, 1702) Lishan Laomu is one of the more popular
nüxian (, ′female celestial/immortal′) revered in the
Chinese folk religion or Taoist belief. The Lishan Laomu legend consists of an accretion of a number of stories about her. The ancient origins of Lishan Laomu appears lost to "time immemorial". A certain woman of Lishan living at the end of the
Shang dynasty has been proposed as a historical prototype by a late
Qing dynasty scholar
Yu Yue (d. 1907), who insisted the personage was real and not fictional. To the west (or northwest) of Mt. Li, there are hot springs, and it is said that Qin Shi Huang cavorted with (made love to) the divine woman or "nymph" there. As he was ill-mannered, the goddess spat at him, causing sores to develop. The First Emperor apologized, and the divine woman made a hot spring appear, which cured his illness. Because of that, later generations used to bathe there. During the
Tang dynasty, Taoist
Li Quan was a military governor fond of the way of the immortals who often travelled to spiritual places in the mountains; according to legend, he met with Lishan Laomu at the foot of Lishan Mountain, and Laomu taught him the
Huangdi Yinfujing (The
Yellow Emperor's Scripture on "Unconscious Unification"). A local myth collected in
Zhongning County,
Ningxia Province in 1986 makes Lishan Laomu and
Wangmu Niangniang into sisters who collaborated in the task of mending the sky and earth. The Qing dynasty novel
Xiuyun Pavilion written by Wei Wenzhong, tells of Lan Xian, Gui Xian, and Ge Xian who fought three battles. Lishan Laomu comes to their rescue when they are faced with the three flower demons, ultimately saving them from disaster. Her disciples and apprentices include Taoist ascetics such as
Li Quan and legendary female heroes, such as
Zhongli Chun,
Fan Lihua,
Bai Suzhen,
Zhu Yingtai,
Mu Guiying, Liu Jinding, these women are heroine era. The apprentices of Lishan Laomu in literary works include: • According to records in printed novels from the Qing dynasty, Zhu Yingtai was saved by Lishan Laomu after experiencing a tragic love affair and was subsequently taught a distinctive skill. • According to legend, Mu Guiying learned the skill of handling flying swords and arrows from Lishan Laomu, which led to her becoming one of the esteemed female generals of the Yang family. • According to the novel
Xue Dingshan Expedition to the West, Lishan Laomu took Fan Lihua as her apprentice during the Zhenguan period and instructed her in the arts of manipulating mountains and seas, as well as bringing beans to life as soldiers. As a result, Fan Lihua became a brave and proficient female marshal. • In some variations of the
Legend of the White Snake, it is stated that Lishan Laomu served as the mentor to Bai Suzhen and
Xiaoqing, instructing them in the use of the magic spells of Mount Li. • The characters Lian Saihua and Lian Xiuying in '''' were also disciples of Lishan Laomu. • In the Qing dynasty novel '''', it is mentioned that of
Northern Liao was a disciple of Lishan Laomu. The princess had a close relationship with the general
Di Qing and later succeeded him. • According to the ''Huai'an fu zhi'' (淮安府志), Fan Changzhen was convicted and sentenced after smuggling food to help the poor. However, his good deeds and accumulated virtuous deeds protected him from punishment by both gods and humans. Later, he received instruction from Lishan Laomu and went to practice in Mount Li.
Journey to the West In Chapter 23 of the
Journey to the West, the bodhisattva
Guanyin invited Lishan Laomu to assist in testing
Tang Sanzang. Guanyin,
Manjushri, and
Samantabhadra transformed into attractive girls, while Lishan Laomu took on the appearance of an old widow. Along with the beautiful daughters, they tested Tang Sanzang and his disciples. As a result, Tang Seng and his companions followed the precepts, but
Zhu Bajie was tempted by the girls.{{cite book In another chapter, after Tang Sanzang and his disciples are defeated by the poison tea of the
Hundred-Eyed Demon King, Lishan Laomu disguises herself as a mourning woman and holds her husband's funeral. When Sun Wukong encountered her, she instructed him to go to the Thousand Flowers Cave in Ziyun Mountain and invite the bodhisattva
Pilanpo to subdue the monster. After giving her instructions, the woman vanished, and Lishan Laomu appeared in the sky, explaining that she had just returned from the meeting and she saw that Tang Seng was in trouble. She said that is why she had disguised herself as a mourning woman to help Sun Wukong. The old
zaju or operatic version text of
The Journey to the West styles the Lishan Laomu as the elder sister of the protagonist, the
Monkey King Sun Wukong. The
zaju version is made confusing because the title (, 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven') which normally refers to Sun Wukong himself is conferred to a supposed elder brother of his; meanwhile Sun Wukong adopts the slightly different title of Tongtian Dasheng (, 'Great Sage Reaching Heaven'). While the text of the romance version of the
Journey to the West mentions the concept of the Immortals of the Upper Eight Caves, it only names divinities other than Li Shan Laomu, however, some
baojuan scrolls dating to the Qing dynasty period do name her among the "Eight Upper Immortals" (cf. , or Eight Immortals of the Upper, Middle, and Lower spheres). == Conflations ==