福祿壽

楊舟

Fu Lu Shou are known as the Three Star Gods. Statues1 of Fu Lu Shou—theThree Star Gods are displayed in many Chinese homes， shops and offices around theworld. These represent happiness and prosperity2， status and authority3 and healthand longevity4.

Fu Xing

The star of Fu is dedicated5 to Jupiter which is considered very auspicious6. FuXing is the bringer of good luck.

The legend tells a story of a government official named Yang Cheng. He lived in a village where for some unknown reason all the inhabitants7 were extremely short.

The emperor discovered this village and was truly fascinated. He found it toomuch trouble to revisit the village. Instead he ordered steady groups of short peoplebe sent to his palace every year. The population of the village was declining8 yearly.

Yang Cheng took pity on the villagers. He did something brave and almostunthinkable. Yang Cheng pleaded the emperor to stop taking the little people fromtheir homes. He wrote a petition which he then handed over to the emperor.

The emperor was impressed and agreed to stop this horrendous9 act. YangCheng had saved the village through the power of words.

Yang Cheng became immortalized as Fu Xing. Fu Xing has been believed to bring happiness， prosperity and good luck to all those who need it the most.

福祿壽被稱為三星神。全世界許多中國家庭、商店和辦公室里都擺放著福祿壽三星神雕像。它們代表著幸福和繁榮、地位和權勢、健康和長壽。

福星

福星指的是木星，木星被認為是非常吉利的。福星是好運的使者。

有個傳說講述了一個名叫陽城的政府官員的故事。不知什么原因，他所在的州的所有居民都非常矮小。

皇帝得知了這個州，非常感興趣。他發現重游這個村莊太麻煩了。于是，他下令每年都要把一批又一批的侏儒送到他的宮中。這個州的人口逐年減少。

陽城憐憫州民。他做了一件勇敢而幾乎不可思議的事情。陽城請求皇帝不要再把這些侏儒從家里帶走。他寫了一份奏折交給皇帝。

皇帝被打動了，同意停止這種可怕的行為。陽城通過文字的力量拯救了這個州。

陽城因此以福星的身份名傳后世。人們一直相信，福星能給所有最需要的人帶來幸福、繁榮和好運。

Lu Xing

The star of Lu is dedicated to the sixth star of the Wen Chang cluster， in theWest known as Ursa Majoris. Lu refers to salary10 and thus Lu Xing is the star godof social status11.

Lu Xing gives blessings when taking difficult exams and competing for the besthigh paying jobs. This is all about great career success， authority， fame andfortune12. It was told that those who studied hard would receive Lu. Those who gotthe best positions were the ones blessed by Lu Xing.

Lu Xing is also associated with helping childless couples finally have thechildren they have longed for.

There are different legends about who Lu Xing originally was. One legend isthat he was Guo Ziyi also known as the Prince of Fenyang in Tang Dynasty. He wasone of the most honored Chinese generals. He had eight sons and seven sons-in-law.They all occupied high official posts.

Shou Xing

Shou Xing is the star god of longevity. He is often called the “Old man of theSouth Pole”. Shou Xing is easy to recognize with his long forehead. He carries thepeach of longevity and a staff. Legend has it that Shou Xing has the power to fix thedate of every persons death. He decides beforehand how long every human will live.

Theres an old story. A boy received a visit by a fortune teller who predictedhe would only live until he reached 19 years of age. He was devastated13. The boywas told to take some good food and wine out into the forest. He was to offer thefood and wine to two old men playing chess in the forest. He was instructed to notsay a single word. The boy did as he was told. He found the two old men playingchess and offered them the food and wine without saying a word. As it turned outthese two bearded men were the Old man of the South Pole and the Old man of theNorth Pole. They enjoyed the meal offered to them. The two old men wanted tothank the boy for his gift. After discussing the matter for a while they decided thegift of gratitude14 would be to change the digits15 for his lifespan. They replaced thenumber 19 with 91. The boy lived until he was 91 years old and died peacefully inhis sleep.

祿星

祿星指的是文昌宮的第六顆星，在西方被稱為大熊座。祿指的是功名利祿，因此祿星是掌管社會地位的星神。

祿星會保佑功名利祿。這一切都與事業上的成功、權利、名聲和財富相關。據說，那些努力學習的人會得到祿。那些身處高位的人都是得到祿星保佑的人。

祿星還與幫助沒有孩子的夫婦最終擁有他們渴望的孩子聯系在一起。

關于祿星的身份，有不同的傳說。有一個說法說他是唐朝的汾陽郡王郭子儀。他是中國最受尊敬的將軍之一。他有八個兒子和七個女婿。他們都身居高位。

壽星

壽星是長壽星神。他經常被稱為“南極仙翁”。壽星的額頭很突出，很容易辨認。他手持壽桃拄著拐杖。傳說壽星有能力確定每個人的死期。他預先決定每個人的壽命。

有一個古老的故事。一位算命先生給一個男孩算命，算命先生預言他只能活到19 歲。他悲痛欲絕。算命先生讓男孩帶著美酒佳肴到山林里去。他要把食物和酒送給兩個在山林里下棋的老人。他得到指點，一句話也不要說。男孩照辦了。他找到了正在下棋的兩位老人，默默地把食物和酒遞給了他們。原來這兩個留著胡子的人是南極仙翁和北極仙翁。他們很享受送來的飯菜。兩位老人想感謝男孩的饋贈。他們商量了一會兒，決定改變他的壽數作為謝禮。他們用數字91 替換了19。這個男孩活到了91 歲，在睡夢中安詳離世。