Seioubo Tououfu　西王母・東王父

KEY WORD :　 art history / paintings

Ch: Xiwangmu・Dongwangfu. Ancient Chinese female and male deities associated with immortality and popular Daoism. Originally both gods seem to have been merged in a single life-giving deity called the "Monarch of the Western Direction" (Jp: Saiiki-no-kokuou 西域の国王) possessing both female and male characteristics. Later two distinct deities were recognized, Xiwangmu (Jp: Seioubo 西王母) or the "Queen Mother of the West" and Dongwangfu (Jp: Tououfu 東王父) or the "King Father of the East" , although Xiwangmu is likely closer to the conception of the original god, with Dongwangfu added later (probably in the Han period) as her consort. As a complement to Xiwangmu who supposedly lived at Kunlunshan (Jp: Konronsan 崑崙山) in the west of China, Dongwangfu was associated with the eastern direction. According to the SHANHAIJING (Jp: SANGAIKYOU 山海経), Xiwangmu had a human face, tiger's teeth, a leopard's tail, and wore her hair tied up with a large hair-pin *kanzashi 簪. The Han period saw many accretions to the Xiwangmu legend as her worship spread among the populace. One story tells how the goddess Chang'e (Jp:Jouga 嫦娥) stole Xiwangmu's elixir (or sometimes peaches) of immortality and fled to the moon where she turned into a toad. Another story tells of her trip to visit the court of Han emperor Wudi (Jp: *Kan Butei 漢武帝) when several of her magical peaches were stolen by Dongfangshuo (Jp: *Toubou Saku東方朔). The earliest pictorial representations of Xiwangmu and Dongwangfu are found on a pair of later Han clay tiles and on several bronze mirrors from the Wei-Jin period. She appears infrequently in Yuan and Ming Daoist figure painting. Typically Xiwangmu is shown enthroned as a queen and accompanied by serving maidens, one of whom holds the peaches of immortality on a platter. She may also be accompanied by phoenixes, a stag and a dragon, and rides in a chariot. She is shown alone, or paired with Hanwudi, Dongfangshuo, or Dongwangfu. A pair of screens by Kaihou Yuushou 海北友松 (1533-1677) show Xiwangmu paired with Dongwangfu, while a set of hanging scrolls by Kanou Tan'yuu 狩野探幽 show her meeting Hanwudi.

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