File:Red Luxing.svg

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A stylised 禄 lù and/or 子 zi character, meaning respectively "prosperity", "furthering", "welfare" and "son", "offspring". 字 zì, meaning "word" and "symbol", is a cognate of 子 zi and represents a "son" enshrined under a "roof". Lùxīng (禄星 "Star of Prosperity") is Mizar (ζ Ursae Majoris) of the Big Dipper or Chariot constellation (within Ursa Major) which rotates around the north celestial pole; it is the second star of the "handle" of the Dipper. Zi was the name of the royal lineage of the Shang dynasty, and is itself a representation of the north celestial pole and its spinning stars (Didier, p. 191 and passim). Likewise to the Eurasian swastika symbols, representations of the supreme God manifesting as the north celestial pole and its Chariot (Assasi, passim; Didier, passim), the lu or zi symbol represents the ordering manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven (Tiān 天) of the Chinese tradition.

Luxing is conceived as a member of two clusters of gods, the Sānxīng (三星 "Three Stars") and the Jiǔhuángshén (九皇神 "Nine God-Kings"). The latter are the seven stars of the Big Dipper plus two less visible ones thwartwise the "handle", and they are conceived as the ninefold manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven, which in this tradition is called Jiǔhuángdàdì (九皇大帝, "Great Deity of the Nine Kings") (Cheu, p. 19), Xuántiān Shàngdì (玄天上帝 "Highest Deity of the Dark Heaven") (DeBernardi, pp. 57–59), or Dòufù (斗父 "Father of the Chariot"). The number nine is for this reason associated with the yang masculine power of the dragon, and celebrated in the Double Ninth Festival and Nine God-Kings Festival (DeBernardi, pp. 57–59). The Big Dipper is the expansion of the supreme principle, governing waxing and life (yang), while the Little Dipper is its reabsorption, governing waning and death (yin) (Cheu, p. 19; DeBernardi, pp. 57–59). The mother of the Jiuhuangshen is Dǒumǔ (斗母 "Mother of the Chariot"), the female aspect of the supreme (Cheu, p. 19; DeBernardi, pp. 57–59).