Minneapolis Institute of Art

Plaque in the form of Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West

China

Date

late 2nd century

Medium

Gilt bronze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Queen Mother of the west, Hsi Wang Mu, is shown seated at her throne with a winged tiger and dragon rampant at either side. Wearing a crown and voluminous robes, she faces south with the dragon protecting the east and the tiger, the west. Hsi Wang Mu was the Queen of Mount Kun lun, the sacred mountain of immortality, and by Eastern Han (25-220 a.d.) she had been incorporated into the Taoist pantheon. Her image within a tomb represented the Taoist spiritual cultivation toward immortality and eternal happiness. The tiger and dragon, standard directional animals most likely were understood as protectors of the eastern and western directions. This basic Hsi Wang Mu also appears in bronze mirrors and money trees discussed in eastern Han tombs of Szechwan province, where Taoism has its origins. China, Asia

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