福禄寿

杨舟

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.

福禄寿被称为三星神。全世界许多中国家庭、商店和办公室里都摆放着福禄寿三星神雕像。它们代表着幸福和繁荣、地位和权势、健康和长寿。

福星

福星指的是木星，木星被认为是非常吉利的。福星是好運的使者。

有个传说讲述了一个名叫阳城的政府官员的故事。不知什么原因，他所在的州的所有居民都非常矮小。

皇帝得知了这个州，非常感兴趣。他发现重游这个村庄太麻烦了。于是，他下令每年都要把一批又一批的侏儒送到他的宫中。这个州的人口逐年减少。

阳城怜悯州民。他做了一件勇敢而几乎不可思议的事情。阳城请求皇帝不要再把这些侏儒从家里带走。他写了一份奏折交给皇帝。

皇帝被打动了，同意停止这种可怕的行为。阳城通过文字的力量拯救了这个州。

阳城因此以福星的身份名传后世。人们一直相信，福星能给所有最需要的人带来幸福、繁荣和好运。

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

禄星指的是文昌宫的第六颗星，在西方被称为大熊座。禄指的是功名利禄，因此禄星是掌管社会地位的星神。

禄星会保佑功名利禄。这一切都与事业上的成功、权利、名声和财富相关。据说，那些努力学习的人会得到禄。那些身处高位的人都是得到禄星保佑的人。

禄星还与帮助没有孩子的夫妇最终拥有他们渴望的孩子联系在一起。

关于禄星的身份，有不同的传说。有一个说法说他是唐朝的汾阳郡王郭子仪。他是中国最受尊敬的将军之一。他有八个儿子和七个女婿。他们都身居高位。

寿星

寿星是长寿星神。他经常被称为“南极仙翁”。寿星的额头很突出，很容易辨认。他手持寿桃拄着拐杖。传说寿星有能力确定每个人的死期。他预先决定每个人的寿命。

有一个古老的故事。一位算命先生给一个男孩算命，算命先生预言他只能活到19 岁。他悲痛欲绝。算命先生让男孩带着美酒佳肴到山林里去。他要把食物和酒送给两个在山林里下棋的老人。他得到指点，一句话也不要说。男孩照办了。他找到了正在下棋的两位老人，默默地把食物和酒递给了他们。原来这两个留着胡子的人是南极仙翁和北极仙翁。他们很享受送来的饭菜。两位老人想感谢男孩的馈赠。他们商量了一会儿，决定改变他的寿数作为谢礼。他们用数字91 替换了19。这个男孩活到了91 岁，在睡梦中安详离世。