The Way of Nature in the "Six Longevity Paintings"

It is generally believed that the "Six Longevity Thangkas" contain elements from many other cultural regions, primarily Han China and South Asia. Common interpretations of the "Six Longevity Thangkas" stem from the Sakya scholar Cuicheng Renqing (ཞུ་ཆེན་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་རིན་ཆེན་; 1697-1774) and the 9th Panchen Lama Chokyi Nyima (ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཉི་མ་; 1883-1937). In their interpretations, they emphasize the possible multi-layered meanings of the symbols in the images, and how these symbols come together to form specific allegories about the "natural state".

Changshou Mountain is like a right-turning conch shell, a sacred place bestowed with blessings by the Buddha. The imprints of the right-turning conch shell can be found on the rocks, symbolizing the ultimate victory of the dharma. In the land of Tibet, caves are the best place for Buddhist masters to practice, meditate, and write down their insights on the dharma. Therefore, in the iconography of Tibetan Buddhism, Changshou Mountain seems to emphasize a kind of focus and perseverance towards something, a manifestation of calmness and non-anger in meditation. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the mountain is the footprints of ancestors, the traces of spirits, and the homes of people living by the mountain. The mountains are imagined by people as the boundary between heaven and earth, even becoming the most important "sacred mountain worship" in Tibetan indigenous beliefs. Every mountain god in the snowy plateau has become the eternal protector of wanderers.

The first to be nourished by the mountains and waters in the image is the lush long-lived tree, which could be a pear tree, peach tree, or pine tree. Anyone who feels the breeze and shade under the tree will be blessed with longevity. It is generally believed that the fruits of the long-lived tree have eight miraculous effects (four health benefits and four ritual effects). The fruits symbolize all the pure food (non-meat) and healing medicines that humans can obtain from nature, which are used to please and offer to the gods. In indigenous religions, the tree of life is the gathering place of the four elements of the universe (earth, water, fire, and wind). In Buddhism, Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, and deities use trees to adorn their thrones. Practitioners observe the eternal in the midst of all changes under the tree: order and orderliness. In Tibetan medical iconography, trees are also tools that represent the true essence of health, as people have always understood that the veins of trees extend to all known and unknown places, all living places.

The long-lived immortal, with white hair and white beard, relies on the tree of longevity. He is unaffected by the laws of life and death, having practiced for a thousand years. He is the incarnation of the Buddha of Infinite Life and embodies the concept of wisdom. The image of the long-lived old man is widespread in various parts of Asia. There are ancient Chinese gods like the South Pole Immortal and the long-lived elders of South Asia, as well as the gods of old people in North Asia and the ancestors of the Naxi people. It is said that this long-lived immortal possesses seven characteristics that ordinary people find difficult to attain: lightness towards life and death, wisdom, accumulation of merit, clarity of mind, fearlessness, ease of change, and universal love. In images, the long-lived immortal is often depicted holding beads and a staff, seemingly telling the oldest stories, from the beginning of nature to the emergence of humanity, to all love, hatred, emotions, and causes and effects.

The most loyal audience of the Longevity Immortal are the Longevity Beast and the Longevity Bird, who rely on the fruits of the Longevity Tree to receive nourishment from the essence of nature, and lead all beings into the Great Joyful Forest. In the image, deer (representing Lu) are used to represent the Longevity Beast, while immortal cranes, storks, swans, and peacocks (the use of immortal cranes is a result of the influence of Han elements after the 18th century) are used to represent the Longevity Bird. The Longevity Birds and Longevity Beasts in the image appear in pairs, traditionally interpreted as corresponding to the perfect union of dual cultivation in Tantric Buddhism.

One of the most exquisite "Six Longevity Gods" comes from the Rubin Museum in New York City and is a 19th-century work. From the Sakya Five Patriarchs above the image, it can be inferred that this work is sponsored by the Sakya sect. The Longevity Immortal is seated on the back of the Longevity Beast, holding a symbol of the operation of heaven and earth and the natural rise and fall of the symbol, while a fairy on the right side offers him a fairy peach. Another woodcut print from the Rubin Museum in New York City may reveal the source of the composition framework of the previous work. In front of both works, there is a table full of countless auspicious objects, with devotees of different races kneeling on both sides of the table eager to obtain longevity: an ability that can only be obtained by understanding the path of peace.

For us, longevity means eternity. In "The Six Longevity Symbols", the seemingly transcendent space actually still follows some kind of cycle. This cycle forces us to shift our focus from the image to the real world, where we live and where the unique space that truly grants us longevity exists.