Jiandi

Jiandi (simplified Chinese: 简狄; traditional Chinese: 簡狄; pinyin: Jiǎndí), also with variants 简易; 簡易 and 简逷; 簡逷, is an important figure in Chinese history and Chinese mythology. She was the second wife of Emperor Ku,¹ who was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Jiandi was the mother of Xie (偰), the predynastic founder of the Shang dynasty^a. Her pregnancy miraculously occurred following her swallowing or holding in her bosom the egg of a Xuanniao (玄鳥).² Jiandi was said to be of the Yousong clan.³ Jiandi is mentioned in various sources, including the poems "Eulogy of Shang", in the Shijing, and the "Heavenly Questions" in the Chuci.⁴

Notes

Xie's name is also written as 契 whose Mandarin Chinese reflexes are either also Xie or Qi, the latter of which should not be confused with Qi (棄) "abandoned", the birth-name of Houji, son of Ku's first wife Jiang Yuan and predynastic founder of the Zhou dynasty

References

Yang, Lihui, et al. (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533263-6

Yang, 148
Yang, 148-150 and 186
Yang, 148
Yang, 148

[2] Xie's name is also written as 契 whose Mandarin Chinese reflexes are either also Xie or Qi, the latter of which should not be confused with Qi (棄) "abandoned", the birth-name of Houji, son of Ku's first wife Jiang Yuan and predynastic founder of the Zhou dynasty

[1] Yang, 148

[3] Yang, 148-150 and 186

[4] Yang, 148

[5] Yang, 148

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