The Great Emperor of the North Star,). also called the Ziwei Emperor. and the Beiji Emperor,; full title: Lord of the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

at the center of Heaven ( zh, c=北極中天星主, p=Běijí Zhōngtiān Xingzhu). is one of the highest

sky deities The sky often has important religious significance. Many polytheistic religions have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' ...

and one of the Four Sovereigns (; ) of

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

Chinese mythology

The Ziwei Emperor resides in the middle of Heaven and assists the

Jade Emperor In the Chinese mythology, myths and Chinese folk religion, folk religion of Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the Primordial Divinity (Tai Di), primordial god. In Taoist theology, he is the assistant of ...

in administrative duties of Heaven and Earth; Sun and Moon; four seasons and weather. He commands all deities of

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s, mountains, and rivers. He is the highest

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

in charge of all the

natural phenomena Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

in the universe. In

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

and

Chinese theology Chinese theology, which comes in different interpretations according to the Chinese classics and Chinese folk religion, and specifically Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophical formulations, is fundamentally monistic, that is to say it sees t ...

, the Ziwei Emperor is also the symbol of the emperor in the human world.

Notes

References

External links

道教文化资料库

星座探奇

神祇列傳-紫微大帝
Four heavenly ministers Chinese gods Sky and weather gods Taoist deities Twenty-Four Protective Deities {{Deity-stub