science

Old Man of the South Pole

Old Man of the South Pole is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Old Man of the South Pole rather than just read about it. In short: The Old Man of the South Pole (Chinese & Japanese: 南極老人), also called the Old Immortal of the South Pole (Chinese: 南極仙翁), Xian of Longevity (Chinese: 壽仙), or Star of Longevity (壽星; shòuxīng), is the Taoist deification of Canopus, the brightest star of the constellation Carina. He is typically portrayed with long white hair and beard, a protruding forehead and a healthy pink complexion.

Key takeaways

Old Man of the South Pole belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Old Man of the South Pole to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Old Man of the South Pole from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Old Man of the South Pole (Chinese & Japanese: 南極老人), also called the Old Immortal of the South Pole (Chinese: 南極仙翁), Xian of Longevity (Chinese: 壽仙), or Star of Longevity (壽星; shòuxīng), is the Taoist deification of Canopus, the brightest star of the constellation Carina. He is typically portrayed with long white hair and beard, a protruding forehead and a healthy pink complexion. His right hand often holds a peach and left hand a walking staff with a calabash gourd, which is said to contain the elixir of life. He can also be portrayed as riding a crane or a deer, often accompanied by disciples. He is one of the symbols of happiness and longevity in Far Eastern culture.

Description

The Old Man of the South Pole is often depicted in Chinese pictures as an old man with a long white beard with a deer by his side. This style of picture is related to the story of an emperor of the Northern Song dynasty, who had invited such an old man from the street and later considered the old man as the sign of his longevity. In certain Chinese salvationist religions such as Yiguandao, he is responsible for the initiation of the Tao to the beings from the Deva realm. In Chinese, the star Canopus is usually called the Star of the Old Man (老人星) or the Star of the Old Man of the South Pole (南極老人星). Since Carina is a Southern constellation, Canopus is rarely seen in Northern China and, if seen in good weather, looks reddish lying near the southern horizon. Because the color red is the symbol of happiness and longevity in China, Canopus is also known in China and the neighboring countries of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam as the Star of Old Age (壽星) or the Star of the Man of the Old Age (壽老人). In Japan, it became Jurōjin (壽老人), one of the Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神).

Legend According to legend, the Old Man of the South Pole was once a sickly boy named Zhao Yen who had been predicted to die when he was 19 years old. He was therefore advised to visit a certain field and to bring with him a jar of wine and dried meat. In that field, he would find two men intent on playing checkers under a tree. He should offer them wine and meat, but should avoid answering their questions. Zhao Yen followed the advice and when the two men had consumed the meat and the wine, they decided to thank him by exchanging the figures of his life expectancy from 19 to 91 years. Later he was told that one of the two men was the star of the North Pole, which fixes the date of birth of the men, and the other the star of the South Pole, which fixes the date of death.

In culture In the novel Investiture of the Gods, as the eldest disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun, the Old Man of the South Pole descended to help King Wu in his attack against the deity Yin. From the novel, his disciple is said to be Xianhe Tongzi, the "white crane boy" (白鶴童子). In Journey to the West, the Old Man of the South Pole's mount, a white deer, once escaped to the nether world to become a demon (or Yaoguai). It was later defeated by the monkey king Sun Wukong and taken back by the Old Man. According to folklore legends, the white snake spirit Bai Suzhen once went to the cave of the Old Man of the South Pole to steal medicinal herbs. The poet Du Fu has also made mention of the Old Man in his poem 《泊松滋江亭》: "今宵南極外，甘作老人星".

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Old Man of the South Pole

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Old Man of the South Pole claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Old Man of the South Pole before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Old Man of the South Pole ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Old Man of the South Pole

In research: Old Man of the South Pole appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Old Man of the South Pole in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Old Man of the South Pole is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Canopus, Chinese gods, Deified Chinese men, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Old Man of the South Pole outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Old Man of the South Pole in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Old Man of the South Pole means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Old Man of the South Pole out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Old Man of the South Pole in simple terms?

Why does Old Man of the South Pole matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Old Man of the South Pole?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Old Man of the South Pole.