Introduction to the heavenly queen

Xitianwangmu

The legendary goddess. The strange god, who was originally in charge of disasters and punishments, gradually became soft and gentle in the process of spreading and became an old and kind goddess. According to legend, the Queen Mother lives in Yaochi, Kunlun Mountain, and there are flat peaches in the garden, which can be eaten forever. Also known as the Golden Mother, the Golden Mother of Yaochi and the Queen Mother of the West.

According to the ancient book Shan Hai Jing, "The Queen Mother of the West is like a human being, with a leopard's tail and tiger's teeth. She is good at whistling and is full of Dai Sheng. The Queen Mother of the West looks like a human being, with a leopard tail and tiger teeth. She is good at growling with high-frequency sounds. With messy hair and a square hat. It is a god sent by heaven to spread viruses and various disasters. It can be seen that he is ugly and is a demon god who sends disasters and epidemics! He lives on the top of Kunlun Mountain, and there are three giant raptors named Jade Bird, which bring him food and daily necessities every day.

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However, in Mu's legend, the words and deeds of the Queen Mother of the West are like a gentle ruler. When Zhou Muwang traveled around the world in an eight-horse, he traveled to Kunlun Mountain in the west. He took out Bai Gui Xu Anbi and other jade articles to visit the Queen Mother of the West. The next day, Mu Wang hosted a banquet in Yaochi for the Queen Mother of the West. Both of them sang some poems and exchanged blessings.

The Legend of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty called her a goddess with peerless appearance and gave her a flat peach that bears fruit once every three thousand years. Taoism takes the third day of March every year as the queen mother's birthday, and holds a grand event on this day, commonly known as the Flat Peach Festival.

Some scholars and experts in China believe that the mythical Queen Mother of the West does exist in history. Li Xiaowei, a scholar who studies Kunlun culture, was quoted by Xinhua as saying: "In fact, the Queen Mother of the West, shrouded in many myths, is not a fairy, but a female chief of a nomadic tribe west of Qinghai Lake. 」

After years of research and field investigation, some scholars and experts found that there was once a country of animal husbandry-the Queen Mother of the West, more than 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. Its territory includes the vast area sandwiched between Kunlun Mountain and Qilian Mountain in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau today, and the grassland around Qinghai Lake and Qaidam Basin are its richest central areas. According to textual research, the "national capital" of the ancient kingdom of Xiwangmu is located in Tianjun County, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, west of Qinghai Lake.

Professor Zhang from the Department of Geography of Qinghai Normal University pointed out in his signed article: "It is worth noting that the Queen Mother of the West is not only the title of an ancient tribal country, but also the title of an ancient queen, which has been passed down from generation to generation. The existing ancient books prove that from the Jin Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties and even the Republic of China, there were a large number of queen tribes in Qinghai grassland area and the north and south of Kunlun Mountain, among which Supi tribe was the most famous.

The Queen Mother is also called Yaochi Jinniang, or the Queen Mother of the West for short. "Biography of Dayuan" contains: "Yang, or Hou, Ming Hui, also known as living in Kunlun".

According to Mu Chuan, after more than 900 BC, he went to the Western Ocean to Kunlun and met the Queen Mother several times. According to the book, the Tiger Queen Mother has fluffy teeth and is easy to feed. The Queen Mother gave silks, which she sacrificed and put on the jade pool. As the song goes: "White clouds are in the sky, mountains are coming out, the road is long, there are mountains and rivers, and children will not die." "Zhou Muwang replied," I will return to the land of the East and rule the whole summer, and all people will be on average. I can still see you. Taoism lists the Queen Mother of the West as one of the Seven Saints, and according to Yun Qi's Seven Signs, it says, "Bai Yugui's nine spirits on the stage are so true to the Queen Mother of the West". The three caves of Daozang are listed as the fourth immortal, second only to the father of the East King, and they are also called "the Queen Mother of the West, with the spirit of the Moon, and her natural surname is Junsi, which governs Kunlun and Beidou." In addition, according to the Taoist scriptures, the Queen Mother is also known as the Queen Mother of the West, the Golden Mother, the Golden Mother Yuan Jun, the Golden Mother of Guishan in Jiuling Imperial Temple and the Golden Mother of Jiuguang Guitai in Tailing. She was born in Yichuan, Shenzhou, and her surname is Hou Shi. Born and flying, the spirit of the main yin is in charge of the four sides. The gods of ten women in heaven and earth are salty. The Queen Mother of the West lives in Yaochi, and her land, people and things are well documented, and there are many miscellaneous sayings.

Jinniang in Yaochi is also known as Queen Mother of the West, Queen Mother, Jinniang Yuan Jun, Queen Mother of the West, Jinniang in Jiuling Jiuguang Guitai, Jinniang in Jiuling Taimiao Guishan, Jinniang in Yaochi, Giant Buddha, Jinniang in Wuji Yaochi and so on.

The Queen Mother of the West, commonly known as the Queen Mother of the West, is also known as Lao Mu, Empress Dowager, Jin Niang and Jin Niang. The full name is Yuan Jun, the Queen Mother of Jiufeng Taizhen Baiyu Guitai or Yuan Jun, and the Golden Mother of Jiuguang Guitai Tailing Jiuguang Guitai. The name of the Queen Mother of the West was first seen in Shan Hai Jing. "West" refers to the direction, and "Empress Dowager" is the name of God. The Queen Mother of the West was formed by the chaotic Taoist God. Her surname is Hou Shi, which is consistent with the Queen Mother of the West. "The Legend of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty" said that when the Queen Mother of the West went to the temple, she was "dressed in golden clothes, brilliant in literary talent, graceful in appearance, with a large ribbon of flying souls, a sword on her waist, a Taihua bun and a crown of morning babies, and her expression was mysterious and graceful." It is also considered to be 30 years old, short and short, and graceful. "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was ordered by the Queen Mother of the West. According to Shan Hai Jing, the Queen Mother of the West is unkempt and unkempt. She is the god of the West White Tiger, the messenger of the West Queen Mother, not the shape of the West Queen Mother.

Xianzong: The Queen Mother of the West is a Xianzong, who lives between the Kunlun Mountains. Thousands of miles in the city, Twelve Jade Buildings, Qionghuaque, Blue and White Hall, Nine-story Yuan Room, Zicuidan Room, Yaochi on the left and Cuishan on the right. According to the records of natural history, there are peach trees in Yaochi, which are "three thousand years old". Heaven and earth, three realms and ten squares, and immortal women are all under the jurisdiction of the Queen Mother of the West.

Nurturing all things: Emperor Yuan Zun and Fang Tianyuan awarded the title of "Nine Lights on the Turtle Mountain" to the Queen Mother of the West, asking her to gather all spirits, unify the true saints, supervise the alliance certification, master the celestial feather instrument and supervise the saint examination. The Queen Mother of the West and Dong are the parents of Yin and Yang, who control the two qi, nurture heaven and earth, and teach everything. When the Yellow Emperor crusaded against the violence of Chiyou, Chiyou was changeable and called for rain, blowing smoke and spraying medicine, and the Queen Mother of the West sent Xuan Nv for nine days, giving the Yellow Emperor the strategy of three palaces and five senses of Yin and Yang, Taiyi's skill of escaping from Jia and six promises, the machine of Yin Fu, and the article of Lingbao's five spells and five victories. The Yellow Emperor then conquered Chiyou in central Hebei. After Yu Shun acceded to the throne, the Queen Mother of the West sent an envoy to give Bai Yuhuan, Bai Yuyan and a map, and Shun expanded the Yellow Emperor Kyushu into twelve states.

According to the legend of the Queen Mother of the West, the Queen Mother of the West is the "Golden Mother of the Nine Spirits and the Wonderful Turtle Mountain", that is, the "Golden Mother of the Taixu Jiuguang Turtle Platform", which is the supreme of the West China. In ancient times, Tao and Qi condensed and came into being by doing nothing. First, Dong Tiansheng is the supreme spirit of Donghua, and then Jin Mu is the wonderful spirit of Xihua.

Born in Yichuan, Shenzhou, Jin Mu, surnamed Hou, can fly. Like Dong, she nurtures all things in heaven and earth, and all things in Tao Jun are the source of pliancy and the cathode, keeping pace with the west, and the virgins who are enlightened in three realms and ten directions are all under her jurisdiction.

According to legend, the Queen Mother lives in Yaochi and is called Lady Yaochi and Golden Maiden of Yaochi. According to Biography of Grand View Garden in Historical Records, "The Queen Mother of the West, there was a fairy in ancient times, surnamed Yang, or Hou, whose name was Hui. One is elegant and lives in Kunlun. 」

The heavenly queen claims to be the daughter of the heavenly emperor, who is the floorboard of the gods. According to the Book of Rites, Di Qing, Chi Di, Huangdi and Bai Di are collectively called Heaven Emperor. It is impossible to find out which emperor's daughter the queen is. However, if the queen has too many children, there is evidence, so the queen mother is also a prolific queen.

According to legend, the Queen Mother sent her apprentice Xuan Nv to help the Yellow Emperor defeat Chiyou for nine days and had contacts with Zhou Muwang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. As for the relationship between the Queen Mother and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, it comes from the Biography of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Probably, land tax: on July 7, the Queen Mother ordered the kitchen to be set up. There are seven peaches in the jade plate, which are as big as goose eggs, and the round color is blue. The queen mother gave the emperor four and she ate three. After eating, the emperor left the stone for planting. The queen mother said this.

Peaches take 3,000 years to bear fruit. China is too thin to grow them.

The Queen Mother is a well-known fairy, because she is the wife of the Jade Emperor and the distinguished first lady of heaven. The queen mother in people's minds is elegant and dignified, but her predecessor is a monster who is half man and half beast!

The name of the Queen Mother is "Queen Mother of the West", which was originally the name of a primitive tribe in western China. The legend of this tribe is in Kunlun Mountain, but it may actually be in Gansu and Qinghai. The leader of the Western Queen Mother tribe is also known as the "Western Queen Mother". This tribe worships the tiger and leopard, and takes the tiger and leopard as the totem god. So the Queen Mother of the West was deified into a somewhat human figure, but with a mouthful of tiger teeth, messy hair, covered in jewels, and a leopard tail, a monster that often roars. This half-man, half-beast monster has become the patron saint of the tribe, and it is hard to say whether she is a man or a woman.

In the Biography of Mu in the Warring States Period, there was a story about going west to meet the heavenly queen, who was no longer a monster but a queen. The queen mother's baby, one is the elixir of life, and the other is the immortal Xiantao (also known as flat peach). In myths and legends, Chang 'e stole the elixir from her husband Hou Yi and flew to the moon. The Queen Mother of the West is already a stunning beauty dressed as a queen in The Invasion of the Emperor Mo. She went to the temple to meet thousands of immortals and looked like a fairy leader.

Taoism admires the Queen Mother, and vigorously publicizes her origin, saying that she is the daughter of the first Taoist God Yuan Shen, the daughter of three realms and ten parties, and all of them are her subordinates. The queen mother's status has reached the top of the world, so she described the tiger tooth leopard tail as the white tiger messenger of the queen mother.

Taoism lists the Queen Mother as one of the Seven Saints. According to "Seven Signs of Yun Qi", "the sacred white jade turtle stands on nine spirits, which is too true for the Queen Mother of the West". The Three-hole Classic of Taoist Collection lists the Queen Mother of the West as the fourth immortal, second only to the father of the East King, and says: "The Queen Mother of the West is also full of vitality in Taiyin. Her surname is natural, and the word Junsi governs Kunlun and Beidou."

Although the queen mother is not a mortal, she also has secular desires. People arranged for her to marry the jade emperor, just like the queen on earth. The couple also gave birth to seven daughters, of which the youngest daughter, Seven Fairy, came down to earth in private, and the story of her "fairy couple" with poor boy Yong Dong is well known. She also has a granddaughter named Weaver Girl, and the story of meeting Cowherd on Qixi Bridge is well known to all women and children. The heavenly queen here is not very popular. She and the Jade Emperor separated two loving young couples alive and became the representatives of feudal autocracy.

The temples of Empress Dowager are all over the country, and there are many relics about Empress Dowager, such as Empress Dowager Cave, Empress Dowager River, Empress Dowager Pool and Empress Dowager Yaochi. There are more than 140 Empress Dowager Temples in Taiwan Province Province. The main temple is located in Ji 'an Township, Hualien County. China has two major systems, namely Shen 'an Temple and Cihui Hall, which are distributed all over the province. Mother Jin's birthday will be held on July 18, and the incense is very strong, mainly because of the curative effect and many miracles of Mother Jin.

Jinniang in Yaochi is also called "Empress Dowager", "Jinniang", "Empress Dowager of Wuji Yaochi", "Queen Mother of the West" and "Jinniang in Guishan of Jiuling Imperial Temple". Yaochi Jinniang is an important folk belief in postwar Taiwan Province Province, and its development is closely related to the development history of Cihuitang. The discussion on the origin of Yaochi Jinniang is inseparable from the history of Cihuitang. At present, in Taiwan Province Province, the main god of Myrtle in Yaochi is the General Hall of Cihuitang, and the main god of the Empress Dowager is the Shen An Temple next door. The two temples are actually separate, and believers from the same temple. On the other hand, before the rise of Cihuitang, the belief of mother-in-law also spread among Jainism, Luantang and other folk sects, and the mother-in-law in this group also refers to childless mothers. Therefore, there are three kinds of confusion at present, namely, Golden Maiden in Yaochi, Queen Mother, Childless Maiden and Queen Mother in the West, all of which are related to the development history of folk religions in Taiwan Province Province.

If we look at the context of Yaochi Jinniang, because the Queen Mother lives in Yaochi, we think it is named as Yaochi Jinniang, that is, the Queen Mother of the West. Yaochi is a legendary place where the Queen Mother of China and the West and Zhou Muwang meet. The Queen Mother of the West is an ancient belief in China, which began before the pre-Qin period. In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Queen Mother of the West is described as half-human, half-beast, with a leopard's tail and tiger's teeth, roaring at Dai Sheng. He lives at sunset in the west, which is said to be in the wasteland on the other side of the desert. Therefore, some studies believe that the Queen Mother of the West comes from the Western Regions and may be the symbol or god of a tribe in the Western Regions. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the drastic social changes, Emperor Ai of Han offered sacrifices to the Queen Mother of Xi for singing and dancing, which also represented the further development of Taoism by the Queen Mother of Xi. She is a common god in Mu Zhuan, Han Wudi Zhuan and novels of the Six Dynasties. In addition, bronze mirrors, tombs and tomb vouchers in the Han Dynasty. There are also images and records of the Queen Mother of the West. In "Three Religions Seeking God", the Queen Mother of the West is the golden mother of the Nine Spirits and the Great Wonderful Guishan, which is condensed from the spirit of Taoism and dominates the world. Together with Dong Donghua, she governs the world and nurtures all things in the world. As for the reason why the "mother" of Cixi Hall became the golden mother of Yaochi, it was related to Cixi Hall joining the Taoist society. The Golden Maiden in Yaochi is recognized by Taoism and one of the Seven Saints signed by Yun Qi: "The nine spirits on the sacred white jade turtle platform are too real, and they are not the Queen Mother of the West".

On the other hand, tracing back to the development of the doctrine of Cihuitang, the connotation of Cihuitang's belief in the mother god, such as the robbery at the end of three periods and the establishment of Longhua by Yao Minggui Pan, are all related to congenital Taoism and childless mother god. Because in the development of Immortal Heaven, the barren mother once represented the Supreme Master, and it was not until Daoguang that it was renamed as the infinite Buddha of Yaochi Golden Mother. Childless mother is an important concept in the folk sects that rose in Ming and Qing Dynasties, mainly from Luo religion. The founder of Luo religion wrote five articles and six volumes, in which childless mother was the creator and protector of the universe. Combining the lifeless and vacuum philosophy of Buddhism, she became the highest goddess, and combined with her hometown, full of the meaning of returning to the origin of the universe.

On the whole, among the mother believers in Cihuitang, according to the habit of ordinary believers to address their mothers, and the analysis of the ritual contents such as dancing and asking questions in Cihuitang, it seems that the golden mother in Yaochi is the mother god of folk beliefs, while the queen mother in the West is actually a stranger to ordinary believers. However, Cihuitang itself has gradually developed various expositions about Yaochi Jinniang and the Queen Mother of the West. On the other hand, if we analyze Cihuitang's teachings on the goodness of Yao Chi Jin Niang, it is close to the teachings of Luo religion, congenital Taoism and Taoism since the Qing Dynasty. From this point of view, the origin of Myrtle in Yaochi is not easy to convince people, so whether it is Myrtle in Yaochi, the Queen Mother, or a childless mother, it may be far less important and necessary for believers to trace the complicated origin for themselves.

At present, according to the statistics in 2003, if Cihuitang is the main group, there are about 900 branches in Taiwan Province Province. If other different sects are counted, religious groups that worship their mothers and have no mothers are widely accepted, the number of believers such as Yaochi Golden Mother and Mother is very large in Taiwan Province Province.

Sacrifice: In the biography of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there is a story that the Queen Mother of the West gave a flat peach for 3,000 years. Therefore, the story of the flat peach party held by the Queen Mother of the West is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Taoism and folk have always regarded the Queen Mother of the West as a symbol of longevity, and regarded the Queen Mother of the West as the God of Jin Shouyan Dojo. The birthday of the Queen Mother of the West is said to be the third day of March and the eighteenth day of July. Taoists, especially women, often gather in Taoist temples to build Dojo for the Queen Mother of the West and pray for health and longevity.