Royals › Empress / Consort
Jiang Yuan
Legendary daughter of the Youtai clan and chief consort of Di Ku, who conceived Houji after stepping in a giant's footprint and was revered by the Zhou as their first mother.
In a spring palace garden, a pavilion with round windows stands over a pond of goldfish; a peony-painted round fan, a zither and a lacquer box of pearl hairpins lie in the foreground, and one small figure in a long-sleeved gown stands at the far end of a covered walkway.
Also known as Jiang Yuan (variant writing) · Daughter of the Youtai clan
- Roles
- Empress / Consort
Jiang Yuan, also written with a variant character, is the legendary daughter of the Youtai clan and principal consort of Di Ku. The Shijing ode Sheng Min and the Shiji's Basic Annals of Zhou relate that she stepped into a giant's footprint in the wilds, conceived, and bore a son whom she abandoned several times as an ill omen before raising him; this child was Houji, ancestor of the Zhou. The Zhou honoured her in a dedicated temple, and the Lu ode Bi Gong opens with her praise. She is the founding mother in the Zhou origin myth and the central figure of both odes.
Life and times
Dates Legendary figure; c. 2400–2200 BCE