Houtu

Hòutǔ (Chinese: 后土; lit.: 'Queen of the Earth') or Hòutǔshén (后土神; 'Goddess Queen of the Earth'), also Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either 厚土娘娘; 'Deep Earth Lady' or 后土娘娘; 'Earth Queen Lady'), otherwise called Dimǔ (地母; 'Mother Earth') or Dimǔ Niángniáng (地母娘娘; 'Lady Mother Earth'), is the deity of deep earth and soil in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is of ambiguous gender.[1] Houtu is the consort or female form of Tudigong ("Lord of Local Land").

Temple of the Queen of the Earth in Jiexiu, Shanxi.
Stone for the deity Houtu (Chinese:后土之神) at the burial site of Gia Long, former emperor of Vietnam.

Han Emperors

Houtu was first worshipped by Emperor Wen of Han (in Fenyin County, modern-day Wanrong County, Shanxi).[2] Houtu was worshiped by Emperor Wu of Han in 113 BC.[3]

Yellow River Map

Houtu is featured in some versions of the myth of the Great Flood of China: Yu did not do such a great job of channeling the Yellow River into the sea, dredging the wrong way. Sacred Mother Houtu then made the Yellow River Map and sent one of her divine messenger birds to tell Yu what to do; specifically, that he should open a channel to the east, to allow the right drainage.[4]

Notes
  1. Yang, 135
  2. 中国文化科目认证指南. 华语教学出版社. Sinolingua. 2010. p. 63. ISBN 978-7-80200-985-1.
  3. "Hou Tu - MSN Encarta". MSN Encarta. MSN. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  4. Yang, 137

Works cited
  • Yang, Lihui, et al. (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533263-6
gollark: That doesn't address any of my concerns.
gollark: What if I'm heading away from Earth at 0.999999 *c*? What if I am on holiday on a neutron star? What if *you* are?
gollark: I mean special and general relativity.
gollark: What? No.
gollark: There is no universal standard of time, see.

See also


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