Page 209 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 209
A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 202
The god of longevity with attendant and the peach symbolising long life
It is not by chance that the god of long life is represented as bald in Chinese and
Japanese art: his elongated skull resembles the penis, which is of course another symbol
of life. Suitable attributes complete the picture of the ‘old man’: the peach which he
or his attendant holds, the deer on which he rides, the crane which bears him
through auspicious clouds.
Three ways of writing the character for ‘longevity’
