Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/194

 founder of the Taoist sect, is said to have been born under a plum tree.

The peach (tao) is a symbol of marriage but also of longevity. Great virtues were attributed to the peach, especially that which grew near the palace of Si Wang Mu, Queen of the Genii, where the fruit ripened only once in three thousand years.

The gourd (hu-lu) is also an emblem of longevity, and being largely used as a wine-bottle, it possesses another significance in decorative designs. It does not, however, occur frequently.

"Of all plants the most common emblem of longevity is the fungus (chi or ling-chi)." Its durability when dried is doubtless the origin of the significance attached to it. The particular fungus depicted in decorations is believed to be the Polyporus lucidus, which grows at the roots of trees. Large specimens of it, or imitations carved in wood and gilt, are preserved in temples, and it frequently occurs in pictures of Lao Tzse and the other Immortals, or in the mouth of deer. Sometimes it is accompanied by grass-like leaves representing the actual grass among which it grows, and which occasionally forces its way through the fungus while the latter is soft. The fungus is used not infrequently as a mark.

The Buddhist sceptre (jo-i) which is presented at marriages and to friends as an emblem of good luck, often enters into decorative designs, and is always shown in the hands of the God of Longevity. It is made of a great variety of materials, such as jade, enamelled metal, carved lacquer, porcelain, and so forth.