Monday, 17 March 2014

The Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven (九 天 玄 女, Jiu Tian Xuan Nu )

The Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven is a female deity. She had been the teacher of the ancient Yellow Emperor. When the Yellow Emperor had been fighting the rebel Ch`i You, the Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven descended and bestowed the Yellow Emperor with the military register for dispatching, with a seal and sword. She made a drum that was made out of cow skin with eighty sides, which the Yellow Emperor used to defeat Ch`i You.

During the period of spring and autumn, the Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven transformed herself into the Jade Lady of Nan Shan. She helped the Yueh State send a punitive expedition against the Wu State, and taught the army to be equipped with six thousand highly qualified soldiers. Afterwards, she departed without bidding farewell, and soared to the sky. On the Nan Shan mountain, the king of the Yueh State built a temple in commemoration of her. The temple is named the Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven.

The Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven has a disciple whose name was Pai-Yun Tong-chun. He received all the dharma-methods from the Mysterious Lady, and later was able to be elevated to heaven to be in charge of the Taoist books that belong to the Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven.
She is depicted as a fair rosy complexion lady, usually brandishing a sword in her right hand while the left hand holds a gourd. The Taoist gourd is a symbol of immortality, healing (contains golden elixir), longevity and good fortune.

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