Lot Essay
Hsi Wang Mu (Korean: So Wang Mo) is the mythical Queen Mother of the West, chief of the Taoist fairies (female Immortals). She lives in a remote fairyland deep in the K'un Lun Mountains of Central Asia. Eternally young and beautiful, Hsi Wang Mu is a kind of Taoist goddess of immortality. The peach trees in her orchard bear fruit every three-thousand years. Anyone fortunate enough to eat a Peach of Immortality will live forever.
Hsi Wang Mu's palace is spacious and elegant; its pavilions and nine-story towers are built of jasper and marble. Her palace gardens are vast and splendid, with sparkling streams and trees bearing precious jewels. Her five principal handmaidens are named for the five colors associated with the five directions of the compass. Cranes and azure-winged phoenixes are Hsi Wang Mu's mounts and messengers. Her consort is Tung Wang Kung, Lord of the East. One of his duties is to keep a register of all the Taoist Immortals. Hsi Wang Mu and Tung Wang Kung have nine sons and twenty-four daughters.
Every three-thousand years, when the peaches ripen in her garden, Hsi Wang Mu gives a banquet for the Taoist Immortals. Chinese records tell us that the Chou Dynasty Emperor Mu attended one of Hsi Wang Mu's banquets, and the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu Ti attended another.
On panels 2 and 3 (from the right) horses pull a chariot in front of the palace gateway, attendants bring peaches in bowls, and fairy maidens in panel 3 prepare the banquet. Throughout the screen peaches hang ripe on tree branches. On panels 4 and 5 Hsi Wang Mu and Tung Wang Kung are enthroned, surrounded by attendants, and entertained by fairy dancers, musicians and dancing phoenixes. Panels 1 through the center of panel 6 depict the entire, elevated banquet terrace. Beyond the terrace on panels 6, 7, and 8, Taoist Immortals arrive for the banquet.
One of the Immortals, at the top of panel 7, is Shou Lao, the God of Longevity, seen here riding a crane. On panel 8 the man riding an ox is Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, a most appropriate ending for a painting of classical Taoist subjects.
Hsi Wang Mu's palace is spacious and elegant; its pavilions and nine-story towers are built of jasper and marble. Her palace gardens are vast and splendid, with sparkling streams and trees bearing precious jewels. Her five principal handmaidens are named for the five colors associated with the five directions of the compass. Cranes and azure-winged phoenixes are Hsi Wang Mu's mounts and messengers. Her consort is Tung Wang Kung, Lord of the East. One of his duties is to keep a register of all the Taoist Immortals. Hsi Wang Mu and Tung Wang Kung have nine sons and twenty-four daughters.
Every three-thousand years, when the peaches ripen in her garden, Hsi Wang Mu gives a banquet for the Taoist Immortals. Chinese records tell us that the Chou Dynasty Emperor Mu attended one of Hsi Wang Mu's banquets, and the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu Ti attended another.
On panels 2 and 3 (from the right) horses pull a chariot in front of the palace gateway, attendants bring peaches in bowls, and fairy maidens in panel 3 prepare the banquet. Throughout the screen peaches hang ripe on tree branches. On panels 4 and 5 Hsi Wang Mu and Tung Wang Kung are enthroned, surrounded by attendants, and entertained by fairy dancers, musicians and dancing phoenixes. Panels 1 through the center of panel 6 depict the entire, elevated banquet terrace. Beyond the terrace on panels 6, 7, and 8, Taoist Immortals arrive for the banquet.
One of the Immortals, at the top of panel 7, is Shou Lao, the God of Longevity, seen here riding a crane. On panel 8 the man riding an ox is Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, a most appropriate ending for a painting of classical Taoist subjects.