa
A divine woman who, in ancient times, "produced the ten thousand
beings through metamorphosis." It is difficult to tell from the writings
about her exactly how this creator goddess populated the world.
|
Wang
Mu Niang-Niang
A Goddess of female energy, keeper of the peaches of immortality. Her
husband is the great god Yu-huang and together they have nine daughters,
one in each of the nine heavens, among which the goddess Xi Wang-mu.
|
Weiwobo
A goddess of female energy.
|
Xi
Hou
Goddess who gave birth to ten suns. Each morning she bathes the ten suns,
and then places the one which is to light that day into a chariot drawn
by dragons for the day's journey.
|
Xi
Wang-mu
The Chinese goddess of immortality and the personification of the feminine
element yin The Taoist Xi Wang-mu is referred to as the 'Royal Mother
of the West', and rules over the western paradise of the immortals. She
is the daughter of the god Yu-huang and her husband is Mu Gong (yang).
Originally she was a terrifying tiger-woman who brought the plague, but
under the influence of Taoism she became a benign goddess.
Her nine-stories palace of jade lies in the mythical Kun-lun mountains,
near the Lake of Jewels. It is surrounded by a wall of over a thousand
miles long and of pure gold. The male immortals reside in the right wing
and the female immortals reside in the left wing of this palace. In her
garden she cultivates the peach of immortality. This peach tree forms
only one peach every three thousand years, which then takes another three
thousand years to ripen. When it is ripe, Hsi Wang-mu invites the immortals
to a feast to celebrate their birthday and to partake ot the miraculous
peach which bestows another lease of immortality. She is portrayed as
a young beautiful woman wearing a royal gown, sometimes riding a peacock.
He favorite animal is Feng-huang, the symbol of immortality.
|
Xiu
Wenyin
Goddess of lightning and thunder.
|
Yaoji
This goddess was said to have been worshiped in the form of a sacred rock
at the summit of a hill called the Mount of the Sorceress. According to
an old legend, a king encountered her on that hill in a dream in which
she revealed not only her name but the location of a plant to be used
in love magic.
|
Zhi-ni
(Chih-Ni) The Chinese goddess of spinners. She wove the beautiful robes
worn by all the other divinities.
|
Zhang
Xi
A creator goddess who gave birth to twelve moons.
|
Zhinü
A goddess of marriage and a patron of weavers.
|
Zisun
Goddess of weddings.
|
