Chinese goddesses

thumb|A 12th-century sandstone statue of an apsara from Madhya Pradesh, India

Nüwa, also read Nügua, is a mother goddess, culture hero, and/or member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese mythology. She is a goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.

'''Chang'e ( ; ), originally known as Heng'e''' (), is the goddess of the Moon and wife of Hou Yi, the great archer. Renowned for her beauty, Chang'e is also known for ascending to the Moon with her pet Yu Tu, the Moon Rabbit and living in the Moon Palace (). She is one of the most well-known goddesses in Chinese mythology, Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. In modern times, Chang'e is the namesake of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the Bodhisattva associated with compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as male in Indian Buddhism, Guanyin has been more commonly depicted as female in China and most of East Asia since about the 12th century. Due to sociogeographical factors, Guanyin may also be historically depicted as genderless or androgynous. On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated. Guanyin has been incorporated in othe

Mazu or Matsu is a sea goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. She is also known by several other names and titles. Mazu is the deified form of Lin Moniang (), a shamaness from Fujian who is said to have lived in the late 10th century. After her death, she became revered as a tutelary deity of Chinese seafarers, including fishermen and sailors.

mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology

thumb|Illustration of Leizu teaching people to cultivate silkworms.

Buddhist god

one of the Eight Taoist Immortals

Hārītī (Sanskrit), also known as , , is a female rākṣasī or yakṣinī (nature spirit) in Buddhism. She appears as a character in all Buddhist traditions and she is revered as a fierce Dharma Protector and a fertility goddess in Mahayana Buddhism. Hārītī appears in various Mahayana sutras, including in the Lotus Sutra, where she vows to protect those who uphold the sutra. She is also mentioned as a protector in the Candragarbhasūtra.

Sun goddess in ancient Chinese mythology, mother of the three-legged ravens

Chinese female general in Ming dynasty

daoist deity

Hòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also known as Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either , Aoshen or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of all land and earth in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.

fictional character, wife of Yang Zongbao

Dǒumǔ (), also known as , and , is a goddess in Chinese religion and Taoism. She is also named through the honorific Tiānhòu ( "Queen of Heaven"), shared with other Chinese goddesses, especially Mazu, who are perhaps conceived as her aspects. Other names are and .

thumb|right| Changxi () or Changyi () is a Chinese lunar goddess worshiped in the traditional Chinese pantheon. Known from ancient times, the earliest historical information on Changxi can be traced back to the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan-hai Ching). She is the wife of Di Jun and the mother of twelve moons. Greek equivalent is Selene.

thumb|Jingwei as depicted in the 1597 edition of the Shanhaijing

Zhinü is the goddess of weaving and the star Vega in Chinese mythology. She was the youngest of seven daughters of the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West. It is believed that she wove her father’s royal robes out of the clouds. She is identified as the star Vega in the constellation Lyra.

female bodhisattva and manifestation of Avalokiteśvara

Daoist immortal

Dianmu (), also known as Leizi, is the Chinese goddess of lightning, who is said to have used flashing mirrors to send bolts of lightning across the sky.

Nüba (), also known as Ba () and as Hanba (), is a Chinese drought deity. "Ba" is her proper name, with the nü being an added indication of being feminine and han meaning "drought".

goddess

right|thumb|200px|Hiderigami in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki

the old mother of Mount Li

character in the Legend of the White Snake

Li noblewoman during the Sui dynasty of Chinese history

Water Margin character

tutelary goddess of females and children in Chinese folk religion, also tutelary deity of Fuzhou

thumb|Zigu Zigu (), also known as Maogu, is a goddess representing toilets in Chinese folk religion. She was believed to be the spirit of a concubine who had been physically abused by a vengeful wife and died in the latrine. It is believed that her cult originated in the Shanxi region and spread across China by the Tang period.

goddess in Taoism

deity

thumb|Statue of Longmu in Tam Kung|Tam Kung Temple, [[Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong.]] thumb|Longmu Temple of Yuecheng in Deqing County, Guangdong|Deqing County. thumb|right|Lung Mo Temple on Peng Chau, an island of [[Hong Kong.]] In Chinese mythology, Longmu (), transliterated as Lung Mo in Cantonese, was a Chinese woman who was deified as a goddess after raising five infant dragons. Longmu and her dragons developed a strong bond and have thus become examples of filial devotion and parental love, important virtues in Chinese culture.

deity of Chinese people in southern Thailand

Shuimu (), or Shuimu Niangniang (), is a water demon, spirit or witch of Buddhist and Taoist origin in Chinese mythology. She is also identified with the youngest sister of the transcendent White Elephant (Buddha's gate-warder). According to Chinese folklore, she is responsible for submerging Sizhou (an ancient Chinese city located in today's Anhui Province) under the waters of Hongze Lake in 1574 A.D. and is currently sealed at the foot of a mountain in Xuyi District. However, different tales of Shuimu exist in different regions of China. For example, in Suzhou, Anhui she may be a demon godde

Characters in Chinese folklore

thumb|The Goddess of the Luo River, painted by Ren Xiong (1823–1857) Luoshen () is a well-known figure in Chinese literature and folklore. She is the central character in the famous poem "" (Chinese: 洛神賦; pinyin: Luòshén fù, also alternatively translated as Rhapsody on the luo river goddess) written by Cao Zhi, a poet from the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The tale of the goddess has been adapted and reimagined in various forms of Chinese art and literature throughout history, and she has become a symbol of beauty and unattainable love in Chinese culture.

Chinese child-giver deity

The Xiangshuishen or Xiang River Goddesses are goddesses (or spirits and sometimes gods) of the Xiang River in Chinese folk religion. The Xiang flowed into Dongting Lake through the ancient kingdom of Chu, whose songs in their worship have been recorded in a work attributed to Qu Yuan. According to the Shanhaijing, the Xiang River deities were daughters of the supreme deity, Di. According to a somewhat later tradition, the Xiang goddesses were daughters of Emperor Yao, who were named Ehuang (; Fairy Radiance) and Nüying (; Maiden Bloom) who were said to have been married by him to his chosen s

fairies corresponding to seasonal flowers in Chinese folk religion.

Chinese goddess

hainan goddess