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Dǒumǔ (Chinese: 斗母; lit. 'Mother of the Great Chariot / Big Dipper'), also known as Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn (斗母元君 "Lady Mother of the Chariot"), Dòulǎo Yuánjūn (斗姥元君 "Lady Ancestress of the Chariot") and Tàiyī Yuánjūn (太一元君 "Lady of the Great One"),[1] is a goddess in Chinese religion and Taoism. She is also named through the honorific Tiānhòu (天后 "Queen of Heaven"), shared with other Chinese goddesses, especially Mazu, who are perhaps conceived as her aspects. Other names of her are Dàomǔ (道母 "Mother of the Way") and Tiānmǔ (天母 "Mother of Heaven").[2]
She is the feminine aspect of the cosmic God of Heaven.[1] The seven stars of the Big Dipper, in addition to two not visible to the naked eye, are conceived as her sons, the Jiǔhuángshén (九皇神 "Nine God-Kings"), themselves regarded as the ninefold manifestation of Jiǔhuángdàdì (九皇大帝, "Great Deity of the Nine Kings") or Dòufù (斗父 "Father of the Great Chariot"), another name of the God of Heaven. She is therefore both wife and mother of the God of Heaven.[3][4] In certain Taoist accounts she is identified as the ambiguous goddess of life and death Xiwangmu.
- ^ a b Wells (2013), p. 10.
- ^ Fowler (2005), p. 213.
- ^ Cheu, Hock Tong (1988). The Nine Emperor Gods: A Study of Chinese Spirit-medium Cults. Time Books International. ISBN 9971653850. p. 19.
- ^ DeBernardi, Jean (2007). "Commodifying Blessings: Celebrating the Double-Yang Festival in Penang, Malaysia and Wudang Mountain, China". In Kitiarsa, Pattana (ed.). Religious Commodifications in Asia: Marketing Gods. Routledge. ISBN 978-1134074457.