#queen mother of the west

[theycallmeazalea]

Queen mother of the west, but something’s off..

I present you all my version of lmk Xi wangmu sketch. Despite in most depictions of her she seems more human, but I liked the fact she also has feline anatomy, so I gave her cat ears, and gave her some marks that makes her look more like a tigress. I used Nezha and Núwa for inspiration, gave her more “fluffy” hair like Nezha, and earrings like Nüwa. Also, the mark on her forehead isn’t face makeup, she was born with it. Like how a tiger is born with its markings.

And some doodles with her and Yudi (when they were younger):

I hope that Xwm and Yudi are very much in love with each other 😭

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[the-white-snake]

And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be And this is what she does and this is what she is ♫

[ryin-silverfish]

Is it true that xiwangmu is described as a tiger? or like a wild animal or Yaoguai? Can you please talk more about her?

Her earliest depiction in the Book of Mountains and Seas is a half-human, half-beast goddess, yes.

In 西山经, she was said to be "human-like", but has the tail of a leopard, teeth of a tiger, and is good at roaring. She is also in charge of natural disasters, plagues, and punishments.

Another passage from 大荒西经 mentioned a god with human face and the body of a tiger on Mt. Kunlun...next to the "QMoW with leopard tail and tiger teeth".

Here are some depictions from (much) later illustrated versions of the Book of Mountains and Seas:

However, the Book of Mountains and Seas is a collection of pre-Qin myths and legends, and by the Han dynasty, QMoW had evolved into a fully human goddess, able to grant immortality via elixirs, and interacted with human emperors like King Mu of Zhou + Han Wudi in stories.

Here is her depiction on Han dynasty grave reliefs. Though QMoW was accompanied by a dragon and a tiger in those artworks, she herself looked like an aristocratic human woman.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Added with my question, sorry, I see the Jade Emperor's wife has like two names? so I'm confused. Xiwangmu and Wangmu Niangniang are the same goddess? Or did the Jade Emperor's wife change over time?

She has many names considering how old she is.

“王母” Queen Mother

“金母” Golden Mother

“瑶池老母” Yaochi Old Mother

“瑶池金母” Yaochi Golden Mother

“西池金母” Xichi Golden Mother

“仙母” Immortal Mother

“阿母” Aunt

“龟山金母” Guishan Golden Mother

“龟台金母” Guitai Golden Mother

“金母元君” Golden Mother Yuanjun

“王母娘娘” The Queen Mother of the West

It is not that the Jade Emperor changed wives as much as his wife changed herself. She used to have an animal humanoid form and was even considered a yaoguai for some time before she was turned into the lovely beauty that she is depicted as today. The image of the Queen Mother of the West has undergone many transformations from a half-human, half-animal, ferocious god who wields plague and punishment, to a furious god who holds the elixir of immortality, to the head of the immortals in heaven, to the creation goddess who nurtures all things.

[nillabean]

Risai: Met god once.

Risai: Wasn't impressed.

[violetjedisylveon]

The Samadhi Flower

Spicynoodles Tangled AU chapter 1

Summary: The Samadhi Flower is the last chance to save Queen Iron Fan's life, and her husband will do whatever he can to save her.

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: Near death experience, sickness, curses, child birth, c-section, forced pregnancy and LBD is really creepy at the end. Those last two go together.

A/N: You need context for this, here's the AU Masterpost it has the context. These first two-ish chapters are before the kidnapping btw.

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Once, long, long ago, the Queen of the Heavens descended to the mortal realm and planted a singular seed.

This small seed held a fraction of the Queen's power, an infinitesimal amount for a goddess to give up, but nearly unimaginable to the vast majority of mortal beings.

From that seed, the goddess’s gift to the world below, grew a magic fire flower. The Samadhi Flower 

It had the ability to heal the sick and injured, cure even the most devastating curses, chase away dark forces from the possessed, and even save one from the brink of death itself if used properly.

And it was powerful, just being near the flower’s influence would heal one of any ailments.

Though much like its creator, the flower had a darker side. Its creator was a goddess of destruction after all.

The Samadhi Flower created the most powerful flames ever seen in all the realms. Its heat scorched the land around it, turning it into an inhospitable barren waste that few would dare venture far into, the flower's healing powers could be felt from the edge of the burned lands.

The Queen had instructed the flower to protect itself from those who might use its power for their own selfish desires, so it harnessed the destructive powers to do as it was told.

To further protect the flower she had graciously gifted the world, the Queen decreed that only one of her divine blood could truly control the power of the flower, and that the flower could only be picked by one willing to risk the fury of the Queen of Heaven to save another they cared for more than themself.

When the Queen thought her gift was safe from greed and power hungry mortals, she left it to the mortal realm to be used as she intended.

And there it was.

The Samadhi Flower.

Sitting in the center of a burnt, barren land, the symbol of its power scorched into the ground it grew from.

The fabled gift from the Queen Mother Of The West herself.

The last chance he had to save the love of his life.

“Brother, are you sure about this? The legends say the Samadhi Flower will burn any who dare attempt to pick it.” His ears flicked in acknowledgement of his sworn brother’s warning.

DBK silenced the dragon prince with a glare. His other brother was not so easily silenced.

“We still have time to figure something else out, we don't need to resort to this.” The golden furred monkey said with a gesture towards the flower.

“No, if we delay any longer, Iron Fan will die.” He grunted.

“And if you try to pick that flower, you will die. Even if you somehow manage to get the stupid weed out of the ground, she could still die from the damned thing burning her, or from giving birth, and that leaves the kid an orphan!” The monkey king argued.

“If it comes to that, I trust you and Mihou will fulfill your duty as our child's godparents.” DBK said.

The monkey stared up at him with a fiery rage in his eyes.

“Then let me try, I'm a lot more-”

“No. The Samadhi Flower is very selective about who it will allow to pick it.” He cut his brother off.

“Besides, I doubt the Queen Mother would appreciate you picking her flower, Wukong.” He added in a late attempt to lighten the mood.

The monkey’s tail lashed around angrily and he clenched his fists in frustration. Instead of hitting him, Wukong merely stomped the ground, hard enough to leave an indent.

“I fuckin hate you.” He growled with crossed arms.

He nodded to his brothers and turned to the Samadhi Flower, glowing with an immortal fire. He approached the flower and before his brothers could interfere or try a last minute attempt to stop him, he thrust his hands into the ground and grabbed onto the flower’s roots.

The ground itself burned.

His thick fur caught fire and the heat blast filled his eyes with tears.

Squinting through his tears, he could see his mate's image in the dancing flames. She was alive and healthy. That was the only thing he wanted, being without her was worse than any pain this flower could dish out.

He dug his heels in and pulled.

For a split second, he thought he saw someone else in the fire, a woman with a harsh frown on her face stared at him with dark, hard eyes.

Then the woman gave him a subtle nod and he ripped the flower from the ground.

He fell back into his brothers’ waiting arms.

“Fucking hells, you got it. You actually got it you crazy bastard!” Wukong shouted gleefully, shaking his arm aggressively.

He hissed in pain and pulled away from his brother.

“Are you alright?” Ao Lie asked.

He shook his head and staggered to his feet.

“I will be.” He grunted.

“We must hurry this back to Iron Fan.” He said.

Wukong nodded and formed his cloud underneath their feet.

“Hold on tight boys, we're going home.”

XXX

DBK paced anxiously outside of the royal delivery room.

The birth had been going well so far. Iron Fan’s sickness, though now Wukong was starting to think it was some form of curse designed to imitate illness which explained why none of the previous treatments had worked. Whatever it was, the Samadhi Flower had cured her of it.

They got back just in time too, Mihou had told them that Iron Fan would have died if they were even a day later.

DBK had been right, they really had been out of time.

Ao Lie came in with another tray of tea, from the smell of it he made all their personal favorites.

Out of the three of them, DBK had the experience with birth and the process it entailed. Ao Lie had been present and assisted in the births of many other dragons, family members or otherwise, he helped his own mate birth their daughter years ago. He had never seen someone so calm at their own mate’s labor.

And Wukong himself had served as a midwife more times than he could count for his people, though he trusted his mate more than he trusted himself to handle a more difficult birth. Mihou was Iron Fan’s sworn brother too so she probably felt more comfortable with him tending to her.

He took the tea Ao Lie offered and forced himself to relax externally. He had been through this enough times to know that the only thing he could do right now was keep his cool, help his brother stay calm, and wait for the results.

XXX

Liu'er Mihou shouldn't be scared, he had helped deliver countless babies before and performed many cesarean sections in his lifetime. He was no stranger to the struggles of birth.

So why was he stressing so much over this one?

Iron Fan was his sister, but he had helped many close to him give birth before.

It could be added stress from her near death experience only than a week ago, or it could be his aid.

He glanced up as Ivory entered the main room with a bin of cool water for his sister.

The ice demon always set him off for reasons he could never explain, but he knew to trust his instincts and not trust her.

He usually tried to keep the lesser advisor away from his sister, except for when absolutely necessary and right now, she was the only ice demon in the palace. He needed her powers.

Iron Fan was burning up and Ivory's ice magic worked wonders at keeping the Queen cool. That didn't mean he would trust the bone white demon.

He signaled the doctor with his tail, they quickly came to his side.

“I don't think I can turn the baby, I'm starting to think I'll have to go for a cesarean.” He told them.

They frowned and felt around for themself.

“That baby is pretty stuck in there. You'll probably have to.” They agreed.

“I was really hoping I wouldn't.” He sighed.

Cesareans were tricky, vertical or horizontal, though in his experience a horizontal was much easier, but he didn't have the time for that one. He had to get the baby out soon.

“Can you get everything ready? I'm going to tell her.” He requested quietly.

The doctor nodded and set about preparing the birthing room for surgery.

“Ivory, go tell Wukong that the Queen needs a cesarean.” He ordered.

The ice demon nodded and bowed then swiftly left the room.

Mihou went to his sister's side and tapped her arm gently. She opened her now burnt magenta eyes and frowned.

“There's trouble.” She guessed.

“Yes, the baby is stuck, the best thing to do is a cesarean.” He said.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back with a soft groan.

“Are you okay with that?” He asked.

“You're the expert here. Do what you think is-” she broke off with a shout as a particularly strong contraction hit her.

“I'll get started.” He told her.

Everything was prepared for the surgery, he ordered Ivory to fetch a healer and prepare a bath for the baby.

He took a deep breath and made the first incision.

XXX

Mihou gently washed the newborn in a warm bath as Lihua got the incision healing. The young demon was pretty good at giving injuries a healing kickstart. He was very glad when Ivory had returned with her.

Iron Fan was resting, he had given her a few heavy pain killers so she wouldn't feel her skin being knit back together. Sometimes healing injuries like that felt worse than receiving them.

She would recover quickly, she had always healed fast, it was why she lasted so long against the sickness-curse that nearly took her life, and she could be back to her normal life soon. With her son of course.

The newborn was a little boy, he had floppy little bull ears, little spots where horns would eventually grow and a cute little tail that looked like a paint brush. And he had a lot of hair already.

It was bright red and silky soft.

He was already so excited to introduce his sister to her little boy.

XXX

DBK sat up as soon as the door opened, Mihou gave him a tired, happy smile.

“Would you like to meet your son?” He asked.

He practically tore the doors off the hinges in his rush to get in the room.

The love of his life was resting in the delivery bed, or she had been until he disturbed her.

His queen shot him a fiery, tired glare before a soft smile graced her lips.

“Darling, it's so wonderful to see you well.” He said, kneeling at her bedside.

“It's wonderful to be well.” She said, cupping his cheek with her free hand.

Her fingers twirled around the burnt and permanently damaged fur.

She leaned closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her. They sat together for a quiet moment of peace before Iron Fan spoke again.

“Do you want to hold him?” She asked.

He nodded eagerly and she gently placed their little boy in his hands.

He fit perfectly in his palms.

“He's so tiny.” He almost squealed.

Iron Fan laughed softly and leaned on his shoulder, reaching over to run her fingers through their son's fluffy red hair. 

“Perfect, isn't he?” she mused.

“Yes, our precious Red Son.” he said, nuzzling her forehead gently.

He overheard his brothers trying to leave quietly.

“I want one.”

“Me too.”

“Can we get one?”

“Not now…”

Their voices faded as the pair of monkeys shut the door softly behind them.

DBK shifted into a more comfortable position and held his wife and son as they both succumbed to the exhaustion of the last day.

This, holding his family close to him, was a gift, it was a blessing they were even alive at all.

Their survival was in a way a gift from Iron Fan’s estranged mother.

Their child bore the mark of her gift to the realm on his back.

DBK swore he saw the goddess in the flames of the flower when he picked it. Even if their relationship wasn't the best, she didn't want her daughter and grandchild to die.

Even if she never did anything else for them or even acknowledged her grandson, he would be forever grateful for her gift to him.

His wife and son.

XXX

LBD slipped quietly into the humble house she had built deep into the woods. Far east from the capital city of the Ironbull Empire.

It was far from her preferred home, but if all went well, she would be returning there soon enough.

Regardless of her preferences, this spot was carefully chosen; it was far enough from most settlements that her residence was completely unknown, yet in an area known for having some isolated hermits living in it.

Her activities could go unnoticed yet if she was seen no one would think anything of it. The cost of making a portal to go back and forth between the capital was worth it.

This was the perfect place to plan and continue her experiments.

Her thrall opened the door for her.

“Welcome back my lady.” He said enthusiastically as he always did.

“How was your time away?” He asked.

She didn't respond, instead she went to the hidden staircase and descended into her dungeon to check on her little project’s process.

“You've been caring for my project while I was away?” She asked as she descended the stairs.

“Of course my lady.”

“Good. My visit to the capital has proved quite informative.” She told him.

“Oh?”

“The Samadhi Flower has been used to save Queen Iron Fan, her son now holds its power within him.” She said.

“The grandson of Xiwangmu.” he chuckled.

Oh yes, Xiwangmu’s attempt to prevent “mortals” from truly having control of her power was based on the fact she never thought one of her own would settle in the realm. Quite a humorous twist of fate really.

She stepped off the last step and approached the shadowy figure sitting in a cell of bone and ice.

The monkey growled softly at her approach. Clearly they were still doing just fine. Their process was coming along quite nicely. Her thrall didn't have any new injuries, so her little project had been very well behaved while she was gone.

That was deserving of a reward.

“What is to be done with the young prince?” Her thrall questioned as she prepared a nice treat for her well behaved monkey demon.

“Do you still plan to take him as your own?” He asked gleefully, knowing exactly how to get the monkey's undivided attention.

“Well, if all goes well, I won't have to resort to that quite yet.” She said with a glance over her shoulder at her experiment.

The monkey bared their fangs and their tail twitched in agitation, but otherwise they made no protest. How could they?

The icy blue chains blocked their magic and forced them to remain in this bitterly cold hell.

Laohu silently watched the witch come around with a tray of fruit. A reward for their perceived good behavior. They would have bitten the thrall if they hadn't felt so sick in the time the witch was gone.

The witch gave them a cold smile and oh so graciously offered them the tray. Laohu knew better than to refuse the witch's “charity” and accepted the “reward”.

They were to busy checking it for possible danger that they didn't notice the witch sneak closer to them until her long, boney fingers started working out the knots in their extra fluffy fur.

Laohu froze, they always did. The witch hummed to herself, uncaring of their discomfort.

Begrudgingly, they allowed the witch to groom their fur. It was necessary to deal with their now thick fur, and they couldn't do it themself anymore, but Laohu hated every moment of it.

The witch took something shared between family, between mates, and twisted it into something rotten.

It made their skin crawl and their stomach churn.

Qiuyue, their mate, should be the one going through their fur, not this witch.

Laohu suffered through the involuntary grooming session, not giving much of a response to the witch's comments about how they should take better care of themself for the child's sake, as if the witch would actually care about them, and finally relaxed enough to be able to eat once the witch and her thrall returned to their dwellings above.

They glared at the stone ceiling above them, then sighed and buried themself in the small nest they had made. The witch was cruel, but she provided them with the necessities to successfully produce what she wanted.

It was better than sleeping on the cold floor, but at the same time they didn't want to accept anything from the witch.

They curled up and wrapped their tail around their baby bump, around the little one who the witch would do gods know what to regardless of the outcome.

Laohu rested a hand on their bump and silently promised their child that they would find some way to get out of this, to keep their little lily safe from their “mother” and get back to their mate and cub.

[dorothygale123]

So, yesterday when I talked about Monkey stripping a guy and Buddha showing off his middle finger (no I won't give that more context) I didn't mention a couple other cool things I read in my source about Wukong and his rampage through Heaven. Namely, the fact that my source never once calls the ruler of the cosmos the Jade Emperor, as well as Kuan Yin referring to Erlang Shen as said ruler's grandson.

For those of you who aren't as big a nerd as I am and don't memorize mythological family trees this may not seem all that strange, but in mythology Erlang is consistently depicted as the Jade Emperor's nephew, the son of one his sister. One of my mutuals, @quitealotofsodapop has a pretty good visual for the Jade Emperor's possible family tree over on his blog, which I recommend checking out.

But I digress, what I wanted to do here was bring this back around to my previous post about rulers of the cosmos and my proposed order for them: Shangdi, the first ruler who reigned before the Court of Heaven was founded, Xiwangmu and Dongwanggong, the couple who ruled the Heavens together until they separated, the Yellow Emperor, the first singular ruler of all of China, Di Jun, the father of the 10 suns and 12 moons, and the Jade Emperor, the figure more modern texts point to as the ruler of the gods after some guy made him up to get out of trouble over a controversial military decision.

No I will not stop mentioning that, it is hilarious.

Anyway, I won't go into detail about my rationale for choosing those figures and giving them those placements here, but what this implies is that my source got this story from a time before the Jade Emperor was commonly seen as the head god of the Daoist pantheon. However, if we get out creative licenses out and overthink things a little, I could also imply that Monkey's rampage through Heaven, or at least his birth, could have happened BEFORE the Jade Emperor ascended to the Heavenly throne, and that the Jade Emperor is either the son of the previous ruler (who we are presuming to be Di Jun) or that one of his siblings was married to one of Di Jun's children.

Personally, I like the thought that Wukong was born before the Jade Emperor took the throne, but the fiasco with the 10 suns and Di Jun stepping down happened in his lifetime. And on the Jade Emperor's side of things, I'm leaning towards the second option where the Jade Emperor and Di Jun are in laws rather than outright related, but it could be cool either way.

I just want to restate that I'm not claiming any of this is canno to actual chinese mythology, it's just me taking a look at a cool culture and putting pieces where I think they'll fit. What do you think?

Sh*tpost Masterlist

[shung-chai]

Sun Wukong the Monkey King & the Peaches of Immortality in "Shang-Chi & the Quest for Immortality" Graphic Novel!

In the Shang-Chi & the Quest for Immortality graphic novel, a young Shang-Chi learns about the Monkey King and the Peaches of Immortality!

Sun Wukong the Monkey King first appeared in the Marvel Universe in Fear Itself: Monkey King #1 (2011)!

And the Peaches of Immortality, also known as P'an-t'ao, are grown in the gardens of Xi Wangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, in Ta-Lo!

[taomubiji]

The Banquet of Seowangmo (Xiwangmu), Queen Mother of the West (18th-19th Century)

The painting depicts the Queen Mother of the West's Banquet. The Queen Mother would invite immortals to her banquet to eat ripened peaches of immortality. According to legends, King Mu of the Zhou dynasty went to visit her in his quest for immortality.

[by13x]

西遊記-

98-Xīwángmǔ 西王母

Queen Mother of the West

[mentality-of-wukong-au]

So their in a coma…

Xi WangMu: Precisely

[theycallmeazalea]

It’s summer, I hope we get lmk season 5 sooner..

Anyways here’s some drawings:

Ofc, these are just concept art of XWM and young Yudi. I’m still having trouble in deciding XWM’S colors cheme.. With Yudi however, it’s kinda easy, since he already has a canon design in lmk.

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Doodles:

I’m slowly getting into Metal cardbot- the show feels like if Pokémon and Transformers had a lovechild… And I love it, really love Blue cop he reminds me of a cat.

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[ryin-silverfish]

Is there a story about how the Jade Emperor and Xiwangmu met or is it just mentioned that they were together and that's it?

If there is, it's probably inside some oral folktales collection I'm not aware of.

Much like a lot of folklore stuff, the literati just didn't write this kind of stuff down, and although vernacular God-Demon novels might mention it off-handedly or present it like common sense (it would be to the target audiences of that era), you couldn't really trace it to one clear story or source.

So yes, they were just together in popular beliefs, like the pairing had always been this way.

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 漢服]Chinese immortal Hanfu <西王母/Queen Mother of the West> Based On Yuan Dynasty Taoist Temple Mural<永乐宫/Yongle Palace>

【Historical Artifacts Reference 】:

▶ China Yuan Dynasty Taoist Temple 永乐宫/Yongle Palace Mural

<西王母/Queen Mother of the West>

The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times.

The first mentions of the Queen Mother date back to 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 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, 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.

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 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 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 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.— Wu Yun (Complete Tang Poems 1967, line 4942)

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 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.

Legendary encounters

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 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 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.[18] 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 the sage.

<China Han Dynasty stone-relief showing 西王母/Queen Mother of the West from Sichuan,China>

<China Wei and Jin Dynasties Mural showing 西王母/Queen Mother of the West>

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📸Photography post-production :@小何力

👗Hanfu & 👑Crown：@雁鸿Aimee

💄 Makeup：百丽 （临溪摄影）

👭Model：@清音音音音

🔗 Weibo:https://weibo.com/1648616372/O2R5bpBud

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[quitealotofsodapop]

When Tieshan told Macaque of the scarf, she knew what she was doing. She may not know much of Ancient Stone Monkey culture, but she had 500 years, a mountain full of lost stories and secrets regarding the clan, and quite the incentive to learn as much as she could. After all, it could literally be the difference between life and death for Wukong and his second try at parenthood. She wasn't going to risk sowmthing as simple as a lack of knowledge from stopping her...

So somewhere on that island she came across a depiction of Stone Monkey mourning rituals, including how some monkeys would choose to bury themselves beside their mates during the Stone Egg ritual, or lacking a proper resting place, with their mate's former items so that the dao of their mate would be absorbed by their Egg. A way for their mate to live on through their child, so to speak. This means she knows what it means for Wukong to have buried himself with Macaque's scarf and continue to wear it as a waist wrap even now. And she knows Macaque and Marshall Ma knows it, too.

Pigsy asks her how she knew mentioning the scarf would get Macaque out of his funk.

Pigsy: How the hell did you know that would work!?

Tieshan: Because despite not being raised by them, Macaque is still a Stone Monkey of the Lotus-Eared variant. In their culture, to bury oneself with something covered in their mate's dao is to wish for the cub to absorb the dao and have a piece ofntheir mate pass on to the cub, if not in blood, then in spirit. We can see in Xiaotian's coloration how Wukong and Macaque's dao had mixed together to create a child that looks like both parents.

Marshall Ma: Wukong would have known about this as well, the Elder whom led us before Wukong had taken the throne of the Stone Matriarch had raised him with as much knowledge about the Stone Monkeys as he could before he passed.

Xiwangmu, interested: Stone Matriarch? I have not heard of such a being.

Marshall Ma: 'Tis the title of Wukong's predecessor, the one whom Azure claims to be Lady Sonzi's reincarnation. We know her as the Stone Matriarch of Flower Fruit Mountain. She had led our predecessor tribe before the Floods. It is said she had left an egg bearing her Heir upon the Mountain, the very same one Wukong had hatched from. It is why we made him the Monkey King once he had discovered the ancestral palace behind the Water-Curtain Cave.

Prev.

Tieshan did spend about 500 years watching the island as it's vigil, and protector. She and the Stalwarts had many times come together for meals and chats. The topic of mourning rituals came up when she expressed a comparison to Wukong's state to that of a funeral burial. The Stalwarts were quick to show her the murals inside of Water Curtain Cave, relaying the stories Elder passed on to them from his time. How the Stone Monkeys not could form a vestal child from their own Dao, but from the Dao of lost spouses - given that they buried themselves at their side or with their belongings so that the couple had a chance to produce a shared child.

Tieshan recalls how her sworn-brother's favourite scarf was last seen in Wukong's arms...

The reveal that Macaque is Xiaotian's other parent (spiritually and genetically) is enough for him to shake out of his funk - not only did Wukong still love him after all that happened, but he made an effort to ensure that his second child would be born with Macaque's life energy!

I like to think that before they leave Flower Fruit Mountain; Xiwangmu and the Jade Emperor make a point of finding one of Shíhuā's shrines/statues and sitting down to just... talk. Both to each other and to their daughter (or whomever she became). They ask her if she was happy in that life. Mention how her son can be such a handful at times but they care for him still.

Guanyin witnesses this from a distance. Tears roll down their face as it hits how the two royals truly see them their kin. They weren't lying when they called Guanyin their daughter, and Wukong their grandson.

[caswensworld]

They’re all sisters

Evie’s her niece

And she’s still a terrible mother