The Chinese phoenix (凤 凰 Fenghuang) is the “king of birds” with fabulous colors and the head of a pheasant, crown of a duck, beak of a swallow, back of a tortoise and tail of a fish. According to the 4th century BCE Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas, its head represents virtue, back propriety, wing duty, chest mercy, and abdomen credibility. Said to have been born facing the sun’s rays, the mythical bird symbolizes the sun’s warmth, embraces the yang(male) principles of light and heat and promotes creation of male progeny. It brings affluence and only appears during periods of prosperity, peace and good government. Phoenix images decorated ceremonial costumes and were used in the Empress of China’s headwear and the ceremonial headdresses of the Queen Mother of the West and Matsu. As one of the four divine animals that presides over the southern quadrant it was a popular motif in Chinese Straits furniture and accessories with special meaning for Chinese residents in Southeast Asia. A pair with wings out or flying balance each other, represent harmony between a husband and wife and is a wish for a harmonious marriage with many sons. When the “king of birds” is paired with peonies (the “king of flowers”) they symbolize harmony, blessings, rank, good fortune and prosperity. A dragon and phoenix together symbolize a happy and harmonious union a popular decorative motif, especially in bedrooms. In feng shui, the phoenix symbolizes luck and is said to bring auspicious chi both to one’s life and home.
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This fine Chinese wood carving is a seated ancestor figure portrayed as a Chinese official. By the 10th century, the Chinese bureaucracy was run by a class of scholarly elite officials who passed a variety of tough examinations in history, philosophy and the Confucian teachings of statecraft and ethics. Passing made them eligible for positions…
This small antique-Chinese-wood-carving represents Mazu, which translates as “Mother Ancestor,” the tutelary deity “Protector of the Sea” who protects seafarers and is very popular among Taiwanese, Fujianese, and Cantonese sea cultures. This syncretic cult figure is the most imortant ofthe female Taoist-Deities and continues to be worshipped by Taoist, Buddhist and Popular Religion followers. In…
The Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) is one of the most significant female Taoist-deities and one of the Great Chinese Goddesses with a huge syncretic cult following within Taoism, Popular Folk Religion and Buddhism. With immeasurable powers she controls life and creation, death and destruction and the ability to determine every living being’s lifespan….
Taoists were represented in art as scholars, sages, heroes, officials and priests When these images are taken out of context they are very difficult to identify so we use the term Taoist to signify an Official, Priest or sage. Taoist priests are called a daoshi (道士 “master of the Tao”) a moniker for Taoist priests,…
Mazu is the Goddess of the Sea who protects seafaring populations and coastal populations and a tutelary deity venerated as the “Protector of the Sea.” A syncretic deity, she embraced by all Chinese peoples, in written traditions of the imperial Chinese hierarchy who officially deified her and built sanctioned monuments and temples to her since…
After her death at age 28, Mazu was immortalized as a cult figure and worshipped as a one of the tutelary Taoist deities as “the Protector at Sea” among seafarers in coastal China and was worshipped especially by older women. In oral legends, she was the daughter of a Buddhist fisherman, revered for her filial…
As a syncretic Taoist deity, the Queen Mother of the West has a huge cult following among Taoist, Buddhist and folk religion devotees revered for her powers to control life and death and to determine the life span of all living beings. Irvin calls her one of the Great Chinese Goddesses who are all imperially…
Mazu has many names and titles. In China she is Mazu (Matsu) meaning ‘Ancestor Mother’ or ‘Eternal Mother’ and on southern China she is affectionately called ‘Ā-mā’ meaning ‘grandmother’ or ‘mother.’ In Taiwan she is ‘Holy Heavenly Mother’ and the ‘Empress of the Heavens’ and ‘Tianhou,’ Daughter of the Dragon. She is the most worshiped female Taoist…
Peranakan refers to mixed-blood Chinese living in former British settlements in Penang, Malacca, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia whose forefathers were early Chinese traders, sailors and laborers. Many Chinese traders, laborers, and merchants remained in Southeast Asia during monsoon season before returning married local women living a two-family life. This wealthy population favored Chinese vernacular lacquer…
Chinese puppets historically played a large role in entertaining the general public and in educating rural illiterate populations especially about the role and importance of deities such as the Queen-Mother of the West Xiwangmu. This puppet’s headdress blends influences associated with the long history of the Queen Mother who evolved as a significant goddess from…
The Queen Mother of the West is one of the most significant of the female Taoist-deities and as a syncretic deity, has a huge Popular Religion and Buddhist cult following. She is one of the Great Chinese Goddesses and patron deity of women who controls life and death, creation and destruction and determines the life…
Among the oldest Chinese female Taoist-deities, the Queen-Mother of the West Hsi Wang Mu is mentioned in 300 BCE in sacred texts as a goddess who “obtained the Tao.” A patron deity of women and a divine teacher associated with the cultivation of virtue and immortality, she controls the life, death, creation and destruction of…
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