© 1987 Emmanuel Lou
© 1987 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
| Report On The 1987 Australian Meeting Of Urantia Book Readers | Vol 8 No 6 Nov 1987 — Index | What Religion Are You? |
“… early Chinese legends place “the land of the Gods” in the west.” (UB 79:7.4)
“They decided that Divinity had descended to earth in bodily form …” (UB 74:4.1)
“ … but the majority were about ready to fall down and worship them as gods” (UB 74:3.10)
Hsi Wang Mu, literally the Royal Lady of the West or the Queen of the Western Heaven is a legendary being supposed to dwell upon the K’un lung Mountains (1) in a large and beautiful palace, surrounded by extensive grounds. The walls of the palace constructed with pure gold are three hundred and thirty miles in circumference, with crenelations of precious stones (2). Her residence was remarkable for its beautiful gardens (3), marble and jasper buildings, a nine-storeyed tower and sparkling brooks.
Hsi Wang Mt is said to have been at the head of troops of genii (4) and on occasion condescends to communicate with favoured members of the China Imperial family.
She is generally accompanied by a crane which she uses as a charger and sometimes by azure-winged binds, who serve as her messengers (5). During the Han dynasty the dove or pigeon was supposed to be the messenger of Hsi Wang Mu.
Her principal handmaidens, known as Jade or Fairy maids 不中女 are five in number. She used to give a periodic banquet (6) known as the P’an T’ao Hui at which a feature is the Peach Feast which ensures longevity and good fortune (7).
In the garden grew the fairy peaches 仙桃 which ripen but once every 3000 years and confer immortality (8) upon those who eat then. The Feast of Peaches took place on the borders of the Yao Ch’in (Lake of Gems). “The occasion being more festive than solemn, for there was music on invisible instruments, and singing not from mortal tongues!”
The inhabitants of the K’un lung mountains are divided into seven categories according to the color (9) of their clothing: red, blue, black, violet, yellow, green and orange.
Later tradition has assigned to her a consort in the person of Tung Wang Kung 东王公 the Royal Lord of the East.
In Chinese paintings Hsi Wang is usually depicted as a beautiful female in the attire of a Chinese princess, mounted on a crane (10), attended by two young girls, one of whom holds a large fan, the other a basket of the peaches of Longevity.
(1) “This Mediterranean peninsula had a salubrious climate and an equable temperature; this stabilized weather was due to the encircling mountains …” (UB 73:3.3)
“The coast line of this land mass was considerably elevated…” (UB 73:3.4)
(2) “The mountains surrounding the Garden abounded in precious stones and metals, though these received very little attention.” (UB 73:3.5)
(3) “Nowhere else was there a location which could have lent itself so perfectly to becoming such a paradise of botanic expression.” (UB 73:3.6)
“Although the work of embellishment was hardly finished at the time of Adam’s arrival, the place was already a gem of botanic beauty; and during the early days of his sojourn in Eden the whole Garden took on new form and assumed new proportions of beauty and grandeur.” (UB 73:5.8)
(4) “Their special senses were much more acute, and they were able to see the midwayers and the angelic hosts, the Melchizedeks …” (UB 76:4.5)
“ … the midwayers, being able to do such things, transported Adan and Eve to the Father’s temple.” (UB 74:4.4)
(5) “Hundreds of believer settlements had faithfully, year after year, kept up the supply of these home-reared pigeons for just such an occasion.” (UB 74:2.3)
(6) “And Adam and Eve periodically partook of its fruit (of the tree of life) for the maintenance of their dual form of physical life.” (UB 73:6.6)
(7) “ … but the ‘tree of life’ was not a myth; it was real and for a long time was present on Urantia.” (UB 73:6.3)
(8) “This superplant stored up certain space-energies which were antidotal to the age producing elements of animal existence. The fruit of the tree of life was like a superchemical storage battery, mysteriously releasing the life-extension force of the universe when eaten.” (UB 73:6.4)
(9) “In this rendez-vous (in the Garden of Eden) the crean of the civilization of Urantia was forgathering.” (UB 73:3.6) Is this reminiscent of the six Sangik races of color plus the violet race? (See page UB 64:5.2)
“Amadon was chairman of this committee, which consisted of twelve members embracing a representative of each of the six Sangik races; …” (UB 74:2.5)
The Boat people in Hong Kong of ten treasure among their household gods a scroll of the Queen of the Western Heaven, and it is on her crane that daughters, who have died before reaching maturity, are mounted in effigy.
Much research has been devoted to the origin of the “Royal Lady of the West”. Modern writers have drawn the conclusion that Hsi Wang Mu was the name either of a locality or of a Sovereign in the ancient West. She was the subject of much research on the part of the Taoist writers.
The K’un Lung Mountains are not only identified with the Hindu Kush in Central Asia but also with Sumeru.
The early Jesuit missionaries identified Hsi Wang Mu with the Queen of Sheba. Another Western writer has also connected her with the Roman goddess Juno (Hera) and the Golden apples.
We know, thanks to The URANTIA Book, that the legend of the Queen of the Western Heaven (Hsi Wang Mu) is close to the history of Eve in Eden. There are too many coincidences. On UB 79:7.1 we read that the Andites entered in considerable numbers into China about fifteen thousand years ago. Also: “But the Andite traditions of the beauty of Eden and Dalamatia did influence Chinese traditions; early Chinese legends place ”the land of the gods“ in the west.” (UB 79:7.4)
The first Taoists had done a great deal of research to identify Hsi Wang Mu. Lie Tseu, one of the founders of Taoism, placed the land of immortals in an island somewhere in a Western country … there is one question I have tried to solve: why the Chinese legend has emphasized the story of Eve and remained silent on Adam.
One hypothesis is the following: the traditions about Eve were introduced through the mother cult.
“It was during this age in Crete that the mother cult of the descendants of Cain attained its greatest vogue. This cult glorified Eve in the worship of the “great mother”. Images of Eve were everywhere. Thousands of public shrines were erected throughout Crete and Asia Minor”. (UB 80:7.7)
(10) “The third day was devoted to an inspection of the Garden. From the large passenger birds — the fandors — Adam and Eve looked down upon the vast stretches of the Garden while being carried through the air over this, the most beautiful spot on earth.” (UB 74:3.4)
The URANTIA BOOK says that: “Chinese merchants traveled the overland routes through Turkestan to Mesopotamia even in the days of the Sumerians” (UB 79:7.6)
Either Andites or Chinese merchants may have introduced Eve’s story into China under the description of the “Royal Lady of the Western Heaven.”
Emmanuel Lou, Tahiti
| Report On The 1987 Australian Meeting Of Urantia Book Readers | Vol 8 No 6 Nov 1987 — Index | What Religion Are You? |