GLOSSARY: Fu, Lu, Shou Fu, Lu, Star Goods Of Good Fortune

GLOSSARY

Fu, Lu, Shou - Star goods of good fortune

Translated as the wish for Happiness (Fu), Good/stable income (Lu) and a long life (Shou) this is a common theme in decorative art especially during the Qing Dynasty.

Fu Lu Shou (simplified Chinese: 福 禄 寿 is the concept of Good Fortune (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and Longevity (Shou). This Taoist concept is thought to date back to the Ming Dynasty, when the Fu Star, Lu Star and Shou Star were considered to be personified deities of these attributes respectively. The term is commonly used in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of a good life. Statues of these three gods are found in nearly every Chinese home and many Chinese-owned shops on small altars with a glass of water, an orange or other auspicious offerings, especially during Chinese New Year.

Embodied as figures it occurs as the three Daoist (Taoist) Star Gods Fu-xing happy - Fu - while carrying a boy since he lived long enough to see his grandchild; Lu-xing accompanied by a deer, with a good/stable income - Lu - the word sounding the same as the word for "deer", and Shou-xing the Good of Longevity - Shou - often as a bald old man, often with a peach in hand or surrounded by lingzhi funguses. The decoration can also occur reduced to its attributes i.e. pine tree, lingzhi fungus, deer or/and a bat.

When placed in order, the figures are usually seen from right to left, with Fu on the right, Lu in the middle, and Shou on the left.

HOME

A

• Aka-e (Jp.)
• Alchemy
• Alkali
• Amsterdams Bont
• Anhua
• Andersson, Johan Gunnar (1874-1960)
• Animal Figure Symbols
• Angkor ceramics
• Annamese
• Apple green (glaze)
• Appraisal
• Archaeo-magnetic dating
• Ardebil Shrine
• Arita
• Arita ware
• Armorial porcelain
• Asbolite
• Attendant
• Attribute
• Aubergine
• Augsburg Art Cabinet, The
• August the Strong
• Auspicious
• Ayutthaya
• Ax

B

• Baba-nonya
• Badama
• Bada Shanren (1626-1705)
• Badges of Rank
• Baidunzi
• Ball
• Baluster
• Bamboo
• Banana
• Banko ware
• Banliang coins
• Bapo
• Baroque style
• Base
• Basket of flowers
• Bat
• Batavi
• Batavia
• Batavia brown
• Baxian
• Beaker
• Bee
• Belt toggles, Chinese
• Bencharong
• Benten
• Bento
• Betel
• Bi (Pi) disk
• Bianco-sopra-bianco
• Bird
• Birthday plate
• Biscuit
• Bi Xie
• Bizen potteries (Jp.)
• Blanc-de-chine
• Bleu de Hue
• Blue-and-white
• Boar
• Bodhisattva
• Body
• Bok choi/Pak choi (White cabbage)
• Bone ash
• Bone china
• Boshanlu Censer
• Böttger, J.F.
• Böttger luster
• Bottle, square porcelain
• Bourdalou
• Bow Porcelain Factory (1744-76)
• Boy (Children)
• Brandes, Jan (1743-1808)
• Brass
• Break
• Bredenhof VOC Ship, 1753
• Brinjal
• Bronze
• Bronze mirror
• Brown dressed rims
• Brown spotstiexiuban
• Brush Pot
• Brush washer, small (Shui Yu)
• Brussels Pottery and Porcelain Factory
• Budai (Po-tai)
• Buddha
• Buddha's hand citron
• Buddhism
• Buddhist Temple Lions
• Burial pottery
• Bushell, Stephen (1844 – 1908)
• Butsudan (Jp.) family altar
• Butterflies, Hundred
• Butterfly

C

• Calender
• Cabaret
• Cabbage
• Cache-pot
• Cach pattern
• Caddy, Tea-
• Cadogan
• Camcheng
• Camaieu
• Camaïeu bleu
• Camellia sinensis, the tea plant
• Camellia leaf monochrome glaze
• Candlestick, Chinese
• Canopy (Gai)
• Canton enamel
• Canton porcelain
• Carp
• Carrack
• Cartouche
• Castiglione, Giuseppe (1688-1766)
• Caudle Cup
• Caughley
• Cavetto
• Celadon
• Censer
• Ceramics
• Ceramic Chemistry
• Chaire (Jp.)
• Chaliang
• Chambers, Sir William (1723-96)
• Chamberstick
• Champleve
• Changsha (kilns)
• Charger
• Chatter marks
• Chawan (Jp.)
• Chayemo
• Chen Guozhi (ca. 1800-1860)
• Cheng Yiting (1885-1948)
• Chenghua (1465-1487) porcelain
• Chess, Chinese weiqi
• Chicken cup
• Chicken skin
• Children, Hundred
• China
• China burners ceramic repair
• Chine de Commande
• Chinese dynasty
• Chinese porcelain
• Chinoiserie
• Chip
• Chocolate pot
• Chrysanthemum
• Chrysanthemum dishes
• Chupu
• Cicada
• Cincinnati, Order of the
• Cinnabar
• Cizhou ware
• Clay
• Clay matrix
• Clay temper
• Clair-de-lune glaze
• Clobbered, Clobber ware
• Cloisonné
• Cobalt
• Cock
• Coiling
• Colander
• Collectible
• Colloid
• Colors, symbolic values
• Composition, asymmetric in Asian Art
• Condition reports and descriptions
• Coombs, China burner
• Coralene
• Concentric
• Conch shell
• Cong
• Congee bowl
• Copper-red glazes
• Crack
• Crackle
• Crane
• Crazing
• Creme cups
• Crest
• Cricket
• Cross-section
• Crow
• "Cuckoo in the house" pattern
• Cultural Revolution
• Cuspidor
• Cyclical Dates

D

• Daoism (Taoism)
• Dawenkou culture (c. 4300–2600 BCE)
• Dayazhai motif
• Decalcomania
• Deer
• Deer, Hundred
• Dehua kilns
• Delft
• Details, for authentications
• Deutsche blumen
• Devil's work
• Diaper pattern
• Ding (Ting) ware
• Dog
• Dong Qichang (1555-1636)
• Donkey
• Double happiness
• Double gourd
• Doucai
• Dragon (Long)
• Dragon and Phoenix (Long Feng)
• Dragon boat
• Dragonware
• Du Halde
• Du Paquier
• Duck
• Duff, Govenor, and his wife
• Dunzhi
• Dynasties, of China

E

• Earthenware
• East India Company
• East Indiaman NEW
• Edo period (Japan)
• 'Egg and Spinach'
• Eggshell porcelain
• Eight Buddhist Symbols
• Eight Daoist Emblems
• Eight Daoist Immortals
• Eight Friends of Zhushan
• Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup
• Eight Horses of Wang Mu
• Eight Natural Phenomena
• Eight Precious Things
• Eight Trigrams
• Enamel decoration
• Enamels
• Encre de Chine
• Endless knot
• D'Entrecolles, Pére Francois Xavier
• Équelle
• Eumorfopoulos, G.A. (1863-1939)
• Export porcelain
• Extant
• Eyes

F

• Fahua
• Faience
• Fake
• Falangcai
• Famille jaune
• Famille noire
• Famille rose
• Famille verte
• Fan
• Fat Lady
• Faux (imitating) materials
• Fencai
• Feng bird (phoenix)
• Festoon
• Fete champetre (Fr.)
• Figures, decapitated
• Fire support marks
• Firing in reducing atmosphere
• Firing in oxidizing atmosphere
• Fish
• FitzHugh
• Five
• Five Sages Yin Yang
• Five Blessings
• Five Dynasties
• Five Elements
• Five Poisonous Creatures
• Five Relations(Wu lun)
• Flag of China
• Flambé glazes
• Flatware
• Floating world (Jp.)
• Flower Friends Theme
• Flowers of the month, Seasonal
• Fluted
• Foliated
• Foo (Fu) dogs
• Foot, ring
• Forbidden city
• Fostat
• Four Elements
• Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty
• Four Modernizations
• Four Noble Plants (The Four Gentlemen (Sì Jūnzǐ)
• Four Scholarly Accomplishments
• Four Treasures, The Scholars
• Fresh red glaze
• Fritting
• Fu
• Fujian blue and white
• Fu, Lu, Shou
• Fukagawa
• Fushao

G

• Gadroon
• Gaiwan, Chinese tea cup
• Gama (Jp.)
• Garden rock
• Garniture set
• Ge
• Geisha girl
• Gilding
• Giles, James
• Glass, Chinese (Peking Glass)
• Glaze
• Gold repair
• God of Longevity
• Gongbi zhongcai
• Gosu blue (Jp.)
• Grafting faking technique, jie-di
• Graviata
• Grisaille
• Guan
• Guandi God of War
• Guangdong
• Guanyin
• Guinomi and Sakazuki sake cups (Jp.)
• Guozhi
• Guqin
• Guyuexuan
• Gypsum

H

• Hair bun
• Halberd 'ji'
• Halo effect
• Han dynasty
• Hannya mask (Jp.)
• Happiness, Double
• Happinesses, Hundred
• Hare
• Hart, Sir Robert
• Hasegawa, Keiko (b.1941)
• Hatching, cross-hatching
• Hatstand
• Hausmalerei
• Headgear
• "Heaped and piled"
• Heavenly Horse
• Heron
• Heroes, Table of PeerlessWu Shuang Pu
• High fired
• Hirado
• Hoi an Hoard, shipwreck cargo
• Hollow line
• Homophonic motifs
• Hong Kong
• Horse
• Höchst Porcelain Factory
• Hu (Storage jar)
• Huang Gongwang
• Huanghuali
• Huashi 'slippery stone' NEW
• Hundred Antiques
• Hundred Pleasures
• Hundred Treasures

I

• Igezara (Jp.)
• IHS
• Imari, Japanese
• Imari, Chinese
• Imperial designs, Ming and Qing
• Imperial workshops in Beijing
• Incised
• Ink painting
• Interregnum (1436-1464)
• Int. Exhb. of Chinese Art 1935-36
• Iridescence
• Iron rust monochrome glaze
• Islamic Art

J

• Jade
• Jade dog figure
• Jade Emperor
• Jade Hall(Yu Tang)
• Jadeite
• Japanese celadon
• Japanese chronology
• Japanese Gods and Goddesses
• Japanese porcelain - yaki
• Jesuits
• Jian yao
• Jigger and Jolly
• Jihong
• Jilan
• Jin dynasty
• Jin Pinqing
• Jingdezhen
• Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874-1960)
• Johanneum marks
• "Joss"
• "Journey to the West"
• Ju (Ru) ware
• Judgement of Paris (decoration)
• Jun glaze
• Ju Ren Tang

K

• Kaga ware
• Kaishu script
• Kakiemon
• Kannon
• Kangxi revival
• Kaolin
• Karako (Jp.)
• Karako ware (Jp.)
• Karakusa (Jp.)
• Karatsu ware (Jp.)
• Karlbeck (1879-1967), Orvar
• Kendi
• Kendi Maling
• Kensui (Jp.)
• Kenzan, Ogata (1663-1743) (Jp.)
• Kiln
• Kiln, porcelain firing
• Kiln implements and furniture
• Kinrande (Jp.)
• Kitchen Qing
• Klapmuts
• Ko-Imari(Jp.)
• Ko-sometsuke(Jp.)
• Korea
• Koro (Jp.)
• Kowtow
• "Kraak" porcelain
• Kui dragon
• Kundika
• Kutani ware (Jp.)
• Kwangtung ware
• Kyo-yaki (Jp.)

L

• Lacquer
• Laque burgauté
• Lai Thieu Ceramics (Vietnam)
• Landscape Painting in Chinese Art
• Langkiln
• Lang Tingji (1663–1715)
• Lang yao hong Copper red
• Lang Shining
• Lantern festival
• Laub und Bandelwerk
• Laughing Buddha
• Lavender blue monochrome glaze
• Leach, Bernard (b.1887)
• LeadGlaze
• Leather hard
• Leiwen
• Lena junk c. 1490
• Liao (916-1125)
• Li Bai (701–762)
• Liling kiln
• Lime
• Linru kiln
• Ling long porcelain
• Lingzhi
• Lion
• Lip
• Literati
• Literati Art
• Lithophane
• Liuli tiles
• Lobe
• Long Eliza
• Long Men (Dragon’s Gate) jumping
• Longquan wares
• Lotus
• Lowestoft
• Low fired glazes
• Lozenge
• Luanbai glaze
• Lug handles
• Luohan
• Lustre
• Lustre ware
• Luting

M

• Magnolia
• Magpie
• Magu, Goddess
• Maiolica
• Majiayao Culture
• Manchu
• Mandarins
• Mandarin ducks
• Mandarin China
• Mandate of Heaven
• Mandorla
• Manila (fibers)
• Manila Galleon Trade (1565–1815)
• Moutai or Maotai
• Marbled ware
• Mark and Period
• Marriage
• Marseille
• Martaban
• Marquetry (Wood decoration)
• Master of Rocks
• Matriarch
• Mazarine blue
• Mc Kinley Tariff Act (1890)
• Meander
• Medici porcelain
• Medicine, Chinese
• Merian, Maria Sibylla (1647-1717)
• Meiji period (Jp.)
• Meiping
• Meissen KPM
• Metal clad rims
• Mid-autumn festival
• Mille Fleur
• Minton, Thomas ( -1836)
• Ming dynasty
• Mingqi
• Mino ware (Jp.)
• Minyao
• Mirror black monochrome glaze
• Mirror, bronze
• Mirror-image decorations
• Mizusashi (Jp.)
• Molding (Moulding)
• Momoyama Period (Jp.)
• Mon (Jp.)
• Mongol
• Monk's-cap ewer
• Monochrome
• Monochromic decorations
• Month cups
• Moon Festival
• Morgan Vase 1886
• Moriage
• Mottahedeh
• Mountains, sacred
• Mudmen
• Mudra
• Mulan (Fa Mu Lan)
• Mustard Seed Garden

N

• Nabeshima ware (Jp.)
• Nanking
• Nara period (Jp.)
• Narcissus (Winter sweet)
• Natsume tea caddy (Jp.)
• Neoclassicism
• Nephrite
• Nianhao
• Netsuke (Jp.)
• Nieuhof
• Nippon (Jp.)
• Noritake (Jp.)
• Northern and Southern Dynasties
• Nose drinking cups
• Noshi (Jp.)
• Nonya (Nyonya) ware
• Numbers

O

• Occupied Japan
• Oil lamp
• On fakes
• Opium
• Orchid
• Oribe yaki (Jp.)
• Ornament
• Orange peel
• Oriole
• Osmanthus flower
• Ouroboros
• Owl
• Ox
• Ox blood
• Oxidation firing

P

• Pagoda
• Painted or printed decorations
• Painting, Chinese
• Painting styles
• Painting terms
• Painting themes
• Painting types
• Paktong
• Pak choi/Bok choi (White cabbage)
• Palace bowls
• Palace 'Peking' bowls
• Paneling, shapes and borders in porcelain
• Papier des Indes (Fr.)
• Paring
• Paste
• Pâte-sur-pâte
• Patty pan
• Peach
• Peach-bloom glaze
• Peerless Heroes, Table ofWu Shuang Pu
• Pei hok ("Skin and shell")
• Penglai Islands
• Peony
• Peranakan
• Pere d'Entrecolles
• Petuntse
• Pheasant
• Phoenix
• Picture Archive (under work)
• Piecrust rim -Igezara (Jp.)
• Pig
• Pine
• Pinyin romanization system
• Pipa
• Plants and Fruits
• Plate
• Plum blossom
• Poirier, Simon-Philippe (1720-1785)
• Polychrome
• Pomegranate
• Porcelain
• Porcelain clay
• Porcelain pagoda
• Porcelain paste
• Posset Pot
• Potiche
• Pottery parts and shapes
• Powder blue
• Precious things
• Printed or painted decorations
• Prima facie (Lat.)
• Proto-porcelain
• Provenance
• Prunus
• Pronk
• Puce
• Puyi (1906-1976)

Q

• Qi
• Qianjiang (pale umber) style
• Qilin (Unicorn)
• Qilung
• Qin
• Qin Dynasty
• Qing Dynasty
• Qingbai
• Qinghua
• Quail
• Queen Mother of the West
• Queue (or Pigtail)

R

• Rat
• Raku (Jp.) ware
• Ram
• Raven
• Red
• Red Cliff, Ode on the
• Reducing kiln atmosphere
• Reeding
• Ren Bonian (1840-96) (Painter)
• Regout
• Register
• Religions under Ming
• Reliquary
• Repoussé
• Republic of China (1912-1949)
• Reticulated
• Rice grain porcelain
• Ricci, Matteo (1552-1610)
• Rims, ceramic shapes
• Robin's Egg Glaze
• Rock
• Rococo
• Rolwagen
• Romance of the Western Chamber
• Rooster
• Rose Medallion
• Rouge-de-fer
• Rouleau
• Royal Nanhai Cargo
• Rubruck, William of
• Ru (Ju) ware
• Rubbing
• Ruby back
• Ruby glaze
• Ruyi

S

• Sacred disc
• Sacrificial blue
• Sacrificial red
• Saggar
• Samson
• Samurai (Jp.)
• São Tiago, Carrack, 1602
• Sancai
• Sanduo NEW
• Sander, or pounce pot
• Sang de boeuf
• Satsuma ware (Jp.)
• Scepter
• Scholar's objects
• Schreger pattern
• Seal
• Seal mark
• Seal script
• Sedan chairs
• Sepia
• Seto ware
• Setters
• Seven appearances
• Seven Gods of Luck (Jp.)
• Seven Sages
• Seven Stars Constellation
• Sgraffito
• Shang Ping vase shape
• Shapes, ceramic
• Sheep
• Shende Tang
• Shichi-fuku-jin (Jp.)
• Shippo
• Shipwreck ceramics
• Shipwreck 1450, Royal Nanhai
• Shipwreck 1608, Bin Thuan
• Shipwreck 1730-35, Ca Mau
• Shipwreck 1745, Gotheborg
• Shipwreck 1751, Geldermalsen
• Shipwreck 1817, Diana
• Shipwreck 1821, Tek Sing
• Shipwreck 1845, Desaru
• Shonsui wares
• Shou
• Shou Lao
• Shufu ware
• Shuicai enamels
• Shinto (Jp.)
• Shuangxi (Double Happiness)
• Silica
• Silk Road
• Silkworm chrysalis
• Six Canons of Painting
• Six Dynasties Period (220-589)
• Slip
• Slip casting
• Snuff
• Snake
• Snuff bottle
• Soapstone
• Soba Choko
• Soft paste porcelain, Chinese
• Soufflé blue
• Shochikubai (Jp.)
• Song
• Spice dish
• Spirit bottles
• Spode, Joshua (1733-1797)
• Spriggs
• Spur marks
• Staffordshire
• Steatite
• Stencil decoration
• Stoneware
• Straits Chinese
• Straits Chinese Porcelain
• Sui dynasty (581-617)
• Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925)
• Sumida Pottery (Jp.)
• Susancai
• Swallow
• Swastika
• Swag
• Swatow ware
• Sweet white (Tianbai) Glaze
• Symbolism
• Symbols: Animals
• Symbols, explained

T

• Taisho period (Jp.)
• Taoism
• Taotie
• Tang Dynasty (618-907)
• Tang Ying (Tang Yao, 1728-56)
• Tazza
• Tea Caddy
• Tea Pot
• Tea-dust glaze
• Temmoku (Jian ware)
• Ten Bamboo Studio
• Terracotta
• Terracotta Army
• Thailand, Ceramics
• Thousand flower pattern
• Three Friends of Winter
• Three Kingdoms
• Three Stargods(San xing)
• Throwing
• Tianbai (Sweet white) Glaze
• Tiffin
• Tiger
• Tiger and Dragon
• Tingqua (1809-1870) studio
• Tin-glazed earthenware
• Ting wares
• TL-test
• Tobacco leaf pattern
• Tobi Seiji (Jp.)
• Tokkuri (Jp.)
• Tokugawa (Jp.)
• Toleware or Tole
• Tong
• Tortoise and Snake
• Tradescant jar
• Transfer printing
• Transitional period
• Trigrams, the eight
• Triptych
• Trowulan
• Tulip
• Turning
• Turquoise glaze
• Tutanego
• Twelve Ornaments

U

• Ukiyo-e, Jp. wood blocks
• Undercut
• Underglaze Blue and White
• Underglaze decoration
• Urna

V

• Vajra
• Valentine Pattern
• Verbiest, Ferdinand (1623-1688)
• Vitreous
• VOC (1602-1798)

W

• Wabi-sabi (Jp.)
• Wade-Giles romanization system
• Wagener, Gottfried (1830-92)
• Wall vase
• Wang Bingrong (c. 1820-1875)
• Wanshou Wujiang
• War God, Guandi
• Wang Zhaojun
• War scenes
• Ware
• Warping
• Wash
• Waster
• Waves
• Wedging
• Wen and Wu principles
• Western Chamber, The Romance of the
• Wood
• Wood block printing
• Wu, State of
• Wu School of Chinese Art
• Wucai
• Wudi, God of War
• Wu Li (1632-1718)
• Wu Shuang Pu 'Peerless Heroes'
• Wutong tree
• Wuxing Five elements

X

• Xianhong Ming Copper-red
• Xieyi
• Xin Dynasty (9–25 AD)
• Xiwangmu

Y

• Yakimono (Jp.)
• Yao
• Yaozhou ware
• Yin and Yang
• Yangcai
• Yingqing glaze
• Yixing (Buccaro)
• Yuan dynasty (1260-1368)
• Yuan Ming Yuan Garden
• Yue yao (Yue ware)
• Yunnan blue and white

Z

• Zen Buddhism
• Zhangzhou ware
• Zhiding
• Zhong Kui (Jap:Shoki)
• Zhou Dynasty
• Zhuanshu
• Zisha
• Zither
• Zodiac

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

Back to Gotheborg.com Home Page

This is one of about 1,100 entries in the Gotheborg.com GLOSSARY or Q&A pages. Ideally use a laptop to access Gotheborg.com, which allows larger images and better navigation. The information offered reflect the general understanding among collectors and arts historians on most subjects covered. For personal help and far more information join our Discussion Board or submit a personal consultation question to Ask a Question, for a quick email answer. Copyright © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Gothenburg, Sweden 1998-2023