Luo Shen 洛神 The Goddess of the River Luo
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Luo Shen 洛神, the "Goddess of the River Luo" is a deity in ancient China. She is also called Consort Mi 宓妃, as Cao Zhi's 曹植 rhapsody Luoshenfu 洛神賦 states. Li Shan 李善 comments that she was the daughter of the mythical emperor Mi Xi 宓羲 (i.e. Fu Xi 伏羲). She had drowned when she crossed the river and was then transformed into a river deity. The name Consort Mi is already mentioned in the elegy Li Sao 離騷 by Qu Yuan 屈原. In the elegy Tianwen 天問 she is also called Luo Pin 雒嬪 "Lady of the River Luo" and is said to have been the wife of the Earl of the Yellow River 河伯. In Cao Zhi's rhapsody she is described as being of an utmost beauty and tenderness. There is also a Peking opera with the title of Luoshen 洛神.
Sources:
- Li Jianping 李劍平 (ed. 1998). Zhongguo shenhua renwu cidian 中國神話人物辭典, p. 440. Xi'an: Shaanxi renmin chubanshe.
- Yuan Ke 袁珂 (ed. 1985). Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian 中國神話傳說詞典, pp. 292-293. Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe.
