Master of the Six Armies
The Tianguan Shu assigns the Hook-Array stars to the command of armies; before campaigns, generals sacrificed to Gouchen as to a god of war, asking heaven's mandate for their banners.
勾
勾陳上宮天皇大帝
Great Emperor of Heavenly Sublimity
Wielder of the Heavenly Reins
Festival · Honored in imperial liturgies
Wielder of the Heavenly Reins
Assistant to the Jade Emperor in holding the reins of heaven, presiding over the constellations of the Gouchen hook and the military affairs of the world — the celestial minister of strategy and war.
- The Gouchen constellation
- Scepter of office
- Celestial war banners
Festival · Honored in imperial liturgies
History · 史记
Historical Record
Gouchen — the Hook-Array — is a constellation near the pole that ancient astronomers assigned to military affairs: Sima Qian's Tianguan Shu records that it governs the six armies. As a deity, Gouchen Dadi is the sovereign of war and the balancing weight of the celestial bureaucracy, often described as the elder brother of Ziwei Dadi.
Where Ziwei holds the still center, Gouchen commands its movement — campaigns, borders, and the martial force that keeps heaven's order intact. Imperial dynasties included him in their state sacrifices of war.
Stories of the Divine
The Pivot Between Heaven and Earth
In the liturgy Gouchen Dadi stands between the star-vault of Ziwei and the earth of Houtu — the hinge that keeps celestial command and terrestrial obedience turning together.
Classical Sources
- 01
史記·天官書
The earliest astronomical treatise assigning the Gouchen stars to military command.
- 02
晉書·天文志
Elaborates the Hook-Array's role in heaven's bureaucracy and its worship.
- 03
宋史·禮志
Records Song state sacrifices to Gouchen as patron of the imperial armies.