It is there, somewhere in the west in the Kunlun mountains, that Sivanmu lives, literally: "Western mother ruler." To this day, Sivanmu is one of the main folk deities in China.
In general, this is an unusual character. In medieval China, she acts as a deity of mercy, saving people from the sea of suffering and misfortune, and in ancient times she appeared as a fierce goddess. The very image of Sivanmu was formed over the centuries, and ancient archaic motives and Buddhist influences, for example, images of bodhisattvas, and Taoist ideas, influenced it. In Taoism, she generally turned into one of the central goddesses who bestow longevity - she usually gives the initiate the fruit of longevity, most often the magic peach (pantao).
Until now, today in many villages of Central China prayers are offered to the "Mother Ruler", and peaches are placed in front of the altar with her image. In folk Buddhist cults, she became associated with the "Unborn Mother of God" (Wusheng Laomu), and she, in turn, with the Bodhisattva of Mercy Avalokiteshvara (in Taoism - Guanyin), who rescues all lost people from the sea of suffering.
The origin of this strange character is a mystery. Why, for example, are we talking about the “western” ruler? In most representations, she lives in the western part of the sky or "somewhere in the West", from where she carries out her saving functions. But the ideas about the saving function of Sivanmu are of a much later origin, in many respects they owe their origin to the Buddhist ideas of the “western paradise”. Initially, Sivanmu seemed completely different.
The original appearance of Sivanmu was by no means the kind and merciful one that it seems to be today. On the contrary, it was a very bloodthirsty creature that ate people, who announced the surroundings of the Kunlun Mountains, where she lived in a cave, with a lion's roar. The oldest "Canon of Mountains and Seas" ("Shanhai Jing", VIII century BC) tells that her monastery was located somewhere "south of the Western Sea, at the very Shifting Sands, beyond the Red River, in front of the Black River ".
Sivanmu disposed of diseases, could send pestilence and other misfortunes to people. And with this she had a means of achieving immortality, which she sometimes bestowed on people. As you can see, the appearance of Sivanmu, like many early spirits, is ambivalent. On the one hand, she acts as a deity of death, on the other, as the owner of the elixir of eternal life, and this combination in one image of absolute death and absolute life is characteristic of the appearance of shamans and ancient deities.
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Sivanmu is generally surrounded by symbols of the kingdom of the dead. In stories about her, crows almost always appear - classic carriers to the kingdom of the dead. So, Sivanma was served by three three-legged birds (usually we are talking about ravens), which every day brought her caught birds and animals in the claws, which Sivanma ate. Another three-legged raven cleared the cave where Sivanmu lived from the bones of the eaten animals. Usually a raven, an eagle owl or a swallow in Chinese legends, as well as in the legends of other peoples of the world, means messengers from the other world, and sometimes they themselves act as guides of souls to the afterlife. The link between birds and death can be traced in almost all cultures of Siberia, the Far East and East Asia. Along the way, we notethat such a "burial" role of birds and all kinds of winged creatures is known in classical European culture. For example, the sirens of Greek philology with the heads and breasts of beautiful women and the bodies of birds were associated with death and were depicted sitting by a pile of bones. It is well known that the image of a bird is actively involved in shamanic cosmogony and personifies the soul of deceased or unborn people. As you can see, a lot in the legends about the "western land" indicates that it is about the kingdom of the souls of the ancestors, about the palaces of the dead. However, the very place of its dwelling - the Kunlun Mountains - is considered the place of the abode not only of immortals, but also of the souls of dead people.that the image of a bird is actively involved in shamanic cosmogony and personifies the soul of deceased or unborn people. As you can see, a lot in the legends about the "western land" indicates that it is about the kingdom of the souls of the ancestors, about the palaces of the dead. However, the very place of its dwelling - the Kunlun Mountains - is considered the place of the abode not only of immortals, but also of the souls of dead people.that the image of a bird is actively involved in shamanic cosmogony and personifies the soul of deceased or unborn people. As you can see, very much in the legends about the "western land" indicates that it is about the kingdom of the souls of the ancestors, about the palaces of the dead. However, the very place of its dwelling - the Kunlun Mountains - is considered the place of the abode not only of immortals, but also of the souls of dead people.
The dynastic chronicle "History of the Late Han Dynasty" ("Hou Han Shu") described some remote deserts in the west, asserting that these places are "very close to the house where Sivanmu lives, and almost where the sun sets." An even earlier treatise "The Canon of Mountains and Seas" said that Sivanmu lived somewhere in a cave in the sacred Kunlun Mountains, which were located at the western borders of the cultural sphere of China - one of the main habitats of various strange characters, magicians, immortals and spirits. "Her face was framed by hair, she had tiger tusks and a leopard tail." The appearance is rather unusual for a mother-savior and for a woman in general - a primitive foremother of a wild species living in a cave. But already in the later editions of the Shanhai Jing her image is somewhat domesticated. Now she lives in the Yushan Mountains, on the eastern spurs of the Pamirs. The clarification of its habitat is not accidental, since the road from China to the west now runs here.
Why is Sivanmu the “Western Mother”? There is an assumption that the "wild" appearance of Sivanmu correlates with some ancient non-Chinese tribe that lived in the west of the main center of Chinese culture in the Yellow He region. And the hieroglyph "si", which is found in the name Sivanmu (today it means "west"), was written differently in ancient times. He denoted the Si people - presumably the Scythians who lived in the northern Black Sea region. In the same way, in the oldest poetry collection "The Canon of Poetry" ("Shih Jing"), the image of Sivanmu is associated with some remote areas in the West, where peoples lived who spoke Iranian languages, including some se, presumably Saka, who spoke Persian. It is believed that the se came from the vicinity of the Qilian Mountains, in the present province of Gansu, and then gradually moved to the west,finally losing all connection with the legend of Sivanmu itself. There is another indication of the possible relationship of the se with Sivanmu. It was believed that it was the se who were somehow connected with ancient Babylon and for the first time brought the architecture of the famous hanging gardens of Babylon. And according to Chinese legends, on the upper spurs of the Kunlun, where Sivanmu lived, there were precisely hanging gardens.
According to other assumptions, the Chinese goddess Sivanmu was none other than one of the rulers of the kingdom of Kushi from Meroe, where the burials of at least five rulers who reigned from the 3rd century BC were found. BC e. before the 1st century n. e.
As you can see, a lot of factors point to the “alien” character of Sivanmu. However, today it is difficult to determine exactly how much Sivanmu really had ties to non-Chinese peoples living in the West.
The western side for China is the palace of eternal life and absolute death, absolute non-return, which is similar to the ideas of the afterlife in Christianity. Even an altar with tablets of the names of ancestors and fruits in front of them, which is found in almost every Chinese village house, is located in the western part of the dwelling. And this symbolizes the western paradise and the western lands, where the Unborn mother (Ushen laomu) or the goddess Sivanmu, the ruler of the western paradise, dwells. It is noteworthy that many modern Chinese can no longer say exactly why the altar should be located in the western part of the house, but they observe this localization very accurately.
In the Chinese tradition, the western side is not only a place where the souls of the dead sages go, but also the palace where you can receive the miraculous medicine to overcome death - and gain eternal life. It is Sivanmu who possesses a decoction of immortality that can bestow on people. For example, according to one of the legends, once the Monkey King Sun Wukong stole the peach of immortality from Sivanmu, causing a terrible commotion in heaven. In general, the Kunlun Mountains, where Sivanmu and many other wonderful creatures lived, in many stories are the place where the fruits of immortality, for example, peaches, bloom.
According to legend, the birthday of Sivanmu is regularly celebrated by eight Taoist immortal celestials - semi-legendary characters who have gained longevity and, most likely, in real life - initiated magicians. In honor of this, a huge feast is organized with rare dishes, for example, bear paws, monkey lips and even dragon liver. Finally, at the very end of the celebration, the fruits of longevity are offered - peaches. But since the peach tree of immortality does not bear fruit every year, but only once every three thousand years, then only then can a real "feast of the immortals" be assembled.
Legends say that Sivanmu sometimes visited emperors - it usually happened on the 7th day of the seventh moon, and this day is considered a women's day in China. As the famous Taoist legend says, once Sivanmu appeared before the ruler of the Han dynasty Wu-di (141-187 BC), famous for his virtues, and gave him a wonderful peach or, according to other versions, a pebble. Wu-di took care of hiding and burying the sacred stone, but Sivanmu said that the earth was not able to accept it and that in any case it bears fruit only once every three thousand years. It is noteworthy that Sivanmu in the legend refers to the fact that the peach-stone was brought from distant "western countries" or from the Kunlun mountains, and therefore cannot live on the local soil.
Many centuries later, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, Hun-wu (1368–1398), was presented with a strange stone discovered during the previous Mongol Yuan dynasty. What was his amazement when, out of ten hieroglyphs that were engraved on the stone, the emperor learned that this was the very stone that was given to Emperor Wu-di Sivan herself?
In all these Chinese legends, three important motives are intertwined in a striking way. First of all, this is the western origin of the ancestors of the Chinese.
Secondly, the acquisition of mystical immortality. And finally, the Kunlun Mountains, where great sages live.
