Shou Xing
Shou Xing ( Chinese : 寿星 , even -aged man in the Southern (南極老人)) is a Taoist god of long life, to Trinity Fu Lu Shou belongs. Shou Xing stands in Chinese astronomy for the star Canopus or α Carinae in the constellation Kiel of the ship , which in China is referred to as the star of the South Pole . Since it is a southern constellation, Canopus is rarely seen in northern China and looks reddish on a clear sky. Since the color red in China stands for luck and longevity, the star of the South Pole is known in China as well as in Korea , Japan and Vietnam as the star of old age. In Japan he became Jurōjin , one of the seven gods of luck .
It is believed that Shou Xing, or Nan Ji Lao Ren Xing ("Old Man in the South Pole Star") has the power to influence the lifetime of mortals. Qin Shihuangdi is said to have been given to him in 246 BC. Were the first to make offerings. The cult continues to this day, although the need for a more personal form has led to the star being increasingly portrayed as an old man.
According to legend, he spent ten years in his mother's womb. He was therefore born an old man. The old man of the South Pole has a high, arched forehead and a white beard. The peach he carries with him stands for immortality . His expression is smiling and happy. Two deer accompany him.
The ethnologist Thomas Hauschild has researched parallels between Shou Xing and the Christian saint Nikolaus von Myra or Santa Claus . As the administrator of the book of birth dates, Shou Xing saves a boy from an early death in a legend. Instead of the age of 19, he will only die at the age of 91. This act can be compared with Nicholas' commitment to innocent convicts and children, as well as the gifts for children, whose good deeds are noted in a book by Santa Claus. Outwardly, too, the figures resemble each other through a beard or a high forehead or high hat. Like Santa Claus, the southern star Shou Xing is associated with winter . The same applies to the older, Greek wind god Boreas or the Mongolian god of gifts, Sagaan Ubgen .
literature
- Thomas Hauschild: Santa Claus. The real story . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-10-030063-8 .
- Mary Fong: The Iconography of the Popular Gods of Happiness, Emolument, and Longevity. In: Artibus Asiae , Vol. 44, No. 2/3, pp. 159-199.
