Doumu
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Dǒumǔ (Chinese: 斗母; literally: "Mother of the Dipper (Great Chariot)"), also known as Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn (斗母元君 "Goddess of the Chariot") and Tàiyī Yuánjūn (太一元君 "Goddess of the Great One"),[1] is a goddess in Chinese religion and Taoism. She is also named through the honorific Tianhou (天后 "Queen of Heaven"), shared with other Chinese goddesses, especially Mazu, who are perhaps conceived as her aspects. Other names of her are Dàomǔ (道母 "Mother of the Way") and Tiānmǔ (天母 "Mother of Heaven").[2] She is the feminine aspect of the universal God of Heaven, also represented by the circumpolar stars of the Dipper (Great Chariot).[1]
She is considered the mother of the seven stars of the Dipper and two not visible ones, the Jiǔhuángdàdì (九皇大帝 "Nine Great Divine Kings").[1] The Great Chariot is in Chinese culture, as well as in other cultures of the world, a traditional symbol of the absolute origin of the universe (Tian). Therefore, Doumu is neither the chthonic goddess (Houtu), nor the goddess of fertility Bixia, but rather the "solar" or heavenly goddess. In certain Taoist accounts she is identified as the ambiguous goddess of life and death Xiwangmu. In her association, the God of Heaven is also called Dòufù (斗父 "Father of the Great Chariot").
In religious doctrines
Taoist esotericism
In the esoteric teachings of Taoism she is identified as the same as Jiutian Xuannü (九天玄女 "Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens") and Xiwangmu (西王母 "Queen Mother of the West"), representing the mother of the immortal "red infant" (赤子 chìzǐ) Dao enshrined at the centre of the human body.[3] This links her directly to the myths about the birth and initiation of Laozi[3] and the Yellow Emperor (whose mother Fubao became pregnant of him after she was aroused by a lightning from, or turning around, the Big Dipper[4]), as attested, among others, by Ge Hong (283-343).[5]
Buddhist interpretation
In Vajrayana traditions of Chinese Buddhism (Tangmi), Doumu was conflated with Bodhisattva Marici at least by the Tang dynasty. Marici too is described as the mother of the Way and the Dipper, at the centre of Brahma's Heaven of primal energy. Marici's chariot is drawn by seven pigs.[1]
Artistic depictions
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See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Doumu. |
References
Citations
- 1 2 3 4 Wells (2013), p. 10.
- ↑ Fowler (2005), p. 213.
- 1 2 Pregadio (2013), p. 1207.
- ↑ Yves Bonnefoy, Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN 0226064565. p. 246
- ↑ 抱朴子曰：復有太清神丹，其法出於元君。元君者，老子之師也。太清觀天經有九篇，云其上三篇不可教授，其中三篇世無足傳，常瀋之三泉之下，下三篇者，正是丹經上中下，凡三卷也。元君者，大神仙之人也，能調和陰陽，役使鬼神風雨，驂駕九龍十二白虎，天下衆仙皆隸焉，猶自言亦本學道服丹之所致也，非自然也。ctext.org. See translation in "Humans, Spirits, and Sages in Chinese Late Antiquity: Ge Hong's Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi)", in Extrême-Orient, Extrême-Occident, 2007, N°29, pp. 95-119. Academia.edu.
Sources
- Fowler, Jeanine D. (2005). An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism: Pathways to Immortality. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1845190866.
- Pregadio, Fabrizio (2013). The Encyclopedia of Taoism. Routledge. ISBN 1135796343. Two volumes: 1) A-L; 2) L-Z.
- Wells, Marnix (2013). The Pheasant Cap Master and the End of History: Linking Religion to Philosophy in Early China. Lulu.com. ISBN 1931483264.