Portrait of the Fourth Mistress of Earth – Divine Portraits project x Tree

To commemorate the Mid-Autumn Festival, we proudly present an artwork by Tree, in the Divine Portraits project, featuring the Fourth Mistress of the Earth Palace. Coincidentally, today also marks the birthday anniversary of the Second Mother Goddess of Earth, Mother Goddess Liễu Hạnh, whom the Mistress dutifully serves.

In our tradition, the Fourth Mistress is revered as a Divine Mistress residing in the Earth Palace, symbolized by the color yellow. Despite limited details in Her hagiography, this artwork draws inspiration from Her court literature hymn, which depicts Her wielding a pair of hand fans to aid people.

In the painting, the Fourth Mistress adorns herself in two layers of Giao Lĩnh (cross-collared) robes: a brown inner layer and a yellow outer layer. She gracefully wields two paper hand fans, a beloved symbol in Vietnamese culture. Her hairstyle is inspired by artifacts from the Lý – Trần era, referenced from Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyền’s “Apparel and Jewelry of the Lý – Trần Dynasties through Archeological Materials.”