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63-566: Evidence of the earliest bird-Sun motif or totemic articles excavated around 5000 BCE at China. This bird-Sun totem heritage was observed in later Yangshao and Longshan cultures . Also, in Northeast Asia, artifacts of birds and phoenix observed to be a symbol of leadership was excavated to be around 5500 BCE in Xinle culture and later Hongshan culture from Liao river basin. The Chinese have several versions of crow and crow-Sun tales. But

126-446: A yin yang counterpart in the chánchú 蟾蜍 " three-legged toad " symbolizing the moon (along with the moon rabbit ). According to an ancient tradition, this toad is the transformed Chang'e lunar deity who stole the elixir of life from her husband Houyi the archer, and fled to the moon where she was turned into a toad. The Fènghuáng is commonly depicted as being two-legged but there are some instances in art in which it has

189-621: A Crowd! A lofty meeting inside the Cyan Audience Hall. Arrayed Attendants perform Cloud Songs; Realized intonations fill the Grand Empty Space. Every thousand years, her purple crabapple ripens; Every four kalpas , her numinous melon produces abundantly. This music differs from that at the feast in the wilderness— So convivial, and certainly infinite. The first mentions of the Queen Mother date back to

252-460: A central square. Although early reports suggested a matriarchal culture, others argue that it was a society in transition from matriarchy to patriarchy , while still others believe it to have been patriarchal. The debate hinges on differing interpretations of burial practices. The discovery of a Chinese dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC in the Yangshao culture makes it

315-546: A child is born. The Bamboo Annals record that in the 9th year of reign of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun , "messengers from the western Wang-mu (Queen Mother) came to do him homage." It further notes that "the coming to court from the Western Wang-mu was to present white stone rings and archers' thimbles of gem." Shun's immediate successor was Yu the Great , who was Shun's prime minister and already present in

378-547: A goddess of war and sex. Other stories hold that she is a mountain goddess or a divine tigress. She is also popularly thought to have blessed the Eight Immortals with their supernatural abilities. After her integration into the Taoist pantheon, she gradually took on associations with other aspects, such as immortality , as well as being the god of stars, directions, profit, and the sun and moon. The worship of

441-596: A long life. They see the Mother sitting on the Lotus Throne , surrounded by golden light. They are received and led to their original place. In the sect tradition, for example as explained in the "Precious Repentance of Blood Lake" of Hongyangism ( 弘阳敎 ), the condition of suffering is inherent to the human being in the world, necessary to creation itself. The material world is likened to a "Blood Lake", filthy and dirty waters that necessarily flow out of women's bodies when

504-512: A moving rock. The Japanese took two people to Japan as kings and noblemen. At that time, the light of the sun and the moon disappeared in Silla. King Adalala sent an official to Japan to return the couple, but Yeono said to take the silk that was made by his wife, Seo, and sacrifice it to the sky. As he said this, the sun and moon were brighter again. In modern Korea, Samjok-o is still found especially in dramas such as Jumong . The three-legged crow

567-518: A separate culture that developed from the middle Yangshao culture through an intermediate Shilingxia phase. 36°18′N 109°06′E  /  36.300°N 109.100°E  / 36.300; 109.100 Xi Wangmu The Queen Mother of the West , known by various local names , is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology , also worshipped later in neighbouring countries. She

630-684: A sun crow called the Yangwu ( 陽烏 ), more commonly referred to as the Jinwu ( 金烏 ; 'golden crow') or "golden crow". Even though it is described as a corvid, it is usually coloured red instead of black. A silk painting from the Western Han excavated at the Mawangdui archaeological site also depicts a "golden crow" in the sun. In ancient Chinese depictions, the Chinese god of creation, Fuxi ,

693-691: A three-legged appearance. Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) is also said to have three green birds ( 青鳥 ; qīngniǎo ) that gathered food for her and in Han-period religious art they were depicted as having three legs. In the Yongtai Tomb dating to the Tang dynasty Era, when the Cult of Xi Wangu flourished, the birds are also shown as being three-legged. In Japanese mythology , this flying creature

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756-425: A top knot. Women wrapped a length of cloth around themselves and tied their hair in a bun. Houses were built by digging a rounded rectangular pit around one metre deep. Then they were rammed , and a lattice of wattle was woven over it. Then it was plastered with mud. The floor was also rammed down. Next, a few short wattle poles would be placed around the top of the pit, and more wattle would be woven to it. It

819-459: Is a raven or a jungle crow called Yatagarasu ( 八咫烏 , "eight-span crow") and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs. Although Yatagarasu is mentioned in a number of places in Shintō , the depictions are primarily seen on Edo wood art, dating back to the early 1800s wood-art era. Although not as celebrated today,

882-399: Is attested from ancient times. The first historical information on her can be traced back to Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions that record sacrifices to a "Western Mother". Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates organized Taoism , she is most often associated with Taoism. The growing popularity of the Queen Mother of the West, as well as the beliefs that she was

945-799: Is currently a matter of debate. Once the soil was exhausted, residents picked up their belongings, moved to new lands, and constructed new villages. Middle Yangshao settlements such as Jiangzhi contain raised-floor buildings that may have been used for the storage of surplus grains. Grinding stones for making flour were also found. The Yangshao people kept pigs and dogs . Sheep , goats , and cattle are found much more rarely. Much of their meat came from hunting and fishing with stone tools. Their stone tools were polished and highly specialized. They may also have practiced an early form of sericulture . The Yangshao culture crafted pottery : Yangshao artisans created fine white, red, and black painted pottery with human facial, animal, and geometric designs. Unlike

1008-504: Is described in Li Qi's long work "Songs of the Queen Mother": The Martial Illustrious One fasted and observed abstinence in his Basilica for Receiving Florescence; As he stood upright with folded hands, instantly the Queen Mother came to grant him an audience. Rainbow standards numinously flashing: her qilin-drawn chariots, With feathered parasols streaming and pheasant fans. Her fingers holding intertwined pears, she sent them along for

1071-751: Is described in many ways in the scriptures of some Chinese folk religious sects . For instance, an excerpt from the Precious Scripture of the Dragon Flower ( c.  1654 ), pertaining to the Dragon Flower sect, says: After the emergence of the Ancient Awakened, heaven and earth were established; after the rise of the Eternal Venerable Mother, Former Heaven was established. The Eternal Venerable Mother conceives from herself and begets yin and yang . The yin

1134-641: Is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto , but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific. In more than one instance, Yatagarasu appears as a three legged crow not in Kojiki but in Wamyō Ruijushō . Both the Japan Football Association and subsequently its administered teams such as the Japan national football team use

1197-452: Is often depicted carrying the sun disk with the 'golden crow' ( 金烏 ; jīnwū ) while the Chinese goddess of creation, Nüwa , holds the moon disk which contains a gold-striped toad. According to folklore, there were originally ten sun crows which settled in 10 separate suns. They perched on a red mulberry tree called the Fusang , literally meaning "the leaning mulberry tree", in

1260-637: Is present in many myths. It is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing . The earliest known depiction of a three-legged crow appears in Neolithic pottery of the Yangshao culture. The sanzuwu in a disc represents the sun and is also one of the Twelve Ornaments that is used in the decoration of formal imperial garments in ancient China. The most popular depiction and myth of a sanzuwu is of

1323-544: Is the daughter and the yang is the son. Their names are Fuxi and Nüwa respectively. From another section of the Dragon Flower , "It is required that all male and female members gather with neither difference nor discrimination". Equality of men and women is a characteristic element of the Chinese sectarian tradition, for both males and females are equally children of the Eternal Mother, and both of them are

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1386-590: The Dao De Jing . This dichotomy of the Queen Mother as the superior is a characteristic of Shangqing Taoism , a goddess worshiping sect of Taoism of which Tu Kuang-ting was a master. There is also an account of a meeting between the Queen Mother and Laozi in Tang poetry. This account however, being of traditional Taoist thought, has the Queen Mother taking an inferior role to Laozi, calling him "Primordial Lord" (the title of his highest manifestation) and pays homage to

1449-733: The absolute principle of reality , or the creational origin of all things. Tang writers called her "Golden Mother the First Ruler", the "Golden Mother of Tortoise Mountain", "She of the Nine Numina and the Grand Marvel", and the "Perfected Marvel of the Western Florescence and Ultimate Worthy of the Cavernous Darkness". Commoners and poets of the era referred to her more simply as the "Queen Mother",

1512-489: The oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty (1766 – 1122 BCE). One inscription reads: Crack-making on day IX (9th day), we divined. If we make offering to the eastern mother and the western mother, there will be approval. Western Mother refers to an archaic divinity residing in the west. The exact nature of the Mother divinities in the Shang dynasty is unclear, but they were seen as powerful forces deserving of ritual by

1575-476: The "Divine Mother", or simply "Nanny" ( Amah ). The Queen Mother of the West is most often depicted holding court within her palace on the mythological Mount Kunlun , usually supposed to be in western China (a modern Mount Kunlun is named after this). Her palace is believed to be a perfect and complete paradise, where it was used as a meeting place for the deities and a cosmic pillar where communications between deities and humans were possible. At her palace she

1638-563: The "Golden Mother of the Jade Pond (瑤池)" (also translated "Turquoise Pond" ). She is also known in contemporary sources as the Lady Queen Mother. In Chinese salvationist religions , she is believed to be the same being as their main deity, Wusheng Laomu ( Chinese : 無生老母 ; lit. 'birthless old mother'), also known as Wujimu ( 無極母 ; lit.   ' infinite mother ' ). The title, Wujimu, signifies

1701-723: The Celestial Illustrious One's palace." Turning her head back, she told the servant girl, Dong Shuangcheng, "The wind is finished; you may perform on the Cloud Harmony Mouth Organ." Red auroral clouds and the white sun, in strict attendance, did not move; Seven dragons and five phoenixes in variegated disarray greeted them. How regrettable! He was too ambitious and arrogant; the divinities were not satisfied, But sighed and lamented over his horses' hooves and chariots' wheel tracks. In his covered walkways, song bells became hard to discern in

1764-517: The Diri ( 地日 ; dìrì ; 'ground sun'), and the other the Chunsheng ( 春生 ; 'spring grow'. The sun crows would often descend from heaven on to the earth and feast on these grasses, but Xihe did not like this; thus, she covered their eyes to prevent them from doing so. Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Hou Yi ,

1827-661: The East at the foot of the Valley of the Sun. This mulberry tree was said to have many mouths opening from its branches. Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe , the 'mother' of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in its journey crossing the sky. According to the Shanhaijing , the sun crows loved eating two grasses of immortality, one called

1890-824: The Heian period that the Yatagarasu and the Chinese Yangwu refer to an identical entity. In Korean mythology , it is known as Samjok-o ( Korean :  삼족오 ; Hanja :  三足烏 – literally "three-legged crow"). During the Goguryeo period, the ancient Korean people thought the Samjok-o to be a symbol of the sun and of great power, often representing the Taewang ( 태왕 ; 太王 ; lit.  Emperor; Greatest of Kings) and Goguryeo's sovereignty. It

1953-562: The Queen Mother and Laozi (Lord Lao): "In the 25th year of King Chao of the Chou dynasty (1028 BCE) ..." "...Lord Lao and the realized person Yin Hsi went traveling..." "...on their behalf, the Queen Mother of the West explicated the Scripture of Constant Purity and Quiet." In this account, the Queen Mother plays the role of Laozi's superior and is credited with the ultimate authorship of

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2016-560: The Queen Mother is organised today in Taiwan as Yaochidao . One of the earliest written references to the Queen Mother comes from the writings of the Taoist writer Zhuangzi ( c.  4th century BCE ): The Queen Mother of the West obtained it [the Dao]... ...and took up her seat at Shao kuang. No one knows her beginning; no one knows her end. Zhuangzi describes the Queen Mother as one of

2079-646: The Queen Mother of the West and King Mu has been compared to that of a Taoist master and disciple. She passes on secret teachings to him at his request and he, the disciple, fails to benefit, and dies like any other mortal. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huang , united the Warring States of China through brilliant military strategy and diplomacy to control the greatest territory yet seen in China. It

2142-471: The West met during the height of Wu's reign, when she visited him during the night of Double Seven , the night for encounters between mortal men and divine women. When the Queen Mother of the West visits Emperor Wu she shares a banquet with him, grants him special teachings, and then departs. Emperor Wu just like King Mu before him fails to follow her teachings, and fails to put them into practice, and therefore he inevitably dies. The whole story of their meeting

2205-481: The belief in Chinese thinking is that the teacher automatically surpasses the pupil in seniority and wisdom. Probably one of the best known stories of contact between a goddess and a mortal ruler is between King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West. There are several different accounts of this story but they all agree that King Mu, one of the greatest rulers of the Zhou, set out on a trip with his eight chargers to

2268-459: The celestial archer, saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun crows. The sanzuwu is also depicted with the Queen Mother of the West who are believed to be her messengers. In Chinese mythology , there are other three-legged creatures besides the crow, for instance, the yu 魊 "a three-legged tortoise that causes malaria". The three-legged crow symbolizing the sun has

2331-459: The chance to meet the Queen Mother serves as a warning to later men, as despite huge and costly efforts to pursue immortality, he died and speaks no more. The 9th century poet Zhuang Nanjie wrote: His flourishing breath once departed, he never more will speak; His white bones buried deep, the evening mountains turn cyan. According to legend, Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty and the Queen Mother of

2394-533: The court at this time. The Xunzi , a 3rd-century BCE classic of statecraft written by Xun Kuang , wrote that "Yu studied with the Queen Mother of the West". This passage refers to Yu the Great , the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty , and posits that the Queen Mother of the West was Yu's teacher. It is believed that she grants Yu both legitimacy, and the right to rule, and the techniques necessary for ruling. The fact that she taught Yu gives her enormous power, since

2457-436: The crow is a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation; the animal that has historically cleaned up after great battles symbolized the renaissance after such tragedy. Yatagarasu as a crow-god is a symbol specifically of guidance. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for legendary Emperor Jimmu on his initial journey from the region which would become Kumano to what would become Yamato , ( Yoshino and then Kashihara ). It

2520-605: The dispenser of prosperity, longevity, and eternal bliss, took place during Han dynasty , in the 2nd century BCE, when the northern and western parts of China became more accessible through the opening of the Silk Road . Queen Mother of the West is a calque of Xiwangmu in Chinese sources , Seiōbo in Japan , Seowangmo in Korea , and Tây Vương Mẫu in Vietnam . She has numerous titles, one being Yaochi Jinmu ( 瑤池金母 ),

2583-470: The emperor to eat; By means of them one can prolong life and preside over the cosmos. On top of her head she wore the nine-starred crown; She led a flock of jade lads, then sat facing south. "Do you want to hear my essential words? Now I'll report them to you." The emperor thereupon burned incense and requested such a discussion. "If you can rarefy your earth soul and dispatch the three corpses, Afterward you will certainly have an audience with me at

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2646-524: The far western regions of his empire. As he obtains the eight chargers and has the circuit of his realm, it proves that he has the Mandate of Heaven. On his journey he encounters the Queen Mother of the West on the mythical Mount Kunlun. They then have a love affair, and King Mu, hoping to obtain immortality, gives the Queen Mother important national treasures. In the end he must return to the human realm, and does not receive immortality. The relationship between

2709-414: The highest of the deities, meaning she had gained immortality and celestial powers. Zhuangzi also states that Xiwangmu is seated upon a spiritual western mountain range, suggesting she is connected to not only the heavens, but also to the west. In Tu Kuang-ting's text, he includes narrative accounts of the Queen Mother's encounters with legendary Chinese heroes. One such account narrates an encounter between

2772-485: The later Longshan culture , the Yangshao culture did not use pottery wheels in pottery-making. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. Pottery style emerging from the Yangshao culture spread westward to the Majiayao culture , and then further to Xinjiang and Central Asia . The Yangshao culture produced silk to a small degree and wove hemp . Men wore loin clothes and tied their hair in

2835-473: The most popular depiction and myth of the Sun crow is that of the Yangwu or Jinwu, the " golden crow ". It has also been found figured on ancient coins from Lycia and Pamphylia . In Chinese mythology and culture, the three-legged crow is called the sanzuwu ( simplified Chinese : 三足乌 ; traditional Chinese : 三足烏 ; pinyin : sān zú wū ; Cantonese : samzukwu ; Shanghainese : sae tsoh u) and

2898-611: The neighboring provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi . Recent research indicates a common origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan languages with the Cishan , Yangshao and/or Majiayao cultures . The main food of the Yangshao people was millet , with some sites using foxtail millet and others proso millet , though some evidence of rice has been found. The exact nature of Yangshao agriculture, small-scale slash-and-burn cultivation versus intensive agriculture in permanent fields,

2961-622: The peaches were located, the Queen Mother of the West is widely known for serving peaches to her guests, which would then make them immortal. She normally wears a distinctive headdress with the Peaches of Immortality suspended from it. Flourishing parasols, we reach the chronograms' extremity; Riding on the mist, I wander to Lofty Whirlwind Peak. The Lady of the Supreme Primordial descends through jade interior doors; The Queen Mother opens her Blue-gem Palace. Celestial people—What

3024-523: The people of the Shang dynasty. Originally, from the earliest known depictions of her in accounts like the Classic of Mountains and Seas during the Zhou dynasty , she was a ferocious goddess of death with the teeth of a tiger , who rules over wild beasts and sends down heavenly punishments such as pestilences . She was also mentioned as an authority ruling over other divinities such as Jiutian Xuannü ,

3087-632: The period) from the Tang dynasty. After the fall of the Tang dynasty, ( c.  910  – c.  920 ) a Shang-ching Taoist master and court chronicler named Du Guangting wrote a hagiographical biography of the queen mother as part of his text "Yung ch'eng chi hsien lu" ("Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City"). This account represents the most complete source of information about Tang society's perceptions of Xiwangmu. Because she

3150-476: The sage. During the Tang dynasty (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907) poetry flourished throughout China (this period is commonly known as the "Golden age of Chinese poetry"). It was during this period that the Queen Mother became an extremely popular figure in poetry. Her mythology was recorded in the poems of the Complete Tang Poems , a collection of surviving poems (of an estimated 50,000 written during

3213-556: The same in the "Former Heaven", the original state of birth from the goddess. The aim of every follower of the Wusheng Laomu is to return to her. For example, an excerpt of the "Precious Scroll Explaining the Great Vehicle " says: After preaching the wonderful message with an enlightened mind and manifested nature, they return home in complete pleasure. ... All children are redeemed and reunited ... and they will resume

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3276-475: The symbol of Yatagarasu in their emblems and badges respectively. The winner of the Emperor's Cup is also given the honor of wearing the Yatagarasu emblem the following season. Although the Yatagarasu is commonly perceived as a three-legged crow, there is in fact no mention of it being such in the original Kojiki . Consequently, it is theorised that this is a result of a later possible misinterpretation during

3339-455: The way are her dependents. The Queen Mother of the West was said to care for all woman Daoists in the universe, both perfected and aspirants. Tang writers frequently refer to her in poems about Daoist women. In accordance with the Shang Ch'ing vision expressed by Tu, she appears as teacher judge, registrar, and Guardian of female believers. Her forms reflect Tu's definitions. The Queen Mother

3402-505: The world's oldest known dragon depiction, . Yangshao , in Mianchi County , Sanmenxia , western Henan, the place which gave the culture its name, has a museum next to the archaeological site. The archaeological site of the village of Banpo near Xi'an is one of the best-known ditch-enclosed settlements of the Yangshao. Another major settlement called Jiangzhai was excavated out to its limits, and archaeologists found that it

3465-427: Was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after the Yangshao site, the first excavated site of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in the town of Yangshao in western Henan by the Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960). The culture flourished mainly in Henan, as well as

3528-442: Was also believed that the three-legged crow lived in the sun while a toad lived in the moon. The Samjok-o is such a highly respected symbol of power, even superior to both the dragon and the Korean bonghwang , that it carried into Silla , Goryeo , Joseon , and modern Korea. Samjok-o appeared in the story Yeonorang Seonyeo. A couple, Yeono and Seo, lived on the beach of the East Sea in 157 (King Adalala 4), and rode to Japan on

3591-426: Was also under his command that workers joined pre-existing sections of wall to create the Great Wall of China. Even after these accomplishments he is known in history as a failure both as a king and as a seeker of immortality. Qin had the opportunity to meet the Queen Mother of the West and attain greatness from her, but instead wasted it and died without the Mandate of Heaven or a dynasty. His story of not jumping at

3654-416: Was completely surrounded by a ring-ditch. Both Banpo and Jiangzhai also yielded incised marks on pottery which a few have interpreted as numerals or perhaps precursors to Chinese characters , but such interpretations are not widely accepted. The Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases: The Majiayao culture ( c.  3300  – c.  2000 BC ) to the west is now considered

3717-473: Was held in especially high regard by Chinese women who did not represent the societal norm of the submissive woman. To these women, The Queen Mother of the West was seen as "a powerful, independent deity representing the ultimate yin controlling immortality and the afterlife." Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Wusheng Laomu

3780-404: Was one of several emblems under consideration to replace the bonghwang in the Korean seal of state when its revision was considered in 2008. The Samjok-o appears also in Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC 's current emblem. There are some Korean companies using Samjok-o as their corporate logos. Yangshao culture The Yangshao culture ( Chinese : 仰韶文化 ; pinyin : Yǎngsháo wénhuà )

3843-493: Was plastered with mud, and a framework of poles would be placed to make a cone shape for the roof. Poles would be added to support the roof. It was then thatched with millet stalks. There was little furniture; a shallow fireplace in the middle with a stool, a bench along the wall, and a bed of cloth. Food and items were placed or hung against the walls. A pen would be built outside for animals. Yangshao villages typically covered ten to fourteen acres and were composed of houses around

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3906-411: Was surrounded by a female retinue of prominent goddesses and spiritual attendants. One of her symbols is the Big Dipper . Although not definite there are many beliefs that her garden had a special orchard of longevity peaches which would ripen once every three thousand years, others believe though that her court on Mount Kunlun was nearby to the orchard of the Peaches of Immortality . No matter where

3969-401: Was the highest goddess of the Taoist religion and ruler of female Transcendents, The Queen Mother was seen to have had a special relationship with all women. In the beginning section of Tu Kuang-ting's hagiography, he lists the most important functions of the Queen Mother: In heaven, beneath heaven, in the three worlds, and in the ten directions all women who ascend to transcendence and attain

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