The "Descent" and "Ascent" of the Goddess: A Comparative Study of the Evolution of the Images of Hanba and the Queen Mother of the West
Abstract
Both Hanba and the Queen Mother of the West appear in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, both are female deities, yet the trajectories of their image evolution are diametrically opposed. Hanba descended from the Yellow Emperor's "heavenly maiden" to become a drought demon and a zombie, following a downward path of continuous stigmatization, the Queen Mother of the West, on the other hand, rose from a ferocious deity with a "leopard's tail and tiger's teeth" to become the leader of the female immortals, completing an upward path of continuous sanctification. Through a mirror-image comparison, this paper reveals that the differences between the two are not coincidental but are rooted in the selective shaping of female deities by patriarchal culture—those unable to be co-opted by the mainstream ideology are often demonized, while those acceptable to religious and philosophical systems are idealized and sanctified. These two evolutionary paths collectively reflect profound shifts in ancient China's views on nature, natural disasters, and gender.
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