Mẫu Địa
In its own language: Mẫu Địa (Chữ Hán: 母地)
from Chữ Hán 母地, mẫu meaning mother and địa meaning earth
An earth mother goddess of Vietnamese Đạo Mẫu, whose palace colour is yellow
A goddess of Đạo Mẫu, the Vietnamese faith of the goddess-mothers, held to rule the earthly realm among its Four Palaces. Devotees say she is Liễu Hạnh herself, the faith's chief goddess, at work on earth for the heavenly mother.
- Rules the Earth Palace within Đạo Mẫu's scheme of four.
- Devotees say Liễu Hạnh, the faith's chief goddess, is Mẫu Địa Tiên herself.
- Each palace has a colour: red for heaven, green for forests, white for water, yellow for earth.
- Her Chữ Hán name is 母地; the longer title 母地仙 means Mother Goddess of Earth.
- Also called Lục Cung Thánh Mẫu, written 陆宮聖母 in Chữ Hán.
What it is
Mẫu Địa is a goddess honoured in Đạo Mẫu, the Vietnamese religion of the goddess-mothers, a set of female deities who each keep their own palace. Her longer title, written 母地仙 in Chữ Hán, is read as Mother Goddess of Earth, and she is also addressed as Lục Cung Thánh Mẫu. Her sphere is the earthly one among the religion's Four Palaces, a scheme completed by palaces of heaven, of water, and of the mountains and forests. She is a distinct figure from Quảng Cung and from Phật Mẫu Diêu Trì, two other goddesses she is sometimes mixed up with. Devotees go further still: they say Liễu Hạnh, the chief goddess of the whole faith, is this earth mother herself, acting on earth in the place of Mẫu Thiên Tiên, the heavenly mother.
Mẫu Địa, drawn and placed
- Living
- Revived
- Fading
- Historical
- Legendary
- Performed
- Lineage
- Đạo Mẫu, Vietnam's goddess-mother religion
Peoples and places
The home of this goddess is Vietnam, where Đạo Mẫu stands as an indigenous religion and forms part of the country's folk religion. Its worshippers are the devotees of the goddess-mothers, the female deities who each keep a palace of their own. Those devotees hold the strongest teaching about Mẫu Địa: that Liễu Hạnh, chief goddess of the whole faith, is none other than Mẫu Địa Tiên, at work on earth for the heavenly mother. The faith maps its goddesses onto terrain, sky, water, forest and soil, so the mothers are told apart by realm and by the colour each one carries.
At a glance: who, where and when
Peoples
Belief worlds
What people believe
Đạo Mẫu sorts its mothers into Four Palaces, and Mẫu Địa holds the earthly one; the others cover heaven, water, and the mountains and forests. Each palace carries its own colour, by which its goddess is recognised. Red marks Mẫu Thượng Thiên of heaven, green marks Mẫu Thượng Ngàn of the mountains and forests, white marks Mẫu Thoải of water, and yellow marks the mother of earth. On this order rests a second teaching: devotees believe Liễu Hạnh, honoured as the religion's chief goddess, is Mẫu Địa Tiên herself, present on earth in place of Mẫu Thiên Tiên, the mother of heaven.
Compare and confuse
Two figures stand apart from her: Quảng Cung and Phật Mẫu Diêu Trì, different goddesses despite the occasional mix-up. Within Đạo Mẫu she sits beside Mẫu Thượng Thiên, Mẫu Thượng Ngàn and Mẫu Thoải, the ladies of the other three palaces, told apart by red, green and white against her yellow. Her closest overlap is with Liễu Hạnh, whom devotees treat as the same divine person under another name, making this earth mother the highest of the faith's goddesses.
Questions people ask about Mẫu Địa
Who is Mẫu Địa?
She is one of the goddess-mothers of Đạo Mẫu, a faith native to Vietnam. Followers hold that she rules the Earth Palace, the earthly one among its four, and that under her title Mẫu Địa Tiên she is the goddess Liễu Hạnh herself.
Where does her worship come from?
From Đạo Mẫu, described in Vietnamese writing as an indigenous religion and part of the country's folk religion. The goddess belongs to that faith's scheme of Four Palaces, where every realm has its own mother deity and its own colour.
Why is yellow her colour?
Each palace in Đạo Mẫu carries a token colour of its own. Red belongs to Mẫu Thượng Thiên of heaven, green to Mẫu Thượng Ngàn of the mountains and forests, white to Mẫu Thoải of water, and yellow to the mother of the earth palace.
Is she the same goddess as Liễu Hạnh?
Devotees of Đạo Mẫu believe she is. They hold that Liễu Hạnh, the faith's chief goddess, is Mẫu Địa Tiên herself, present on earth in the heavenly mother's stead, which sets this earth mother at the head of the religion.
Which goddesses is she confused with?
Two figures stand apart from her: Quảng Cung and Phật Mẫu Diêu Trì, different goddesses despite the occasional mix-up. Within Đạo Mẫu she is also told apart from the mothers of the other palaces, known by red, green and white.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Mẫu Địa", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryJaadu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Names and customs differ from one community to the next, and some knowledge is closed to outsiders and left out here. This page describes belief and practice. It does not say that any of it works, it is not a how-to, and it is not medical advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-22.
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