Queen Mother of the West Taoist thought, has the Queen Mother taking an inferior role to Laozi, calling him "Primordial Lord" (the title of his highest manifestation) and pays homage to the sage. The "Bamboo Annals" record that in the 9th year of reign of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun, "messengers from the western Wang-mu (Queen Mother) came to do him homage." It further notes that "the coming to court from the Western Wang-mu was to present white stone rings and archers' thimbles of gem." Shun's immediate successor was Yu the Great, who was Shun's prime minister and already present in the court at
Queen of the Lakes was the case as late as 1949, at which time the "Noronic" was so honored. It has been applied to the United States Coast Guard Cutter "Mackinaw" for its long and significant role in facilitating Great Lakes shipping and safety. The most common use of the title, however, at least since the early 1940s, is to honor the largest vessel on the lakes. On April 20, 1841, the "Detroit Free Press" referred to the steamer "Illinois" as "Queen of the Waters", but given that three vessels in that century were named "Queen of the Lakes", its use as a title