Sunü
{{Short description|Ancient Chinese goddess}}
Sunü ({{zh|c= 素女|l=the Immaculate Girl}}) is an ancient Chinese goddess associated with music and sexuality. She is viewed as the divine sister of the Chinese war and sex goddess Jiutian Xuannü.{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last1=Liu |first1=Peng |date=2018 |title=The Way of Darkness and Light: Daoist Divine Women in Pre-Modern Chinese Fiction |publisher=Columbia University |language=en |doi=10.7916/d88d17nf |doi-access=free}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}{{cite book|last1=Yüan|first1=K'o.|title=Chūgoku shinwa densetsu daijiten|date=1999|publisher=Taishūkan Shoten|isbn=4-469-01261-0|edition=Shohan|location=Tōkyō}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}} She is traditionally portrayed as a highly skilled singer who plays a zither, and Sunü's songs were known for their ability to pacify wild animals, inspire plants to grow, as well as change the seasons. "When she plays... it can make the wind warm in winter, snow in summer..." In the History of Chinese Literature (中国文学史), Sunü is imagined as the first female harp player.{{cite news |url=http://jiangsu.china.com.cn/html/jsnews/society/7071235_1.html |work=jiangsu.china.com.cn |script-title=zh:"性爱之神"素女：人人都爱白女神 |date=22 August 2016 |language=zh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704052556/http://culture.china.com/history/records/11170645/20160822/23334921.html |archive-date=4 July 2017}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Yongzheng |first1=Chen |title=Zhongguo fangshu da cidian |date=1991 |publisher=Guangzhou: Zhongshan daxue chubanshe |page=565}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}{{cite book |title=Dōkyō jiten |date=1994 |publisher=Hirakawa Shuppan |location=Tōkyō |isbn=4-89203-235-2 |edition=Shohan}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}
As goddess of sexuality, Sunü was said to share sexual expertise with the Yellow Emperor{{cite book |last1=Shen |first1=Guangren |last2=Shen |first2=Grant Guangren |title=Elite Theatre in Ming China, 1368-1644 |year=2005 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-34326-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pKjf8wg3bOwC&dq=Sun%C3%BC&pg=PA173 |language=en}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}} and is said to have authored Su Nü Jing, the basic book of Taoist sexology.{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}
==Etymology==
She and Xuannü are divine sisters.{{cite journal|last1=Liu|first1=Peng| title="Conceal my Body so that I can Protect the State": The Making of the Mysterious Woman in Daoism and Water Margin| journal=Ming Studies|date=2016| volume=2016| issue= 74|page=51|doi=10.1080/0147037X.2016.1228876 }} Both their names combined, as xuansu zhidao ({{lang|zh|玄素之道}}), signify the Daoist arts of the bedchamber.{{cite journal|last1=Liu|first1=Peng| title="Conceal my Body so that I can Protect the State": The Making of the Mysterious Woman in Daoism and Water Margin| journal=Ming Studies|date=2016| volume=2016| issue= 74|page=66|doi=10.1080/0147037X.2016.1228876 }}
Legends
According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Sunü lived in the region of Guangdu (or Duguang, corresponding to Shuangliu, near Chengdu, Sichuan) in the region of the Heishui, close to the tomb of Hou Ji.
As recounted in the earliest Chinese encyclopedia Shiben, Fuxi was the creator of the zither (se or qin). The story as told is that there were three goddesses in the era of Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor), namely Sunü ({{zh|c=素女}}, "the Simple Woman"), Xuannü ({{zh|c=玄女}}, "the Mysterious Woman"), and Cainü ({{zh|c=彩女}}, "the Colorful Woman"); the three sisters taught the Huangdi Taoist sexual practices, the theory of sex, and physically practiced the teachings with him. Among the three, Sunü was the best at music.{{cite book |last1=Kohn |first1=Livia |title=Health and Long Life the Chinese Way |year=2005 |publisher=Three Pines Press |isbn=978-1-931483-03-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9s5AQAAIAAJ&q=Sun%C3%BC |language=en}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}} Since Sunü was the best musician, Huangdi sent her to play the zither. When she was not able to master the fifty-string instrument, she divided it into two parts - each with twenty-five strings.{{cite book |last1=Griffith |first1=Brian |title=A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization |date=8 May 2012 |publisher=Exterminating Angel Press |isbn=978-1-935259-14-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LeLDvA9CexwC&dq=Sunu+goddess&pg=PA315 |language=en}}{{Verify source|reason=see talk|date=June 2024}}