Page 208 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 201
The liver was also held to be the seat of courage. This belief was so strong that men were
known to try to eat the liver of an executed criminal in order to ingest something of his
courage.

Representation of a liver

‘Heart and liver’ is a pet-name for one’s sweetheart.

Longevity, God of

Shou-xing

The god of longevity appears on many greeting-cards as a fairly tall slim man with a long
white beard, and an elongated skull, usually bald. In one hand he holds a peach, the
emblem of life, and in the other a stick of hard knotty wood. He is often accompanied by
a boy-servant. Legend has it that he lives in a palace at the South Pole, surrounded by a
large garden full of aromatic herbs, including the herb of immortality. In this form he
is frequently known as nan-ji shou-xing = the Immortal of the Southern Pole.
Shou-xing is a stellar god. His opposite counterpart is the Immortal of the North Pole,
who is also known as the ‘God of the Northern Dipper’. In Chinese cosmological
symbolism the South is the region of life: the North is the region of death. Hence the
saying that when ‘the Old Man of the Southern Dipper’ appeared, peace reigned in the
Middle Kingdom. Sacrifice was offered to him to ensure a long life with health and
happiness.