Kui Xing

Kui Xing (Chinese: 魁さきがけ星ぼし; pinyin: kuí xīng; Wade–Giles: K'uei Hsing), originally called 奎星 (also kuí xīng), also known as 大だい魁さきがけ夫子ふうし "Great Master Kui" or 大だい魁さきがけ星ぼし君くん "Great Kui the Star Lord", is a character in Chinese religion, the Deity of Examinations, and one of the Five Gods of Literature, Wu Wen Chang.

The name 'Kui Xing' literally means "Chief Star(s)", and anciently referred to the 'spoon' of the Big Dipper. The Chun Qiu Yun Dou Shu defines the ‘Kui Xing' as "The four stars in the first section of the dipper". The 'handle' was referred to as the 杓しゃく shao, or ladle/spoon. Kui Xing's original name, 奎星, is the original name of the star in the Big Dipper located furthest from the 'handle' - Dubhe.

Folk beliefs

Statue of Kui Xing at Bangka Lungshan Temple.

Kui Xing, holding a ladle and standing on an ao (depicted as a fish), on Xiao Family Temple in Xinwupu, Yangxin County, Hubei

In Daoist tradition, Kui Xing is said to have been "bent and hunchbacked, as if he were an actual calligraphy character", and came to be viewed as a saint of human fortune, particularly with regard to imperial examinations. Late Ming Dynasty scholar Gu Yan-Wu, often referred to as Gu Ting-Lin, wrote of Kui Xing in his Records of Daily[-gained] Knowledge (日にち知ち錄ろく): "The date of the beginning of modern people's veneration of Kui Xing is unknown. Since Kui (奎) was taken to be the master of composition, therefore the people established shrines to venerate him. Being unable to sculpt an image of the star (奎), his name was thus changed to [the homophonous character] 魁さきがけ. Again being unable to directly construct an image of 魁さきがけ, the character was split into its constituent radicals [鬼おに Gui - Ghost/Spirit and 斗と Dou - Ladle/Gourd] and illustrated as such."^[1] Gu's statement suggests the name change was a creative measure designed to facilitate Kui Xing's veneration.

As his form developed, people depicted Kui Xing's right foot standing on a character 鰲 (ao), a giant turtle, in reference to a traditional saying, 獨どく佔鰲頭あたま, "to stand lonely on the ao's head", meaning coming in first in examinations^[2]), his left foot support a ladle, a writing brush in his hand, and his body full of vigor and life. Stylized calligraphy of Confucian adages often compose his torso.

Artists have also depicted the ao on which Kui Xing stands as a giant fish (see the image of a temple in Xinwupu, Hubei), or as a realistic-looking turtle (e.g., the statue near Bijiacheng - the "Brush-rest wall" - in Changde, Hunan^[3]).

Kui Xing (standing on the viewer's right, on top of a fish-like Ao), in a Quanzhou temple dedicated to Tu Di Gong.

Notes

^ 日にち知ち錄ろく Rizhilu, vol. 32; Siku Quanshu version. p. 61 of 76; quote: "今こん人ひと所しょ奉たてまつ魁さきがけ星ぼし不知ふち始はじめ自じ何なん年ねん以奎為ため文章ぶんしょう之の府ふ故こ立たて廟祀びょうし之の乃不能ふのう像ぞう奎而改あらため奎為魁さきがけ又また不能ふのう像ぞう魁さきがけ而取之の字形じけい為ため鬼おに舉足而起其斗"
^ Hucker, Charles O. (1985), A dictionary of official titles in Imperial China / 中国ちゅうごく古代こだい官かん名めい辞典じてん, Stanford University Press, pp. 106–107, 536, ISBN 0-8047-1193-3
^ 笔架城じょう及“魁さきがけ星ほし点てん斗と”雕像落成らくせい^{[permanent dead link]} (Statue of "Kui Xing pointing the dipper" near Bijiacheng, in Changde, Hunan)^{[dead link]}

External links

Kui-Xing — article from Godchecker (retrieved 1 February 2006)

[1] 日にち知ち錄ろく Rizhilu, vol. 32; Siku Quanshu version. p. 61 of 76; quote: "今こん人ひと所しょ奉たてまつ魁さきがけ星ぼし不知ふち始はじめ自じ何なん年ねん以奎為ため文章ぶんしょう之の府ふ故こ立たて廟祀びょうし之の乃不能ふのう像ぞう奎而改あらため奎為魁さきがけ又また不能ふのう像ぞう魁さきがけ而取之の字形じけい為ため鬼おに舉足而起其斗"

[2] Hucker, Charles O. (1985), A dictionary of official titles in Imperial China / 中国ちゅうごく古代こだい官かん名めい辞典じてん, Stanford University Press, pp. 106–107, 536, ISBN 0-8047-1193-3

[3] 笔架城じょう及“魁さきがけ星ほし点てん斗と”雕像落成らくせい^{[permanent dead link]} (Statue of "Kui Xing pointing the dipper" near Bijiacheng, in Changde, Hunan)^{[dead link]}

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Kui Xing

Contents

Folk beliefs

See also

Notes

External links