The Goddess of the Nine Heavens is also known as the “Xuan Nü”, “Yuan Nü”, “Jiu Tian Nü” or “Jiu Tian Niangniang”. She is an ancient Chinese goddess. Although she is not a prominent figure in folk beliefs, she is a goddess of justice and her image often appears in classical novels, where she becomes the female immortal who helps heroes to eradicate evil and violence.
The original image of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens is the mythical bird Xuan. The Book of Songs, Shang Song, Xuan Niao, says: “Heaven decreed the Xuan bird to descend and give birth to the Shang, to inhabit the vast land of Yin. The ancient emperor ordered Wu Tang to rule the four directions. This is a poem of the descendants of the Yin and Shang dynasties worshipping their ancestors. It means that the Xuan bird was ordered by the sky emperor to give birth to the ancestor of the Shang, Qi, and establish the powerful Shang dynasty. The Xuan bird is the ancestor of the Shang. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Yin Ben Ji, 
“Yin Qi's mother was Jianzhi, a lady of the You clan, who was the second consort of Emperor Ku. The three of them were bathing together when they saw a xuan bird drop its egg. Jianzhi picked it up and swallowed it, and became pregnant with Qi. Qi grew up and assisted Yu in his work of flood control.
He was given the surname Zi and made Duke of Shang. According to the “Lüshi Chunqiu” (Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu), “There were two idle daughters of the Yu clan who built a nine-story tower. They ate and drank to the sound of drums. The emperor ordered the swallow to go and see them. It chirped loudly, and the two girls fought over it. The swallow dropped two eggs and flew north, never to return.” According to the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Gao Yu, “The emperor is heaven. Heaven decreed that the egg should fall to the Yu Clan, and that they should swallow it and give birth to Qi.” Qi is read as xie (also as xie), and is the legendary ancestor of the Shang Dynasty, son of Emperor Ku. His mother was Jian Di. He lived in Shang (present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province), or according to another theory, in Fan (present-day Teng County, Shandong Province). Legend has it that the Shang people were related to the Xuan Bird, and that there was a close connection between the Shang people's worship of the Xuan Bird totem.
As early as before the Sui Dynasty, there was a work called “The Yellow Emperor Asks the Xuan Nu for Military Strategies”. The book details the story of how the Xuan Nu helped the Yellow Emperor defeat Chi You. In this story, the Xuan Nu was transformed by the Xuan Niao, and although she had not yet shed her bird form, she had definitely taken a step forward and become a goddess who was half-human and half-bird, who came to the rescue in times of trouble and taught military strategies.
There is also another theory that the Xuan Nu of the Ninth Heaven evolved from the “Tian Nu Qi”. The Shanmei Classic and the Great Wilderness North Classic say: “There was someone dressed in green clothes, named the Huangdi Nüqi. Chiyou made weapons to attack the Huangdi, so the Huangdi ordered Yinglong to attack him in the field of Jishan. Yinglong stored up water. Chiyou asked the Fengbo and Yushi to cause a heavy storm. The Huangdi then sent down the Tiannv Chi, and when the rain stopped, he killed Chiyou.” This Tiannv Chi was sent down by the Huangdi. to deal with the Wind Master and Rain Master that Chiyou had summoned. It turned out to be a goddess of the early Nüxia, and later became the Xuan Nü with a human body and a bird's head.
According to the records of “Yun Ji Qi Xi” and “Yong Cheng Ji Xian Lu”, Shennong was an ancient emperor who had contributed to the Chinese nation, but by the time of his grandson Yuzhi's reign, the country's politics had gone astray, the vassals were encroaching on each other, and there were constant wars. The powerful took control of the cities and towns, and those who usurped the five elements and assumed the title of emperor included the Green Emperor, descendant of Taihao; the Red Emperor, descendant of Shennong; the White Emperor, descendant of Gongong; the Black Emperor, descendant of Getian; and the Yellow Emperor, leader of the You Neng tribe. When it came to Chi You, instead of following the example of his ancestors and reassuring the people, he relied on his bronze head and iron arms, raised an army and caused chaos, invading and annexing other states. The people suffered greatly. Chi You looked terrifying, and was generally thought to be “a beast with a human voice, a bronze head and iron forehead, eating gravel and stones,” or, “cow hoofs, four eyes and six hands, ears and temples like executioner's halberds, and a horn on his head.”
Twenty-two years after ascending the throne, the Yellow Emperor honoured the wise and humble, cultivated himself and accumulated virtue. In order to save the people, he rose up to fight against Chiyou and fought a great battle in the field of Zhuolu. However, Chiyou relied on sorcery, and although the Yellow Emperor was helped by the two sages Fenghou and Limu, he was still unable to win after nine battles. So the Yellow Emperor prayed piously at Mount Tai, which finally deeply moved the Queen Mother of the West. The Queen Mother of the West sent an emissary to first give the Yellow Emperor a talisman to wear, and then ordered the Immortal Maiden to descend and impart the secrets of the Three Palaces and Five Intentions, the Yin-Yang strategy, Taiyi Tunjia and Liuwen Budo, the Yin-Fu mechanism, the five talismans of the Spirit Treasure and the five-victorious text, as well as military talismans and sword seals. She also made 80 kui ox drums for the Yellow Emperor, which enabled him to defeat Chi You in battle and pacify the four quarters. The Tang Dynasty writer Wang Bo's Ode to the Qianyuan Hall says: “The emperor heard the sound of the drum and the Immortal Girl recommended the strategy of the Dragon Throne.” At this point, the Immortal Girl had completely shed her animalistic origins and become a celestial woman who aided heroes in their quests.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the King of Wu was a tyrant, so the Jade Emperor sent Xuan Nu to the mortal world to help Yue defeat Wu. Xuan Nu transformed into a virgin on Nanshan Mountain and was hired by the Yue Kingdom as a national teacher to train the 6,000-strong Junzi Army. During the war between Wu and Yue, the 6,000 brave warriors were invincible, but the virgin on Nanshan Mountain retired from her position and disappeared without a trace. After the King of Yue ruled Jiangdong, he missed Xuan Nu's past achievements and sent envoys to search for her, but there was no trace of her. He then built a shrine to the fairy on Nanshan Mountain and offered sacrifices to her every year. At that time, Xuan Nu was traveling in the Yunmeng area and saw a cave in the mountains filled with white clouds and surrounded by a divine aura, so she went there to rest for a while. In the cave, Yuan Gong, who had transformed from a monkey, reverently worshipped Xuan Nu and offered her flowers and fruit all day long. Seeing his careful and prudent nature and his cultivation of the Dao, Xuan Nu taught him all her sword skills. After Yuan Gong had achieved success, he took the white ape with him to the heavenly court to see the face of Heaven. The Jade Emperor was very pleased to see them and bestowed upon Yuan Gong the title of Lord of the White Cloud Cave and ordered him to oversee the Nine Heavens' Secret Archives.
According to the “Book of Sui,” Xuan Nu once answered the Yellow Emperor's questions about the techniques of male and female movements, indicating that Xuan Nu was also a female immortal who was quite proficient in the way of health preservation.

        九天玄女又叫“玄女”、“元女”、“九天女”、“九天娘娘”，为中国上古女神。虽然他在民俗信仰中的地位并不显赫，但她是一个正义之神，形象经常出现在古典小说之中，成为扶助英雄铲恶除暴的应命女仙，故而她在道教神仙中的地位亦常重要。
九天玄女的原始形象是玄鸟。《诗经·商颂·玄鸟》说：“天命玄鸟，降而生商，宅殷土芒芒，古帝命武汤，正域彼四方。这是殷商后代祭祀祖先的诗歌。意思是说天帝命令玄鸟生下商的始祖契，建立了强大的商王朝。玄鸟就是商的始祖。据《史记· 殷本记》曰： 
“殷契，母曰简狄，有氏之女，为帝喾次妃。三人行浴，见玄鸟堕其卵，简狄取而吞之，困而孕契。契长而佐禹治水有功。
封于商，赐姓子氏。”又据《吕氏春秋·音初》记载：“有 氏有二佚女，为之九成之台，饮食必以鼓，帝令燕往视之，鸣若隘隘，二媛而争搏之，复以玉筐，少选，发而视之，燕遗二卵，北飞，遂不返。”东汉高诱注曰：“帝，天也。天命降卵于有 氏，吞而生契。”契，读作屑(xie，亦作楔。)传说中为商的始祖，帝喾之子。母亲叫简狄。居于商(今河南商丘南)，一说居于蕃(今山东腾县)。传说商族与玄鸟有血缘关系，应与商族崇拜玄鸟图腾有密切关系。
早在隋朝之前，就有一部叫《黄帝问玄女兵法》的著作。书中详细记载了玄女助黄帝战胜蚩尤的故事。此中玄女为玄鸟所化，虽尚未脱离鸟形，但到底还是时进了一步，成了一位救助危难传授兵法的半人半禽的女神。
还有一种说法认为九天玄女由“天女魑”衍化而来。《山梅经·大荒北经》曰：“有人衣青衣，名曰黄帝女魑。蚩尤作兵伐黄帝，黄帝乃令应龙攻之冀卅之野。应龙蓄水。蚩尤请风伯、雨师纵大风雨。黄帝乃下天女魑，雨止，遂杀蚩尤。”这个天女魑是由黄帝请下来的。专门对付蚩尤所请的风伯、雨师。原来大约属于早期女魑之神，后来就变成了人身鸟首的玄女。
据《云笈七羲》和《墉城集仙录》记载：神农是一位有功于华夏民族的古帝王，但至其孙子榆治世时国政就连连失道，诸侯相互侵吞，战火不断。强盛者各据城邑，自僭五行而自为帝号者有太昊后裔青帝，神农后裔赤帝，共工氏后裔白帝，葛天氏后裔黑帝，有能氏部落首领黄帝。到了蚩尤时，不效先人之德，以安民心，反而依恃铜首铁臂，兴兵作乱，侵吞各邦，人民深受其害。蚩尤长相令人十分可怕，一般认为是“兽身人语，铜头铁额，食沙石子”，或曰：“牛蹄，四目六手，耳鬓如刽戟，头有角。
时黄帝继位二十二年，礼贤下士，修身积德。为了拯救人民，奋起讨伐蚩尤，大战于涿鹿之野。但蚩尤凭借妖术，黄帝虽得风后和力牧二圣贤帮助，但仍九战而不胜。于是黄帝虔诚祈祷于泰山，终使西王母深受感动。西王母遣使先授真符给黄帝佩戴，再命玄女降临，传授三宫五意，阴阳之略，太乙遁甲、六壬步斗之术，阴符之机，灵宝五符五胜之文，以及兵符印剑。且为黄帝制造夔牛鼓八十面，遂使黄帝与蚩尤决战胜利而平定四方。故唐朝文学家王勃《乾元殿颂》说：”帝座闻鼙，玄女荐龙庭之策。”至此玄女已完全脱离了动物的痕迹，成为了一位扶助应命英雄的上界女仙。
春秋时，吴王无道，玉帝遣玄女降临凡间助越亡吴。玄女化身为南山处女，受聘越国为国师，教练六千君子军。在吴越战争中，六千猛士所向披靡，但南山处女功成身退，不知所终。越王统治江东后，思念玄女前功，遣使寻访，毫无踪迹，即建仙女祠于南山之上，岁时祭祀。是时玄女游云梦之地，见山中有白云洞，仙气缔绕，遂往暂息。洞中自猿化身袁公，向玄女虔恭朝拜，终日摘花献果，加以供奉，玄女见他小心谨慎，修持养道，遂尽传剑术予他。功成携白猿同上天庭朝见天颜，玉帝见之甚喜，封袁公为白云洞君，敕他掌九天秘书。
据《隋书》记载，玄女曾向黄帝解答男女俯仰升降盈虚之术，表明玄女还是颇精养生之道的女仙。