The Queen Mother of the West is a goddess in Chinese mythology and folk beliefs, as well as a Taoist fairy. She resides in Yaochi in the Kunlun Mountains, and is in charge of natural disasters and fairies, corresponding to the Eastern Princes. Her image gradually evolved from a human-headed animal body to a humanoid posture, becoming one of the most important goddesses in Chinese mythology. One of the biggest characteristics of the Queen Mother of the West is that she has the ability to live forever, and is not limited by birth, old age, sickness and death. So, is the Queen Mother of the West really immortal?What is the secret of her eternal life?
From a mythological point of view, the Queen Mother of the West's immortality was obtained by eating a fairy peach. Peach is a miraculous fruit that prolongs life and even makes people immortal. In the Yao Pond of the Queen Mother of the West, there is a peach tree that bears fruit once every 3,000 years, and each fruit bears 3,600 fruits, and each fruit can make people live for 3,600 years. Every time the Queen Mother of the West picks a peach, she will invite the gods in the sky to come to her peach conference and share the peach. It is said that the Queen Mother of the West has eaten nine immortal peaches, so her lifespan has exceeded 30,000 years, far exceeding that of other immortals. The immortality of the Queen Mother of the West is the effect of the fairy peach.
Another reason is that the immortality of the Queen Mother of the West was spread through her association with the emperors of the past. As a goddess, the Queen Mother of the West naturally has unparalleled beauty and charm, she has attracted the attention of many emperors and has also influenced the fate of many emperors. The most famous example is the story of the Queen Mother of the West and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history, who unified the world and ushered in the prosperous era of the Western Han Dynasty. However, he is also a person who is not willing to be lonely, he longs for the favor of the Queen Mother of the West, and also wants to get the immortality of Xiantao. He once sent envoys to find the Queen Mother of the West, and also personally went to Kunlun Mountain to visit the Queen Mother of the West, but to no avail. His actions made the Queen Mother of the West more and more famous, and also made people believe that she was really an immortal goddess. The eternal life of the Queen Mother of the West is the pursuit of the emperor.
There is also a possibility that the immortality of the Queen Mother of the West was revealed due to her association with genes. Genes are the code of life, which determines the characteristics and functions of living things. There is a special structure in the gene called telomeres, which is located at both ends of the chromosomes and protects the chromosomes from damage. Each time a cell is **, the telomeres will shorten a little, and when the telomeres are shortened to a certain extent, the cells will stop** and enter the process of aging and death. However, there is an enzyme called telomerase that is able to extend the length of telomeres, thereby delaying the aging of cells and even making them never age. Scientists have found that some animals, such as polyps, turtles, whales, etc., have strong telomerase activity, so they live very long and can even live forever. Scientists speculate that the Queen Mother of the West may also be a creature with strong telomerase activity, and that her genes may hide the secret of immortality. The immortality of the Queen Mother of the West is a miracle of genes.
To sum up, the immortality of the Queen Mother of the West is a dialogue between myth and reality, which has both mythological imagination, historical legends, and scientific exploration. The eternal life of the Queen Mother of the West is not only a personal destiny, but also a national dream, and a human subject. The immortality of the Queen Mother of the West has made us think more deeply about the nature and meaning of life.