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Xiwangmu, a MythSource painting
Chinese

Xiwangmu

01Identity

Xiwangmu in Chinese tradition

Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, is a Chinese goddess associated with immortality. Her peaches and elixirs can grant long life, and stories place her garden in the Western Paradise at Kunlun. When the archer Yi seeks a potion for his wife Chang-O, it is Xiwangmu who prepares it and warns him how to use it.

Her appearance changes between accounts. The early Shanhaijing describes a figure with tiger's teeth and a leopard's tail, while later traditions present a more human goddess who gives banquets of immortality. The peaches remain one of her familiar attributes, but the fearsome mountain goddess and the gracious hostess belong to different portrayals.

SourceChinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction· Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, Yi's visit to Hsi Wang Mu· A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 2, entry 65; Strassberg translation, printed p. 109 (PDF p. 132)· A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 65, printed pp. 109-110 (PDF pp. 132-133)· Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods

  • Goddess associated with immortality

    SourceA Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 65, printed pp. 109-110 (PDF pp. 132-133)· Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction

02

Context

Roles

Xiwangmu presides over banquets where the gods eat peaches of immortality. Larousse describes these peaches as ripening once every three thousand years; Collier also makes her the maker of elixirs in the Western Paradise.

SourceLarousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods· Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction

The Shanhaijing places the Queen Mother on Jade Mountain in chapter 2. Richard Strassberg notes that other entries locate her near or on Kunlun; the commentary of Guo Pu explains the different locations as her separate residences.

SourceA Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 2, entry 65; Strassberg translation, printed p. 109 (PDF p. 132)· A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 275, printed p. 195 (PDF p. 218)

Worship and practice

Strassberg describes Xiwangmu's place in Han tomb imagery, where she usually appears in human form and is associated with immortality. In later religious Daoism, he traces a further change: by the Tang dynasty she is portrayed as a beautiful goddess offering peaches to gods and immortals at Kunlun.

SourceA Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 65, printed pp. 109-110 (PDF pp. 132-133)

Variants

In the early Shanhaijing description, the Queen Mother has a leopard's tail, tiger's teeth and unkempt hair topped by a Sheng-Crown. A separate entry gives her a crown and low table. Collier's retelling describes both a fearsome old woman and a later graceful elderly form.

SourceA Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 2, entry 65; Strassberg translation, printed p. 109 (PDF p. 132)· A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 12, entry 275; Strassberg translation, printed p. 195 (PDF p. 218)· Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction

Larousse describes older accounts in which the Lady-Queen of the West is the wife of the Lord-King of the East. It distinguishes these from popular stories that present Queen Mother Wang as the Jade Emperor's wife, while retaining her immortality banquets and peaches.

SourceLarousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Xiwangmu?

    Xiwangmu is a Chinese deity associated with Immortality, as well as Plagues and evil spirits in Collier's account.
    Source

    Source

    • A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 65, printed pp. 109-110 (PDF pp. 132-133)
    • Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction
    • A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 2, entry 65; Strassberg translation, printed p. 109 (PDF p. 132)
    • Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, Yi's visit to Hsi Wang Mu

  • What is Xiwangmu the goddess of?

    Xiwangmu is associated with Immortality, as well as Plagues and evil spirits in Collier's account.
    Source

    Source

    • A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Strassberg commentary on entry 65, printed pp. 109-110 (PDF pp. 132-133)
    • Chinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction

  • What family links are recorded for Xiwangmu?

    Spouse: Lord-King of the East. These are the relationships in the accounts cited below.
    Source

    Source

    • Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods
03Family

Xiwangmu’s family, at a glance

Xiwangmu

with Lord-King of the East, Jade Emperor

Consorts

  • Lord-King of the East: Her husband in the older accounts described by Larousse.

    SourceLarousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods

  • Jade Emperor: Her husband in the popular accounts described separately by Larousse.

    SourceLarousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (ed. Félix Guirand, 1959): Heaven And Its Gods

04The names

The names Xiwangmu answers to

Hsi Wang Mu

Spelling used in Irene Dea Collier's retelling

SourceChinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, introduction

Queen Mother of the West

English title used in the Shanhaijing translation

SourceA Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas: Shanhaijing chapter 2, entry 65; Strassberg translation, printed p. 109 (PDF p. 132)

Queen Mother of the Western Paradise

Title used in Collier's account

SourceChinese Mythology Rocks!: Chapter 7, The Moon Goddess, Yi's visit to Hsi Wang Mu

05The myths

The myths of Xiwangmu

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Yi's Visit to Xiwangmu at Kunlun

The Archer Yi travelled to Kunlun because Chang-O wanted an elixir of immortality. He crossed deserts, streams and mountains before reaching the Western Paradise, where Hsi Wang Mu received him. She told him that the gods had just eaten the last batch of peaches and that another crop would not ripen for three thousand years. Yi continued to plead for help. Xiwangmu then took one imperfect dried peach, pounded herbs and powders into it, and stirred the mixture into an elixir before pouring it into a small vial. She told Yi that the potion could carry them both to heaven, but warned him to take it on a clear night or the drinker could be trapped between earth and heaven.

Chang-O decided to drink both portions so that she could reach heaven first and seek forgiveness for Yi for shooting down nine suns. The elixir lifted her into the sky, but the night was not clear. She lost her way among the stars and came to rest in the moon. Yi saw her rising and ran after her shadow, but could not reach her. In Collier's account, the gods later allowed Yi to visit Chang-O once a year at the harvest moon.

Yi's Visit to Xiwangmu at Kunlun, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-09-05

  1. 1Chinese Mythology Rocks!T1
  2. 2Chinese Mythology Rocks!T1
  3. 3Chinese Mythology Rocks!T1