HSI WANG MU

Pinyin Xi Wang Mu (Chinese: Queen Mother of the West), in Taoist mythology of China, queen of the immortals in charge of female genies (spirits) who dwell in a fairyland called Hsi Hua (West Flower). Her popularity has obscured Mu Kung, her counterpart and husband, a prince who watches over males in Tung Hua (East Flower) paradise. Tradition describes the queen as a former mountain spirit transformed into a beautiful woman from a quasi-human who had a leopard's tail and tiger's teeth. Her fairyland garden was filled with rare flowers, extraordinary birds, and the flat peach (p'an-t'ao) of immortality. A Taoist romance relates that during a visit to Wu-ti, emperor of the Han dynasty, Hsi Wang Mu gave him the famous peach of immortality. He was anxious to bury the stone, but Hsi Wang Mu discouraged him saying that Chinese soil was not suitable and, in any case, the tree bloomed only once in 3,000 years. The Hung-wu emperor, who was the first Ming emperor (136898), was presented with a p'ant'ao stone discovered in a treasure house of the previous (Yan) dynasty. Ten engraved ideographs identified the stone as that given to Wu-ti by Hsi Wang Mu. According to Taoist myth, Hsi Wang Mu's birthday is celebrated by the Pa Hsien (Eight Immortals) with a grand banquet during which Hsi Wang Mu serves special delicacies: bear paws, monkey lips, and dragon liver. P'an-t'ao are offered as the last course.