During the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), people believed that the Queen Mother could protect them from disease and death, and she became the central figure worshiped by a peasant cult that arose in Shandong and swept through the country in 3 BCE (Despeux and Kohn 2003: 27). Xiwang mu became known as the goddess of epidemics who resided in the west on Kunlun Mountain and ruled over the demons of pestilence. Her cults worshiped the Queen in different regions of China, especially Mount Heng in Hunan, Mount Hua in Shaanxi, and Mount Wuyi in Fujian.