Xi Wangmu
/ɕiː wɑːŋ muː/noun
A powerful goddess and divine ruler of the western paradise in Chinese mythology.
Did you know?In early Chinese texts, Xi Wangmu was portrayed less as a gentle fairy and more as a fearsome supernatural ruler associated with plague, death, and the boundary between the human and divine worlds.
Etymological Timeline
Late 2nd–1st Millennium BCE
Old Chinese
西王母
“A supernatural female ruler of the western regions; literally, “western king-mother.””
4th–3rd Century BCE
Classical Chinese
西王母
“A divine being appearing in early philosophical and historical writings, associated with the far west and extraordinary powers.”
2nd–1st Century BCE
Classical Chinese
西王母
“A goddess connected with Kunlun Mountain, immortality, and the peaches of long life in developing mythic traditions.”
Han Dynasty
Chinese
Xī Wángmǔ
“The Queen Mother of the West, increasingly portrayed as a celestial sovereign and dispenser of immortality.”
19th–20th Century
English sinology
Xi Wangmu / Hsi Wang-mu
“Romanized forms used in English-language scholarship and translations of Chinese mythology.”
Modern English
English
Xi Wangmu
“The standard scholarly romanization of the Chinese goddess and mythological queen.”