Queen Mother of the West

Xiwangmu · Golden Mother of the Jade Pond

Goddess dwelling on Mount Kunlun who keeps the elixir of immortality; supreme goddess of later Taoist belief.

The Queen Mother of the West dwells on Mount Kunlun, where the peach orchard of immortality ripens once in three thousand years. In early texts she is a fierce goddess of plague and punishment; by Han times she had become the sovereign of immortals and the giver of the elixir of life. Her palace in the west and the peaches of her banquet became the heart of China’s longing for transcendence.