Page 263 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

beidou

Northern Dipper

Since early times, the Northern Dipper (Ursa Major) has played a fundamental
role in Chinese official and religious life, due to its importance in the astro-
calendrical calculations and its mighty apotropaic powers. The basic features of
its roles in Taoism are already apparent in the Han period: in the Shiji (Records
of the Historian, j. 27; trans. Chavannes 1895-1905, 3: 339-43), the Dipper is
associated with the pole star as the heavenly center of the world, and is the
residence of the Great One (*Taiyi); its rotation divides the world into the Nine
Palaces (*jiugong). The Dipper, therefore, rules over Heaven and Earth and
symbolizes the complex unity of the cosmos. Its earthly counterpart is Mount
*Kunlun, the axis of the world. Within the human body, the Dipper is located
in its three centers-at the level of the head, the heart, and the navel-and
is related to the Three Ones (*sanyi). It is also associated with the spleen, the
organ related to Soil and the Center in the *wuxing pattern. Since the color
of Soil is yellow, alchemical texts call the Dipper the "yellow star" (huangxing
jIf ~), and one of its synonyms is Yellow Dame (huangpo jIf ~).
However, the Dipper lies in the North and thus symbolizes the Origin,
which embraces beginning and end and subsumes both Yin and Yang. Many
terms used to describe the Dipper give it the qualities of the Origin and pivot
of the universe, and the days of the "return to the Origin" (huiyuan ill!! ft) are
consecrated to it. The Dipper therefore has a double nature: it is linked with
life and death and is associated with the idea of passage, and also divides good
from evil and grants punishments and rewards. All the symbols that represent
the connection between unity and multiplicity are closely related to it.
The Dipper consists of nine stars, number 9 being that of the Great Yang
(taiyang ):.Il!iij) and of totality. Four stars are located in the scoop, three in the
handle, and two are invisible (see fig. 23). The latter, called Fu iJim and Bi 5(i~, are
its assistants. Those who can see them, under strict conditions of purity, enjoy
a life span of several hundred years. Each star is inhabited by divinities, and
encloses a paradise similar to those in the Moon and Sun. According to some
texts, the nine stars have counterparts which form another invisible constel-
lation surrounding the first one. These nine supplementary stars illuminate
the Dipper; they are the celestial-Yang and earthly-Yin souls (*hun and po) of