page_title: Chinese folk religion
section_title: Mother goddess worship
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese folk religion / Features / Theory of hierarchy and divinity / Mother goddess worship
caption_attribution_description: 碧霞祠 Shrine of the Blue Dawn (Bixia Goddess) in Shandong.
context_page_description: Chinese folk religion also known as popular religion, is a polyphyletic term used to describe the diversity of practices in areas generally termed "religion," of persons of Chinese heritage, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled with the contents of institutionalized religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, the Chinese syncretic religions, or even Christianity and Hinduism." This may include the veneration of forces of nature and ancestors, exorcism of harmful forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature, the universe and reality that can be influenced by human beings and their rulers, as well as spirits and gods. Worship is devoted to a multiplicity of gods and immortals, who can be deities of phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of lineages. Stories regarding some of these gods are collected into the body of Chinese mythology. By the 11th century, these practices had been blended with Buddhist ideas of karma and rebirth, and Taoist teachings about hierarchies of gods, to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day.
context_section_description: The worship of mother goddesses for the cultivation of offspring is present all over China, but predominantly in northern provinces. There are nine main goddesses, and all of them tend to be considered as manifestations or attendant forces of a singular goddess identified variously as Bixia (碧霞 "Blue Dawn"), the daughter or female consort of the Green God of Mount Tai, or Houtu (后土 the "Queen of the Earth"). Bixia herself is identified by Taoists as the more ancient goddess Xiwangmu, Goddesses are commonly entitled mǔ (母 "mother"), lǎomǔ (老母 "old mother"), shèngmǔ (聖母 "holy mother"), niángniáng (娘娘 "lady"), nǎinai (奶奶 "granny").
  Altars of goddess worship are usually arranged with Bixia at the center and two goddesses at her sides, most frequently the Lady of Eyesight and the Lady of Offspring. A different figure but with the same astral connections as Bixia is the Qixing Niangniang (七星娘娘 "Goddess of the Seven Stars"). There is also the cluster of the Holy Mothers of the Three Skies (三霄聖母 Sanxiao Shengmu; or "Ladies of the Three Skies", 三霄娘娘 Sanxiao Niangniang), composed of Yunxiao Guniang, Qiongxiao Guniang and Bixiao Guniang. In southeastern provinces the cult of Chen Jinggu (陳靖姑) is identified by some scholars as an emanation of the northern cult of Bixia.
  There are other local goddesses with motherly features, including the northern Canmu (蠶母 "Silkworm Mother") and Mazu (媽祖 "Ancestral Mother"), popular in provinces along the eastern coast and in Taiwan. The title of "Queen of Heaven" (天后 Tiānhòu) is most frequently attributed to Mazu and Doumu (the cosmic goddess).
caption: Shrine of Bixia at Mount Tai, Shandong.
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