The birthday girl is a star name, and it is one of the three stars with happiness, wealth and longevity. According to the official records of Sima Qian in Historical Records, when Qin Shihuang unified the world, he began to build Shouxing Temple in Xianyang, the capital, to worship the elderly in Antarctica. But the reasons why later generations worshipped him were quite different. At that time, people thought that when they saw the birthday girl, the world was at peace; Failure to see it indicates war. In the early astrological works, it was also said that if the color of the old star is dim or even completely invisible, it indicates that there will be war.
Later, the birthday girl evolved into a fairy name. Folk believe that offering sacrifices to this immortal can make people live a long and healthy life, which is also a belief that Taoism pursues immortality.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, the ranks of Taoist immortals have been growing, so it is necessary for immortals to bless immortality. Antarctic Emperor, Nandou Beidou, Zodiac, True King, Thirty-six plough, 60-life core tablet Jiazi God, etc. , all have the function of blessing longevity. The Ming government ordered the cancellation of the national system of offering sacrifices to the birthday girl since Qin and Han Dynasties. The birthday girl completely removed the political color and strode into the folk, becoming the most secular fairy in ancient China.
The Journey to the West, a novel in Ming Dynasty, wrote that the birthday girl "holds Ganoderma lucidum in her hand", with long head, big ears and short body. There is a fairy tale of "happiness, auspiciousness and longevity" in Warning the World. In the portrait, the birthday boy is an old man with a white beard, holding a stick in his hand and holding up his forehead.
So, who is the prototype of the birthday girl?
Ge Hong's Taoist book "Biography of Immortals" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty says that "Peng Zu" lived for 760 years without aging, so some people think that the birthday girl in the sky is the Peng Zu on earth. Pengshan Town, Meishan City, Sichuan Province is the hometown of Peng Zu recorded in Huayang National Records.
Of course, it is not credible to live 7000-800 years old, but Peng Zu seems to be a real person in history. The story about his longevity has been circulated as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties. Qu Yuan mentioned him in his long poem Tian Wen, and Confucius and Zhuang Zhou also regarded him as a model of longevity in their own works. Chu Family History records that he is the grandson of Zhuan Xu, one of the five emperors, who lived from Xia Dynasty to Shang Dynasty for nearly 800 years.
There is also a legend that the prototype of the birthday girl is a man named Xu Santing. He is from Xuzhen, Puyang County, Henan Province. His head, body and legs are the same length. Because Xu Santing is charitable and helpful, people respectfully call him Xu Sanye. Master Xu always looks after the children for his neighbors. On one occasion, a sister-in-law said to another woman far away in the same village, Third Master is very kind, and just now she went to look after my children. Another woman said, impossible, Third Master was just at my house. As soon as the story spread, people thought that Xu was a fairy and could separate himself. Xu Santing lived to the age of 108. His hair is blond and his beard is knee-length. He usually grows a peach garden and only eats peaches instead of eating. Legend has it that he belonged to heaven after his death and was named the birthday boy. Later, in order to commemorate him, the smoky city was changed to xu zhen, and a incense burning ceremony was held on February 9th of his birthday.
When people celebrate the birthdays of male elders, they will offer sacrifices to the birthday girl with long walking sticks and white beards. If a woman is the birthday girl, it will be a souvenir of "Ma Gu Tu". Therefore, there is a folk legend that Magu is the birthday girl. In The Legend of Immortals, Ma Gu said that she and another immortal king "haven't seen each other for more than 500 years", which shows the length of their birthdays. And she also said: "I have seen three mulberry fields in the East China Sea, and the water is shallower than before." In the world, she has seen changes from the sea to the mulberry field for at least tens of thousands of years, which shows that she can almost coexist with heaven and earth.
Magu is not immortal, but self-cultivation. Magu is famous because it is said that she once offered birthday wine to the Queen Mother. Legend of the Immortal also records that Ma Gu threw rice into cinnabar, and Lu said that she was "born with Taoism and could perform on water." Legend has it that the place where she practices is called "Danxia Wanling Cave in Macheng Mountain", which is the 28th cave of the 36th cave of Taoism and the 10th blessed place of the 72nd blessed land. Yan Zhenqing, a famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the famous inscription "The Story of the Fairy Altar of Magu" when he was a secretariat in Fuzhou, Jiangxi. Near the ghost town of Fengdu, there are also places where Ma Gu once practiced or lived, such as Xian'gu Rock and Ma Gu Cave.