Yaoji

Chinese celestial goddess; sister of the Jade Emperor; mother of Erlang Shen by the mortal scholar Yang Tianyou. The Investiture-of-the-Gods stratum makes her the divine sister-aunt of the Heavenly Court; older Song Yu strata (3rd c. BCE Gaotang Fu) place her as the Wushan Goddess of the Yangtze gorges. Late Bao Lian Deng accretion identifies her as governing the realm of desire — the conceptual frame motivating her descent. Imprisoned beneath Mount Tao by the Jade Emperor; freed by Erlang Shen's axe-cleaving rescue.

Children

• Erlang Shen

Domains

• celestial nobility
• desire realm
• wushan mountain

Powers

• Metamorphose into clouds, rain, and stone peak

Epithets

• 瑤姬
• 雲華夫人
• 巫山神女
• 朝雲

Relations

• sibling: Jade Emperor
• lover: Yang Tianyou

Sources

• Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi, c. 1605); Erlang Baojuan (Ming precious-scroll); Bao Lian Deng tradition; Song Yu Gaotang Fu and Shennü Fu (older Wushan Goddess stratum)