Wudang Shengmu () is a character in the Chinese Ming dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi). She is one of the four principal disciples of Tongtian Jiaozhu, the leader of the Jie Sect (截教). In later sources, Wudang Shengmu is identified with Lishan Laomu, the goddess of Mount Li.
In Fengshen Yanyi
Wudang Shengmu is one of Tongtian Jiaozhu's four principal disciples, alongside Duobao Daoren, Jinling Shengmu, and Guiling Shengmu. She is present during the battle of the Ten Thousand Immortals Array (万仙阵), where the Jie Sect faces the forces of Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, Jieyin Daoren, and Zhunti Daoren.
During the battle, Wudang Shengmu is described as fighting among the Jie Sect's immortals. As the formation begins to fail, the novel states that she leaves the battlefield. The text subsequently describes the destruction of the Ten Thousand Immortals Array and the fates of other members of the Jie Sect, but gives no further account of Wudang Shengmu.
The novel does not show Wudang Shengmu being killed or captured during the battle. Jinling Shengmu is killed by Randeng Daoren, while Guiling Shengmu is captured by Jieyin Daoren and subsequently dies after being attacked by mosquitoes.
Association with Lishan Laomu
Wudang Shengmu's fate after the battle is not explained in Investiture of the Gods. The novel states only that she leaves when the formation is failing. The association of the name "Wudang" with Lishan Laomu (骊山老母) appears in the Ming dynasty novel The Eunuch Sanbao's Journey to the Western Ocean (Sanbao Taijian Xiyang Ji). In its forty-fourth chapter, Lishan Laomu is referred to as "治世无当老母" while discussing her intervention in the conflict involving the Buddhist monk Bifeng.
The passage shows that the name "无当老母" was associated with Lishan Laomu in Ming-dynasty vernacular fiction. It does not, however, state that the Wudang Shengmu of Investiture of the Gods became Lishan Laomu after the battle.
The Taishan Baojuan (《巍巍不动太山深根结果宝卷》) also uses the expression "诸佛母，藏经母，三教母，无当母". A study of Ming and Qing religious traditions cites this passage in discussing the relationship between the concepts of "mother" and "ancestor" in the text. This use of "无当母" does not identify the figure with Wudang Shengmu from Investiture of the Gods.
Worship
A field study by the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China records Wudang Shengmu among the goddesses enshrined at the Niangniang Temple in Gegu, Tianjin. From the Qing dynasty to the Republican period, the temple's main hall contained 13 goddesses, with Wudang Shengmu among the four goddesses placed on the left side of the altar.
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