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JUROUJIN, JUROJIN
God of Longevity
Origin = Chinese Taoism
One of Japan's Seven Lucky Gods
Male. The god of longevity, Juroujin (also spelled Jurōjin or Jurojin) is another god from China's Taoist pantheon. Depicted as an old man with a long white beard, he carries a holy staff with a scroll tied to it, on which is written the life span of all living things. The deer, a symbol of longevity, usually (but not always) accompanies him as a messenger, as do other long-lived animals such as the stag, crane and tortoise. Jurojin is often identified with Fukurokuju. In some traditions, the two are said to inhabit the same body.
ANIMAL ASSOCIATIONS
Tortoise, crane, deer, stag
Ivory Jurojin in collection of
Andres Bernhard AKA Rapick - Italy
Jurojin, by Sesshu (15th Century)
Summer and Winter Landscapes
http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/sr/fafe_2.shtml
Says JAANUS: 寿老人. Japanese = Juroujin; Chinese = Shoulaoren. A Chinese Taoist god known as the immortal of the Northern Song 北宋 and also considered the personification of the southern polar star (Jp. = Nankyokusei 南極星). In Japan he became a popular god of longevity and one of the "Seven Gods of Good Fortune" (Shichifukujin 七福神). The legendary Juroujin is said to be based on an actual person alive in the late 11th century, who stood nearly three shaku 尺 (roughly six feet) in height and possessed an elongated head. Besides the distinctive cranium, he is represented in painting with a white beard, carrying a round fan and staff with a sutra hanging from it. Often he is accompanied by a crane or a white stag said to be 1,500 years old. Often he also is shown under another symbol of longevity, the plum tree. Of the many Japanese paintings of Juroujin, those by Sesshuu 雪舟 (1420-1506), Sesson Shuukei 雪村周継 (1504?-90?), Kanou Tan'yuu 狩野探幽 (1602-74) and Maruyama Oukyo 円山応挙 (1733-95) are best known. <end JAANUS quote>
Says the Flammarion Iconographic Guide: Juroujin is the god of good luck and longevity. He is very probably of the same origin as his godfather Fukurokuju, with whom he is often confused. Thought to be a great lover of rice wine (sake), he is represented as a small old man with a wide forehead (but narrower than that of Fukurokuju), holding a knobbly staff in the hand, to which the book of knowledge is attached. He is accompanied by a crane, a black deer or a tortoise. He is sometimes called Roujinseishi (in Japan) when identified with the Chinese sage Laozi. <end Flammarion quote>
** Laozi, Laozu, Lao-tsu, Rōshi, or Laocius, the founder and "old boy" of Chinese Taoism. Pronounced Roujin 老人 in Japan. **
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