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Image courtesy of Dragon-Gate.com
God of Happiness : Yang Cheng (the planet Jupiter)
The God of Happiness had its origin from Yang Cheng, a kind and upright governor of Dazhou, a district in Hunan, China. It was the time of Emperor Wu Ti (502 - 550 A.D.). The emperor had tired of his usual treasures and commanded his court officials to find new entertainment for him. Someone told him that there were midgets in the Dazhou district who were good entertainers. The emperor was delighted at this news and ordered that some midgets be brought from Dazhou.
The midgets arrived at the palace and sang and danced for the emperor. The emperor liked his new entertainers a lot and commanded them to stay in the palace. He also ordered that more midgets be brought. This naturally caused many families to break up as children were forcefully parted from their parents.
Yang Cheng was the new governor of Dazhou and he saw the plight of the emperor's unhappy subjects. When he was asked to submit the required number of midgets to the palace, he refused. Yang Cheng sat down and bravely wrote a petition to the emperor, advising him to rethink his actions. Surprisingly, the emperor was not angry at the rebuke. Instead, he decided to stop the practice of collecting midgets and set free the midgets in his palace. The people were extremely grateful to Yang Cheng for reuniting their families. After his death, they made a statue and portrait of him and worshipped him. Thus Yang Cheng became the God of Happiness because of his courageous and selfless actions.
God of Good Fortune
During the time of Emperor Ching Ti (156-140 B.C.) there was a man named Shih Fen. He came from a very poor family with no social standing at all. Shih Fen was a humble man with a good personality. He was a hard working student, and court officials took note of him and gave him a job at the local court.
However, Shih Fen did not stop learning from there. He studied on his own and worked hard and soon he was a very accomplished man. Through a stroke of luck, he managed to land a job at the emperor's court, where he continued to improve himself. The emperor was pleased with his diligence and awarded him with tittles and honors. Still Shih Fen never passed up an opportunity to learn. He soon became very rich and successful but was always ready to lend a helping hand to poor folks.
Shih Fen became known as Lok Shen (or God of Good Fortune). However, he does not grant overnight richness or unrealistic dreams. Instead Lok Shen bestows good fortune to those who work hard through their own efforts.
God of Longevity
The God of Longevity was said to be born after 9 years in his mother's womb. The 'baby' was named 'Shou Xing' because his mother became pregnant with him after looking at the Star of the South Pole. Most people thought that Shou Xing was weird because he was born with a protruding forehead.
Shou Xing often went to the hills to practice self-cultivation. One day he never came back from the hills. After hundreds of years, Shou Xing returned to his village carrying a gourd, a peach and a walking stick. He became known as the Old Deity of the South Pole.
The Three Stars
Many tales from ancient China mentions Fu Lok and Sau. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, a celebrated fortune teller, Kuan Wei saw a family and predicted that their only son would not live past the age of 19. Since the son, Yan Chao was very filial, Kuan Wei decided to tell him of a solution.
The next day, Yan Chao took some wine and food over the hills, where he saw 2 men playing chess. He then served the 2 old men quietly. When they had ended their game, one of them said to the other, "I can't change his destiny." The second man then said, "Nineteen shall be changed to ninety." Then they disappeared. After being blessed, Yan Chao lived to a ripe old age of ninety. It is said that the North Pole controls our time of birth (the old men who first spoke) and the South Pole dictates our time of death.
The famous legend Journey To The West also had an encounter with the Three Stars. Sun Wukong, his master Tripitaka and 2 other disciples were on a mission to obtain Buddhist scriptures in the West. They ran into trouble with Deity Zhen Yuan of Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain. Sun Wukong (also called the Monkey God) sought Fu, Lok and Sau's help because they were friends with the deity. The Three Stars decided to make a trip to Longevity Mountain to put in a good word for Tripitaka. The problem was soon resolved with help from the Goddess of Mercy.
Networking gets you everywhere.
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| This article is brought to you by |
![Suan Tew]() |
Suan Tew
Managing Editor for Feng Shui Times. |
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