is one of

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

Seven Gods of Fortune In Japanese mythology, the are believed to grant good luck and are often represented in netsuke and in artworks. One of the seven (Jurōjin) is said to be based on a historical figure. They all began as remote and impersonal gods, but gradually ...

or . He is the god of

longevity Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...

. Jurōjin originated from the Chinese

Taoist 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', ...

god, the

Old Man of the South Pole The Old Man of the South Pole ( Chinese & ), also called the Old Immortal of the South Pole (), Xian of Longevity (), or Star of Longevity (), is the Taoist deification of Canopus, the brightest star of the constellation Carina. He is typically ...

or Star of the Old Man. He is known as the immortal of the

Northern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...

(960–1127), and may have been a historical figure of the period. Jurōjin is identified as the personification of the imagined Southern Polar Star. While paintings and statues of Jurōjin are considered auspicious, he never developed a following in Japan independent of the other Seven Gods of Fortune. People believe himself as the god of wisdom and longevity had been live in the world for 1500 years. People respect to acquire safety and happy living.Schumacher, Mark. “God of Wisdom and Longevity.” Jurojin - Japanese Lucky God of Longevity, www.onmarkproductions.com/html/jurojin.shtml. Jurōjin is often identified with

Fukurokuju In Japan, is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology. It has been theorized that he is a Japanese Cultural assimilation, assimilation of the Chinese Three Star Gods () embodied in one deity. Most related in appearance to the Chines ...

, another of the Seven Gods of Fortune. In some accounts, the two are said to inhabit the same body. As such, the two are often confused. Jurōjin walks with a staff and a fan. He is depicted as an old man of slight stature, and by tradition, less than 3 shaku (approximately ). He is depicted with a long white beard and often a very tall, bald head. He has a scroll tied to his staff, on which is written the lifespan of all living things. The scroll is sometimes identified as a Buddhist sutra. The

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, a symbol of longevity, usually (but not always) accompanies him as a messenger, as do other long-lived animals such as the crane and the

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

. Jurōjin is a popular subject of Japanese

ink wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses Wash (visual arts), washes of black ink, such as that used in East Asian calligraphy, in different concentrations. It emerged duri ...

s. He was introduced into the Japanese art tradition by

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhist painters, and depictions of Jurōjin span from the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

(1337–1573) through the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1603–1868). Artists who depicted Jurōjin as a subject include Sesshū (1420–1506), Sesson Shukei (1504–1589),

Kanō Tan'yū was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school. One of the foremost Kanō painters of the Tokugawa period, many of the best known Kanō works today are by Tan'yū. Biography His original given name was Morinobu; he was the eldest son of K ...

(1602–1674), and

Maruyama Ōkyo , born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active in the late 18th century. He moved to Kyoto, during which he studied artworks from Chinese, Japanese and Western sources. A personal style of Western naturalism mixed with Eastern de ...

(1733–1795).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurojin Japanese gods Longevity myths

See also

References