Ma Gu

Ma Gu is a renowned female immortal in Daoism. According to Ge Hong’s ‘Biographies of Divine Immortals’, she once met the immortal Wang Fangping and recounted that, since entering his service, she had witnessed the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields no fewer than three times—a phrase later adopted as the idiom ‘canghai sangtian’ (sea change) to signify profound worldly transformation. The story of Ma Gu presenting longevity offerings became a classic motif for birthday celebrations: on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month—the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu)—Ma Gu is said to have brewed wine from lingzhi fungus beside the Jiangzhu River and offered it to the Queen Mother. The text notes that Ma Gu’s fingernails were unlike those of ordinary humans, hence traditional depictions portray her fingers as avian-like claws—an emblem both of her celestial nature and of her dexterity as an immortal craftswoman. Her miraculous ability to transform a handful of rice into pearls is also recorded: when cast upon the ground, the rice instantly transmuted into lustrous pearls. Tang-dynasty calligrapher Yan Zhenqing composed the ‘Inscription on the Immortal Altar of Magu Mountain’, a celebrated stele renowned for its masterful calligraphy. In folk New Year prints, Ma Gu is frequently depicted holding a peach of immortality as an offering of longevity; her image is indispensable in celebrations honouring women’s longevity, and she is venerated as Shou Xian Niangniang (Goddess of Longevity).