九天玄女，又叫九天娘娘、九天玄女娘娘、九天女、玄女、元女、媧皇、連理媽等等。九天的意思有二，一指中央和八方，有四面八方之意，也表示最高。玄有深奧、玄妙、深遠神玄的意思。相關文獻和研究顯示九天玄女與黃帝頗有關聯，如《龍魚河圖》、《黃帝問玄女兵法》等古籍均記載有玄女下降，授黃帝以兵信神符，助黃帝打敗蚩尤的故事。《雲笈七簽》更記載九天玄女是黃帝的老師，聖母元君的弟子，傳授黃帝六甲六壬兵符以打敗蚩尤。元朝之後，九天玄女也成為通俗小說的題材，《宣和遺事》裡描述有宋江殺閻婆惜後，藏入屋後九天玄女廟避難，九天玄女降以天書示之天命，要他帶領包括魯智深、張橫在內等三十六將平定方臘之亂，後來宋江成為節度使。此一段落由明代小說《水滸傳》承襲，加以改寫成為盜匪結盟的故事。此外，在《平妖傳》、《八仙出處東遊記》、《女仙外史》等明清小說中，也都有玄女形象的描述。
關於九天玄女的源頭之說頗多，至少有四種，分別是玄鳥、魃鬼、女神、女媧等。玄鳥說與其造像和記載有關，九天玄女的造形之說有兩種，一種是人身鳥形，一種是人形人身，目前所見之造像均為人形人身，至於人身鳥形之說和道教的羽化成仙概念不無關聯。魃鬼之說是新近的說法，尚不足以成為共識，女媧之說似乎只流傳台灣，其源頭待考。女神之說是較為可信的說法，女神之說一是和前述的黃帝神話有關，一說與道教房中術神和丹藥神有關。據《夷堅志》的《赤松觀丹》「婺州金華赤松觀，相傳為九天玄女煉丹之所。雲丹始成時，凡三粒，以一祭天，一祭地，皆瘞於隱所，一以自餌。蓋不知幾何世矣！」，換言之，在道教裡九天玄女和煉丹的傳統有關，是以玄女在道教裡也用以代稱汞。
關於九天玄女的職能，上述的女戰神，房中術神、丹藥神並非最為流行者，在台灣民間，九天玄女主要是術數方面的職業神，也和註生、求子等有關，因此除了寺廟外，有許多道壇、法壇皆供有九天玄女。《道法會元》裡有些法術即以九天玄女為名，例如〈九天玄女灶告秘法〉，這是用來祈求灶君祐護的儀式，又稱「九天玄女默告大法」。還有《九天玄女課》、《玄女房中經》、《九天玄女灶告秘法》等等不同的法術儀軌。至於註生、求子的職能，不論在中國大陸或台灣皆有其例，例如台中縣龍井鄉的朝奉宮，廟內的九天玄女有大媽、二媽、三媽至九媽共九尊神像，稱為連理媽，大陸是北京朝陽區小寺村的九天玄女廟，信徒到這兩座廟宇多有求子的需求，更有趣的是兩座廟的九天玄女造像概念頗為相近，都是供以九尊神像。
台灣以九天玄女為主祀神的廟宇約十九至二十三座之間，台中縣龍井鄉的朝奉宮，創建于清道光元年，可能是全臺最早的九天玄女廟。九天玄女的祭典在九月九日，香燭業奉祀之為祖師。
關鍵詞：九天玄女、水滸傳、龍井朝奉宮、連理媽。
參考資料:
1. 刑東田。1997.3。〈九天玄女的起源、職能及演變〉。《世界宗教研究》。
2. 阮昌銳。1982。《莊嚴的世界》。台北：臺灣文開出版事業股份有限公司。
3. 陳雙法。2006。《九天玄女娘娘聖傳》。臺北：祥瑞文化。
Jiutian Xuannu (九天玄女), the Dark lady of the Ninth Heaven, abbreviated Xuannu, is also called Jiutian niangniang (九天娘娘), Yuannu (元女), Liali ma (連理媽) etc. The term Jiutian, the Ninth Heaven or the nine Heavens, symbolizes the highest and means all directions, everywhere. Xuan (玄), dark, means subtle and profound. Jiutian Xuannu is a legendary figure in the era of the Five Sage rulers of the legendary Age and a mythical deity of both Daoism and popular religion. It is said that Sheng-mu Yuan-jun (聖母元君) dispatched Xuannu to help Huang Di (黄帝), the Yellow Emperor, defeated Chi You (蚩尤) by way of imparting him a talisman. In another story, it is said that Xuannu was Huang Di’s master who made him lead the divine soliders to defeat Chi You. It seems that Xuannu played a decisive role in the war between Huang Di and Chi You.
In the Xuan-he Yi-shi (宣和遺事), a prototype of Shui-hu Zhuan (水滸傳), when Song Jiang (宋江) committed a murder and fled into Xuannu’s temple. Xuannu presented him a divine book, ordered him to enlist himself in the army and predicated that he would be a general and success. Finally, Song Jiang did become a general and make some important achievements. This story was rewritten into other stories, such as the Shuihu Zhuan (水滸傳), Pingyao Chuan (平妖傳), Ba-xian Chu-chu Dong-you-ji (八仙出處東遊記), and Nu-xian Wais-hi (女仙外史) etc.
The origin of Xuannu is vague. There are at least four kinds of speculation. The first is about a divine bird, Xuan-niao (玄鳥). It is said that one kind of an ancient statue of Xuannu was in human figure with bird’s head. The second is a new one that Xuannu been a female demon who could cause drought. However, the concrete evidences of above two speculations are not found. The third one is she descended to earth as Nu Wa (女媧). This saying seems only spread in Taiwan. The last one is about Nu-xian (女仙). In Daoist scriptures and other novels, they revealed that the possibility of Xuannu as a Nu-xian which is in relation of alchemy and fang-zhong shu (房中術), a kind of sexual yoga or a practice shared within a couple’s marital bed. That is the reason why mercury is called Xuannu in scriptures of Daoist alchemy. Besides, the Daoist temple, Chi-song guan (赤松觀), which is located in Jin-hua (金華) Zhe-jiang province is regarded as the place where Xuannu finished her alchemy and ascended to heaven.
Though Xuannu was regarded as a war goddess or Nuxian before, she is a goddess of fertility and the patron of matchmaker today. She is also an important goddess to both some Daoists and fashi (法師), a master of religious healing or exorcism rite in popular religion. There are some fashu (法術) under the name of Xuannu, such as Jiutian Xuannu Zao Gao mifa (九天玄女灶告秘法), Xuannu fang-zhong Jing (玄女房中經) etc. Jiutian Xuannu Zao Gao mi-fa is a ritual about praying for the blessing of Kitchen god (灶神).
In Taiwan, there are about nineteen to twenty three temples dedicated to Xuannu. The first one is located in Taichung, named Chao-feng Gong (朝奉宮). It was built in 1821. There are nine statues of Xuannu to represent her title “the nine heavens.” They are called Lian-li Ma (連理媽). In Chinese , lian-li is a term to describe a tree whose branches join together and Ma means mother or a courtesy title addressed to a married woman. Coincidentally, there is a temple which is located in Bei-jing (北京), main land China, also founded nine statues of Xuannu. Xuannu’s birthday is on September, 9th by Chinese lunar calendar. The temples of Xuannu would hold some festivals and rites as a celebration.
Keywords: Jiutian Xuannu, the Dark lady of the Ninth Heaven, Chao-feng temple, Lian-li Ma, Shuihu Zhuan
References:
1. 刑東田。1997.3。〈九天玄女的起源、職能及演變〉。《世界宗教研究》。
2. 阮昌銳。1982。《莊嚴的世界》。台北：臺灣文開出版事業股份有限公司。
3. 陳雙法。2006。《九天玄女娘娘聖傳》。臺北：祥瑞文化。