On the Meaning of the Name Xi wangmu, Spirit-Mother of the West

Author(s): Paul R. Goldin

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society , Jan. - Mar., 2002, Vol. 122, No. 1
(Jan. - Mar., 2002), pp. 83-85
Published by: American Oriental Society

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3087655

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 On the Meaning of the Name Xi wangmu, Spirit-Mother of the West

Xi wangmu, the famous Chinese divinity, is generally rendered in English as "Queen Mother of
the West." This is misleading for two reasons. First, "Queen Mother" in normal English refers to
the mother of a king, and Xi wangmu's name is usually not understood in that manner. More impor-
tantly, the term wang in this context probably does not carry its basic meaning of "king, ruler."
Wangmu is a cultic term referring specifically to the powerful spirit of a deceased paternal grand-
mother. So Xi wangmu probably means "Spirit-Mother of the West." This paper discusses occurrences
of wang as "spirit" in ancient texts, and concludes with a consideration of some etymological reasons
as to why wang is sometimes used in this less common sense.

The standard translation of the ancient Chinese divin- wang-mother 3tE. One's wang-father's kao is one's ances-

ity known as Xi wangmu SEX is "Queen Mother of tral wang-father A ll5B; one's wang-father's bi is one's an-
the West." This is misleading, because "Queen Mother" cestral wang-mother ;T-e.2
in everyday English refers to the mother of a ruler. But
it is not suggested in any of the traditions concerning Xi And so on. The precise meaning of wang in this pas-

wangmu that she earned her title by virtue of being the
mother of a king.' The translation "Queen Mother" may
be intended as something similar to "royal mother"-
but if this is what translators have in mind, they should
say "Royal Mother" rather than "Queen Mother."
However, both "Royal Mother" and "Queen Mother"
may be inappropriate, because wang in this context
sage is not obvious. The commentator Guo Pu Iy
(276-324) suggests, plausibly, that "one adds wang in
order to honor them." The opinion of Hao Yixing ,
fj (1757-1825) is similar: "Wang means 'great', 'lordly';
it is an appellation honoring one's superiors. Thus wang-
father and wang-mother are also called 'great father' and
'great mother."'3

probably does not carry its basic meaning of "king, Although this nomenclature is rare in received texts,4
ruler." Wangmu is a cultic term referring specifically excavated manuscripts reveal that it was routine in an-

to a deceased paternal grandmother. This usage is ex- cient formulaic language. In the "almanacs" H I from
plained in the Erya He: Shuihudi l,,J4, various diseases are said to be cured
by sacrifice to wangfu or wangmu, as in the following
example:
One's father is one's kao V [i.e., "deceased father"]; one's
mother is one's bi 4t [i.e., "deceased mother"]. One's fa-
ther's kao is one's wang-father iCY; one's father's bi is one's

2 "Shiqin" WV, Erya zhushu I , Shisanjing zhushu

fu jiaokan ji + NMi ftlrR (1817; rpt., Beijing, 1980),
1 For some general studies of Xi wangmu, see Suzanne
4.2592b.

Cahill, Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother
of the West in Medieval China (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press,
1993); Anne Birrell, Chinese Mythology: An Introduction (Bal-
timore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1993), 171-75; Riccardo
Fracasso, "Holy Mothers of Ancient China: A New Approach
to the Hsi-Wang-Mu Problem;" T'oung Pao 74 (1988): 1-46;
Michael Loewe, Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for
Immortality (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1979), 86-
126; and Homer H. Dubs, "An Ancient Chinese Mystery Cult,"
Harvard Theological Review 35 (1942), 221-40. Manfred W.
Fruhauf, Die konigliche Mutter des Westens: Xiwangmu in al-
ten Dokumenten Chinas (Bochum: Projekt, 1999), was not avail-
able to me at the time of this writing.
3 "Shiqin," Erya yishu BOX (Sbby), A4.1b.
4 The most famous occurrence is probably in hexagram 35
of the Yiying &,g, "Jin" Es, Zhou-Yi zhengyi JM %iEF (Shi-
san jing zhushu), 4.49b: "One receives these boon blessings
from one's wangmu" IL1gI f Even the most ac-
complished translators sometimes render this mistakenly as
"royal mother": see, e.g., Edward L. Shaughnessy, I Ching:
The Classic of Changes (New York: Ballantine, 1996), 139.
Most other published translations have "grandmother," "de-
parted grandmother," "ancestress," etc.
Wangfu as "deceased paternal grandfather" is attested also in
"Quli shang" Ett in, Liji zhengyi APEX (Shisan jing zhu-
shu), 3.1248b.

83

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84 Journal of the American Oriental Society 122.1 (2002)

If there is an illness on bing AN and ding

It is crucial to T days,
keep in mind one
that wangfu and wangmu
should worship wangfu. He should be given5 red meat, a refer to one's grandfather and grandmother after they are
rooster, and liquor. On geng a and xin 4 days, [the sub- and not while they are still alive-in other
deceased,
ject will still be] sick; on ren E day he will begin words,
to be only when they have entered the spirit world. This
cured;6 on gui 3t day there will be activity [i.e., the subject
is significant, because in other texts, wang is used more
will arise from bed]. If there is no activity, then those who generally to denote spirits of any kind. A good example
dwell in the south will have headaches; those who are in the appears in Xunzi fT: "In the suburban sacrifice, one
south will be injured;7 and those who pertain to the color unites the many wang with Heaven Above and sacrifices
red will die. to them."' 0 The commentary of Yang Liang Add (fl. 818)
If there is an illness on wu )A and ji e days, Shaman
notes, reasonably, that bowang f3E ("the many wang)
Kan carries it out [?]8 and one should worship wangmu. She should be understood as boshen Ax, "the many spir-
should be given yellow dried fish and tawny liquor. On ren its." Yang then goes on to propose that wang is actually
and gui days, [the subject will still be] sick; on jia T an
dayerror for shen, but this is not likely: the two charac-
he will begin to be cured; on yi Z day there will be activ- ters are not easily confused, and in any case, it is wang
ity. If there is no activity, then those who dwell in the center that must be considered lectio difficilior."1 Still, it is
of the state will have headaches; those who are in the west plain that the sense of wang here must be very close to
will be injured; and those who pertain to the color yellow that of shen; indeed, Liu Shipei 0 91Jtn identified a simi-
will die.9 lar passage in the Liji rnd that reads boshen instead of
bowang. 12
The use of the term wang to denote a spirit may not be
common, but it should not be considered exceptional
5 The Chinese reads de zhi {Th?. On the basis of similar us- either, because lofty terrestrial titles-such as jun A,
age in other early medical texts, Kud6 Motoo Ig7E9, "Sui- "lord," gong 'D "lord, duke"-frequently appear in the
kochi Shinkan Nissho ni okeru byoinron to kishin no kankei ni names of spirits and deities, including those that are
tsuite" W91--:ffiM (( HTA:) Z;' b1 ,Pe 0 W Z construed as female.'3 There seems to be abundant tex-
OIVC, Thyogaku .j 88 (1994): 39, explains this phrase
as an indication that eating the food of the sacrifice is the cause
of the illness in question. Cf. also Liu Lexian WJ,_ Shui- For similar passages from Shuihudi, see "Youji" R Rishu
hudi Qinjian Rishu yanjiu Fi H ji ff (Taibei: Wen- yizhong H B Z , Shuihudi Qinmu zhujian, 246. Wangfu ap-
jin, 1993), 118-19. However, in view of the statement that "one pears to be associated with disease in materials from Baoshan
should worship wangfu" ?'8b, the purpose of the sacrifice 'WILO as well: see "Bushi jidao jilu" i , strip 222,
seems to be to propitiate the offending spirit after the disease in Baoshan Chujian tl LItM (Beijing: Wenwu, 1991), 34. Cf.
has already been contracted. The interpretation offered here is Chen Wei Aft, Baoshan Chujian chutan It fM Jlg (Wu-
in line with Wu Xiaoqiang M/J\, Qinjian Rishujishi Ad H han: Wuhan Daxue, 1996), 154 f.
Act (Changsha: Yuelu, 2000), 75 f. 10 "Lilun" X in Wang Xianqian 1~% (1842-1918),
6 Reading zuc o for zuo Jo. See Liu Lexian, 117 n. 2. Xunzi jijie EUf am, ed. Shen Xiaohuan Aft and Wang
7 Reading gui k for sui ),. See Liu Lexian, 117 n. 5. Xingxian T T N (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1988), 13.19.375.
8 The Chinese reads wu kan xing 45 , which is not easy 11 On the concept of lectio difficilior see, e.g., Paul Maas,
to understand. Perhaps the meaning is that a shaman named Textual Criticism, tr. Barbara Flower (Oxford: Clarendon,
Kan carries out the worship of wangmu. Wu Xiaoqiang, 71, 1958), ?16a et passim.
identifies Kan with the spirit Kanpi IJJ, who is mentioned 12 See Liang Qixiong , , Xunzi jianshi 4j+*w (Tai-
in the "Da zongshi" )tlO chapter of the Zhuangzi: Wang bei: Shangwu, 1965), 278. The passage is in "Liyun" Ad, Liji
Shumin TIRW, Zhuangzi jiaoquan 4 M a, 2nd ed. (Tai- zhengyi 22.1426a: "Thus the rite is carried out in the suburbs,
bei: Zhongyan Yanjiuyuan Lishi Yuyan Yanjiusuo, 1994), 230. and the many spirits receive their offices from it."
But Wu presents no evidence to support this conjecture. Incidentally, Hao Yixing commented on this line as well (see
9 "Bing" A, Rishu jiazhong E :X FPS, strips - OIE~ 0 to dm Xunzi jijie, 13.19.375); he suggests that bowang refers to the
-5EEA, in Shuihudi Qinmu zhujian RIA it* jJ% (Beijing: many kings of previous generations, who have now become
Wenwu, 1990), 193. One might not expect "those who are in spirits.
the west will be injured" MjNEIJt at the end of the second 13 Tracy G. Miller, "Constructing Religion: Song Dynasty
section, because the offerings and infirmities discussed there Architecture and the Jinci Temple Complex" (Ph.D. diss., Uni-
all clearly pertain to the color yellow, and the west is naturally versity of Pennsylvania, 2000), 199 et passim, discusses refer-
associated with white (as in the next section of the text, not ences to a certain Jinwang F i, which may be a designation
cited here). Cf. Kudo, 35. of a local riverine goddess with whom the Jin shrines W 1

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 GOLDIN: On the Meaning of the Name Xi wangmu 85

tual support, then, for taking the wang in Xi wangmu in predicate of a subject shen *: spirits naturally Wang. The
the sense of "spirit, divinity." After all, she is a goddess, most familiar example appears in the Zhuangzi SE+:
not a queen. If we apply the terminology of Erya and
the Shuihudi almanacs, then Xi wangmu means pre- The swamp pheasant must take ten steps for one peck and

cisely "Deceased Paternal Grandmother of the West." a hundred steps for one drink, but it does not ask to be kept

But since the implication of her title is evidently that in a cage. Although its spirit will Wang, it will not be in its

she is a powerful spirit-like a deceased paternal grand- element. 16

mother-a more general rendering, such as "Spirit-

Mother of the West," may best capture the sense of Xi
wangmu.
One final issue. Why is wang used in this sense of
"powerful spirit"? There are at least three defensible ex-
planations. One was offered by Guo Pu and Hao Yi-
xing: wang is simply an honorific epithet. But there are
other possibilities. Moss Roberts has suggested that in
this sense, wang might be understood as wang it, "to de-
part": thus wangmu /iIte, "departed mother" (or per-
haps "past mother").14 This contention is strengthened
greatly by the fact that wang E is used in place of wang
ii: in the Odes."5 Moreover, wang E is a verb of obscure
meaning and derivation that is occasionally used as the
In other words, even though the "spirit" of a caged
pheasant will be well nourished, the bird is more content
wandering along the marshes-a more difficult life, but
a freer one. (Zhuangzi's diction implies subtly that a
caged pheasant is dead, like an ancestral spirit that one
feeds with sacrifices.) This wang is usually glossed as
the equivalent of wang EW/A, "to flourish, to gleam."'17
Thus if wang was understood in the ancient language
as an attribute of satiated spirits, wangmu E/ff/Rft
may mean something like "wanging mother, numinous
mother."18
Any of these explanations of wangmu is possible-
and they are all superior to the stock translation, "Queen
Mother."

have long been associated. See, e.g., Weishu Al (Beijing: PAUL R. GOLDIN
Zhonghua, 1974), 106A.2466. Jinwang can hardly mean "King
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
of Jin," because the ancient state of Jin was a marquisate, not
a kingdom. (I have been unable to find a single instance in
which the ruler of Jin is called Jinwang.) Thus Jinwang prob-
ably means "spirit of the Jin [waters]," and could refer either to Wang Li fEtj, Tongyuan zidian J# (Beijing: Shangwu,
1982), 352 f., argues that wang iii and wang LI, "to go," are
this goddess or to Tang Shuyu f,+R),, the progenitor of the
House of Jin. essentially the same word.

14 Roberts's note appeared on the WSW e-mail subscription
list, January 12, 2001, and is cited here with his kind permis-
sion. Other scholars on the list also contributed to this discus-
sion: Wolfgang Behr, Constance A. Cook, Terry F. Kleeman,
Whalen Lai, John S. Major.
For wang IT-, "past," compare with the words attributed qinshu"
to
Jieyu VIL in Analects 18.5: "One cannot remonstrate with Rii
the (1895; rpt. Guoxue jiben congshu), 3.11.150. The com-
past" 1TTJ.
15 See Mao 254, "Ban" i.: "August Heaven is shining and
bright; it is with you wherever you go" A HA A, R ?iE.
16 "Yangsheng zhu" Godi , Zhuangzi jiaoquan, 109.
17 See Wang Shumin's discussion in ibid., 111 n. 8.
18 The Shiming 0$t, of Liu Xi J (fi. ca. 200) glosses the
wang of wangfu and wangmu as wang Rf.: wangfu is "he who
returns and wangs in the household" PP ttt See "Shi
God in Wang Xianqian, Shiming shuzheng bu At,
mentaries of Bi Yuan MR (1730-1797) and Ye Dejiong X,
Adt both emend this wang to wang IT-, yielding "he who comes
and goes in the household."

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