Shui'de Xingjun is a Taoist deity of natural water. Wikidata uses this title and lists the aliases Perfected Lord of Water Virtue and Great Emperor of Water, without promoting a personal name. The cited Chinese Wikipedia uses the same title, so it stays unchanged.[1][2]
Role
The page says he is the star lord of the water star, a subordinate of the Great Emperor of Water, though some identify the two. He is said to govern rivers, seas and waterways. Chinese firefighters often worship him together with the star lord of fire virtue. He is one of the five star lords, with the full title Star Lord of the Northern Water Virtue, the chronogram star who watches the chronogram star.[2]
Rival names
The same page quotes a Daoist text that calls this star the essence of water and gives a ritual name: surname Yinkong, given name Zhaoxia, or in another reading Qixia, courtesy name Jiyuan, or in another reading Jingyuan. His consort is named Xuanhua, courtesy name Longying, and he is placed in the Palace of the Dark Dipper or the Palace of Metal Mystery. Because the given name is reported in two forms, the citations do not settle on one personal name to replace the title. The page also describes him in a star crown and red shoes, a black-mist crane robe, a jade tablet and a seven-star sword, with a white-jade ring, in charge of water creatures, dragons and fish, and of snow and hail. The Tang Daoist Du Guangting wrote an invocation to him.[2]
Basic facts
- Title: Shui'de Xingjun[1]
- Description: Taoist deity[1]
- Appears in: Journey to the West