Lishan Laomu

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Lishan Laomu
Lishan Laomu painting.jpg
The painting picture of Lishan Laomu
Traditional Chinese驪山老母
Simplified Chinese骊山老母
Literal meaningThe Old Mother of Mount Li

Líshān Lǎomǔ (Chinese: 驪山老母/黎山老母/梨山老母; lit. 'The Old Mother of Mount Li') is the goddess of Mount Li in Chinese religion. She is a popular female immortal in the Taoist pantheon, and a high-ranking one according to some late sources. Her origins are said to derive from Nü Wa, the legendary creator and mother goddess.

Legends[]

The Lishan Laomu is one of the more popular nüxian (女仙, ′female celestial/immortal′) revered in the Chinese folk religion or Taoist belief.[1]

The Lishan Laomu legend consists of an accretion of a number of stories about her. Her disciples and apprentices include Taoist ascetics such as Li Quan.[2] and legendary female heroes, such as Zhongli Chun, Fan Lihua, Bai Suzhen, Zhu Yingtai, Mu Guiying, Liu Jinding, these women are heroine era.[3][better source needed]

The ancient origins of Lishan Laomu appears lost to "time immemorial".[4] A certain woman of Lishan living at the end of the Shang dynasty has been proposed as a historical prototypeby a late Qing dynasty scholar Yu Yue (d. 1907), who insisted the personage was real and not fictional.[5] However recent scholars have skeptically labeled it as conjecture without firm proof.[6][a] The historical figure is recorded in the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) and Hanshu (The Book of Han).[5] The older text, the Shiji from the Former Han period, states that the Marquis of Shen (申候), ruler during the Zhou dynasty had a certain woman ancestor born at Mt. Li, who married a western barbarian chieftain named Xuxuan (胥轩);[b] Xuxuan then swore fealty to Zhou dynasty China and guarded the Western March (西陲), thus bringing the western peoples (the xirong 西戎)[c] under control.[7] The Later Han (Eastern Han) compilation Han shu stated that the "Lady of Li Mountain" once ruled as the Child of Heaven between the Shang(17th-11th cent. BC) and Zhou (11th. cent.-221 BC) dynasties.[8][9][d]

A divine woman or "nymph" (神女) associated with the hot spring west or northwest of Mt. Li was encountered by the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang from the nearby capital city of Xianyang, according to a lost Late Han source, the San Qinji (三秦記, ′Record of the Three Qin′), and scholars believe this "nymph" should be identified with Lishan Laomu.[8][e] At the time of the First Emperor, there was a crossway of eighty li to Mount Li, and people walked over the bridge, carts drove under the bridge. The pillars of metal and stone could still be seen.[10][12][f] To the west (or northwest) of Mt. Li, there are hot springs, and it is said that Qin Shi Huang cavorted with (made love to) the divine woman or "nymph" there. As he was ill-mannered, the goddess spat at him, causing sores to develop. The First Emperor apologized, and the divine woman made a hot spring appear, which cured his illness. Because of that, later generations used to bathe there.[13][10][14][15][g]

During the Tang Dynasty, Taoist Li Quan was a military governor fond of the way of the immortals who often travelled to spiritual places in the mountains; according to legend, he met with Lishan Laomu at the foot of Lishan Mountain, and Laomu taught him the Huangdi Yinfujing (The Yellow Emperor's Scripture on "Unconscious Unification").[17][18]

The old zaju or operatic version text of  [zh][h] styles the Lishan Laomu as the elder sister of the protagonist, the Monkey King Sun Wukong.[19][20] The zaju version is made confusing because the title Qitian Dasheng [ja] (斉天大聖, 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven') which normally refers to Sun Wukong himself[i] is conferred to a supposed elder brother of his; meanwhile Sun Wukong adopts the slightly different title of Tongtian Dasheng (通天大聖, 'Great Sage Reaching Heaven').[j][22]

While the text of the romance version of the Journey to the West mentions the concept of the Immortals of the Upper Eight Caves, it only names divinities other than Li Shan Laomu,[k][23] however, some baojuan scrolls dating to the Qing dynasty period do name her among the "Eight Upper Immortals" (cf.  [zh], or Eight Immortals of the Upper, Middle, and Lower spheres).[l][24]

A local myth collected in Zhongning County, Ningxia Province in 1986 makes Lishan Laomu and Wangmu Niangniang into sisters who collaborated in the task of mending the sky and earth.[25]

Conflations[]

She has often become equated with Nü Wa.[26][25] Certainly there was a place of Nü Wa's governance on Mount Li, according to medieval sources.[29]

She has also been conflated with Wuji Laomu (無極老母, 'Old Mother of the Ultimate Nothingness').[26]

Places[]

Lishan Laomu Temple in Taiwan

Laomu's main temple is called "Lishan Laomu Palace" in Xi'an of Shaanxi Province is the most famous one among those extant temples. The palace is situated on the Xixiu Ridge of Mount Li, Lintong District, Xi'an.[30]

See also[]

Explanatory notes[]

  1. ^ In the past, Schafer (1956), p. 73 and n142 did accept the historical identification from The Book of Han: "the ′Woman of Mount Li,′reputed to have reigned as Child of Heaven at the end of the Shang Dynasty, a fit mate for the omnipotent monarch of Ch'in".
  2. ^ Wade-Giles: Hsü-hsüan
  3. ^ Pinyin:xirong or Western rong; Wade-Giles: "The Western Jung" is the rendering used by Nienhauser.
  4. ^ Cullen (mis)translates as "between the Yin and Shang dynasties", but those are two names of the same dynasty, and the Chinese text Cullen supplies clearly state "between Yin ((殷) and Zhou (周)". Schafer paraphrases as "at the end of the Shang dynasty".
  5. ^ The relevant fragment from the San Qinji survived quoted in other sources, namely  [zh] attributed to  [zh] (宋敏求, d. 1079),[8] Commentary on the Water Classic (Shuijingzhu, 水經注),[8] and the Song dynasty leishu encyclopedia Taiping Yulan.[10]
  6. ^ The details about the bridge is part of a more extended quote from San Qinji regarding the First Emperor's encounter, according to the Taiping Yulan. However, the same details derive from Tudi ji, according to the Chang'an zhi.
  7. ^ The Chinese text quoted in the Taiping Yulan states "to the west lies a hot spring" (西有溫泉),[10] but the Commentary on the Water Classic and the Chang'an zhi 15 state "northwest" (西北),[14][11] Yet Schafer states: "The springs are situated on the lower northeast slopes of Mount Li-Blackhorse Mountain", even while citing Chang'an zhi.[8]
  8. ^ Conventionally referred to as "The Journey to the West as zaju".
  9. ^ As is the case in the book version of the Journey to the West",[21] and the enshrining conventions and practices of the Taoist Chinese folk religion.
  10. ^ Also, Sun Wukong is also alternatively referred to as Sun Xingzhe (孫行者, 'the acolyte/ascetic').
  11. ^ The Three Pure Ones, Four Sovereigns (sidi, 四帝), and the Heavenly Devas of the taiyi (taiyi tianxian, 太乙天仙) and others.
  12. ^ The He Xiangu baojuan (《何仙姑宝巻》, 'The Precious Scroll of the Immortal Maiden He') names Lishan Laomu (驪山老母) and the Baxian [da] shangshou baojuan (《八仙[大]上寿宝巻》, 'on the Eight Immortals' Birthday Congratulations') names Lishan Laomu (黎山老母) , but the other divinities listed as the Eight Immortals or the Upper differ completely.

References[]

Citations
  1. ^ Chen (2007), p. 107, n14: "The defining line between Daoist religion and popular religion is quite murky".
  2. ^ See below
  3. ^ "黎山老母是谁黎山老母真实身份到底是什么". www.lishiquwen.com 歴史趣聞 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2017-07-17. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  4. ^ Chen (2007), p. 107.
  5. ^ a b Yu Yue (1968). Xiaofu meixian hua 小浮梅閑話. Chunzaitang Quanshu 春在堂全書. Huan qiu shu ju 環球書局. p. 5831.
  6. ^ Song, Wang & Li (1994), pp. 236–238, cited by Chen (2007), p. 107, n15.
  7. ^ Ssu-Ma Ch'ien (Sima Qian) (1994). Nienhauser, William H., Jr. (ed.). The Grand Scribe's Records. 1. Translated by Weiguo Cao; Scott W. Galer; William H. Nienhauser; David W. Pankenier. Indiana University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780253340214.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Schafer, Edward H. (April–June 1956). "The Development of Bathing Customs in Ancient and Medieval China and the History of the Floriate Clear Palace". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 76 (2): 72–73. doi:10.2307/595074. JSTOR 595074.
  9. ^ Cullen, Christopher (2016). The Foundations of Celestial Reckoning: Three Ancient Chinese Astronomical Systems: Scientific Writings from the Ancient and Medieval World. Taylor & Francis. p. 372. ISBN 9781317327202.
  10. ^ a b c d San Qinji, as cited/quoted by the Taiping Yulan 太平御覽, Book 71, or Part 36 of Dibu, the Section on Lands/Countries)
  11. ^ a b c Song Minqiu. 長安志 (四庫全書本)/卷15  [Chang'an zhi (Siku Quanshu or Four Treasuries edition) Book 15] (in Chinese) – via Wikisource.
  12. ^ Tudi ji (土地記), as cited/quoted by the Chang'an zhi, Book 15.[11]
  13. ^ Xin(-shi). 三秦记  [San Qinji] (in Chinese) – via Wikisource.
  14. ^ a b San Qinji, as cited/quoted by the Commentary on the Water Classic Shuijingzhu 水經注, Book 191
  15. ^ Schafer[8] apud Chang'an zhi [Book] 15, 5b.[11]
  16. ^ Song Minqiu. 長安志 (四庫全書本)/卷16  [Chang'an zhi (Siku Quanshu or Four Treasuries edition) Book 16] (in Chinese) – via Wikisource.
  17. ^ Jiu tuji (舊圖經, 'old map guides'), as cited/quoted by the Chang'an zhi Book 16.[16]
  18. ^ "黎山老母和观音谁级别高？黎山老母和毗蓝婆什么关系?" (in Chinese). www.todayonhistory.com. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  19. ^ Sun (2018), p. 45.
  20. ^ "Book 3, Act 9" 巻之3第9齣:神佛降孫. Yang Donglai xiansheng piping Xiyou ji 楊東來先生批評西游記 [Xiyou ji: Annotated by Yang Donglai]. Tokyo: Shibun-kai 斯文会. 1928. p. 37. e-text@Wikisource.
  21. ^ Sun (2018), pp. 44, 56.
  22. ^ Sun (2018), pp. 44–45.
  23. ^ Wu Cheng'en (1977) [1952]. The Journey to the West. 1. Translated by Yu, Anthony C. University of Chicago Press. p. 138. ISBN 9780226971506.
  24. ^ 段宝林; 祁连休, eds. (1988). Minjian wenxue cidian 民间文学词典 (in Chinese). 河北敎育出版社. p. 462. ISBN 9787543400863.
  25. ^ a b Yang, Lihui; An, Deming; Turner, Jessica Anderson (2008) [2005]. Handbook of Chinese Mythology. Oxford University Press. pp. 222-223. ISBN 978-0-19-533263-6.
  26. ^ a b Miller, James (2006). Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. ABC-CLIO. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-85109-626-8.
  27. ^ Luo Mi. 路史 (四庫全書本)/卷11  [Lushi (Siku Quanshu or Four Treasuries edition) Book 11] (in Chinese) – via Wikisource.
  28. ^ Lü Simian (2005). Lü Simian dushi zhaji 吕思勉读史札记. 1. Shanghai guji chubanshe 上海古籍出版社. p. 27. ISBN 9787532542130.
  29. ^ Lushi citing Chang'an zhi as stating "Li shan has Nü Wa's place of governance 驪山有女媧治處".[27] Noted by scholar Lü Simian (d. 1907).[28]
  30. ^ "Lishan Laomu Palace in Xi'an". Shaanxi Radio and TV University. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
Bibliography
  • Song Jin; Wang Yu; Li Qian (1994). Huaxia Nüxian 华夏女仙 [The female celestials of China] (in Chinese). Beiyue wenyi chubanshe. pp. 236–238. ISBN 9787537810999.
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