XI WANG MU, whose name is usually rendered as "queen mother of the west," appeared in the earliest stages of Chinese mythology and was a focus of intense religious devotion during the first few centuries of the present era. It is possible that she is mentioned in the oracle bone inscriptions of about 1500 BCE, but she appears with more certainty in the Zhuangzi (fourth century BCE) and later writings. Xi Wang Mu is described as one who had "attained the Dao," but nothing is known of her beginning or her end; she was said to dwell in the never-never land of the far west. In some sources she is described as a being of hybrid form. Usually her realm is pictured at the summit of a mountain called Kunlun, but there are also references to a cave residence. She is said to possess certain...