Queen Mother of The West - Xiwangmu and The Women of The T'ang

Xiwangmu and The Women of The T'ang

Because she was the embodiment of yin, highest goddess, 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-t'ing'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 the way are her dependents." (CMYC)

The Queen Mother of the west was said to care for all women Daoists in the universe, both perfected and aspirants. T'ang 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 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." (Cahill, 1986).