In the east courtyard of Beijing's Ziyun Temple is a newly completed hall, the Hall of the Three Stars, which enshrines the gods of happiness, wealth and longevity, the Three Stars. They are in charge of people's happiness, good fortune and longevity, and have a profound influence in Chinese folk culture. As the saying goes, “On earth there are the gods of happiness, wealth and longevity, and in heaven there are the three lucky stars.” The Three Stars are kind and gentle in appearance, so they seem approachable and friendly. The common people affectionately call them “Old Three Stars”. Because they are a symbol of happiness and longevity, people worship them while also treating them as lucky charms to give to friends and family, thus making the belief in the Three Stars widely popular among the common people.
Happiness has always been something that people pray for and hope for. The Book of History: Hongfan has five blessings: 
one is longevity, the second is wealth, the third is health, the fourth is having good morals, and the fifth is living a long life. Han Feizi: The meaning of happiness is a long life and wealth. The Book of Rites: Happiness means being prepared for everything. Being prepared means having no problems. There is nothing that goes wrong. It can be seen that the character for happiness is a symbol of long life and good health, peace and wealth, and everything going well. For thousands of years, people have sought it diligently, worshipping it piously, hoping that happiness will come to their homes and their fortunes will last.　　
In this regard, Taoism absorbed it when enriching its belief system, calling the god of fortune the Star God, which originated from the Star of Fortune, the annual star, and saying that the annual star's presence can bring blessings and good fortune. Later, it was personified, and the more famous ones are the god of fortune Tian Guan and Yang Cheng.
The belief in the Heavenly Official originated from the handwritten document of the Three Officials of the Wudoumi Dao, which was used by Wudoumi Dao priests to pray for the sick. The priests wrote the document for the sick, praying to the Three Officials. Taoism claims that the Three Officials can bestow blessings, forgive sins and relieve calamities. At this point, people began to worship the Heavenly Official as a god of blessings. During the Qing Dynasty, the belief in the Heavenly Official was extremely widespread, and the New Year paintings of the Heavenly Official granting blessings were also very colourful. The figure of the Heavenly Official in the picture is that of a dignitary, dressed in a red official's robe with a dragon-patterned robe and jade belt. He holds a ruyi sceptre, has five locks of long beard, and has a kind and gentle face, looking very dignified and luxurious. In some New Year pictures, the Heavenly Official kindly carries five young boys, each holding in his hands a peach, pomegranate, Buddha's hand, spring plum and auspicious fish lantern. People put up these New Year pictures in order to pray for blessings of longevity from the Heavenly Official.
The god of fortune Yang Cheng was originally a historical figure named Yang Cheng. According to the Records of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Cheng, a native of Dingzhou Beiping (present-day Wan County, Hebei), was a man of great learning and high moral character. After passing the imperial examinations, he retired to the Zhongtiao Mountains. Li Mi recommended him for the position of Grand Counsellor. The officials and people of the capital all thought that he would speak out against the problems of the day once he took office. However, after he arrived in the capital, he spent his days drinking and ignored political affairs, which was a great disappointment. In the 11th year of the Zhengyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (795), the treacherous minister Pei Yanling falsely flattered the general Lu Zhi and others. Emperor Tang Dezong wanted to kill Lu Zhi and the others, but no one in the government or the people dared to advise against it. Only Yang Cheng spoke up, helping Lu Zhi and others clarify the facts and save Lu Zhi from death. Zhang Wanfu, the general of the imperial guard, praised him, saying, “With upright officials in the court, the world will be at peace!” From then on, Yang Cheng's reputation spread throughout the court. Later, Yang Cheng strongly advised Emperor Dezong not to reappoint the flattering official Pei Yanling, but Dezong did not listen, so Yang Cheng resigned and retired to the mountains.
However, Yang Cheng is worshipped as a god of good fortune, and this is related to his resistance to the tribute of short people from Daozhou. According to the “Old Book of Tang: Biography of Yang Cheng”, the people of Daozhou were very short due to the local soil and water conditions. Every year, each household had to pay tribute of a man, called the short slave. Yang Cheng arrived in Daozhou and forbade the use of slaves. He also pitied the common people of Daozhou, who suffered from the pain of separation every year. He then wrote an anti-slavery petition and exempted them from slavery. Since then, they stopped enslaving their own people, and the people all relied on him and were all grateful. The “New Tang History · Yang Cheng Biography” states that the people of Biao Prefecture were grateful and named it after Yang. Yang Cheng was not afraid of punishment or losing his job, and he disobeyed orders to admonish the emperor. He saved the short people of Daozhou, and the people of Daozhou were so grateful that they built a shrine to him, honoring him as the god of fortune. The great poet Zi Yu praised him in his poem “The People of Daozhou”: “The people of Daozhou have been blessed by Yang Cheng to this day. If I were to tell you about him, I would start to cry. I'm still afraid that my children and grandchildren will forget about him. If they have sons, they will name them Yang.
In fact, the story of the god of fortune Yang Cheng had already been recorded in the Daoist pantheon long before, although the time and name were slightly different. According to the Daozang·Sou Shen Ji, the god of fortune was Yang Gongwei Cheng, the former governor of Daozhou. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty loved the short people of Daozhou, thinking they were like court slaves. Whenever a man was born in Daozhou, the best dwarf would be selected, and hundreds of them would be sent as tribute every year, separating the parents from their children. Yang Gong, the provincial censor, was in charge of the county, and reported to the emperor that according to the “Five Classics”, there were only short people in the local area, but no short slaves. The emperor was moved, and after investigating, he stopped taking them from then on. The people of the county were grateful and built a shrine to worship them, and regarded them as the local god of fortune. Later, the common people all over the world worshipped them as gods of fortune.
Whether it is Yang Cheng in the Han Dynasty or Yang Cheng in the Tang Dynasty, they were both deified for saving the people, which fully demonstrates people's yearning for kindness and happiness.
The god of wealth is the god of official positions and wealth. It originated from the ancient Chinese worship of star gods. Its god is Lu Xing. The Records of the Grand Historian: Book of Heavenly Officials states: “There is a ‘Lu Xing’ in the Wenchang Palace,” meaning that there is a star god in charge of Lu Xing in the Wenchang Palace. Later, the worship of stars gradually became personified. Like the god of fortune and the god of longevity, the god of wealth was also given divine attributes. This is how the saying “advancing one's career like Zhang Xian” came about. In traditional “Fortune, Longevity and Happiness” New Year paintings, he is often holding or leading a young child.
Lu Shen is very popular among the people, and there are often New Year paintings, wind paintings and auspicious patterns with themes such as “promotion in rank and increase in wealth”, “Fortune, Longevity and Happiness”, “promotion in rank”, “promotion in rank and title”, “promotion to marquis” and “three promotions in a row”. This type of painting also often uses homophonic methods, substituting a physical object for the meaning of a character. For example, the character “鹿” (deer) is used instead of “禄” (official's pay). In the Three Star Diagram, the old man of longevity is often depicted riding a deer, followed by some peach attendants, with bats flying overhead. Or there is an official in a high hat and belt, stroking a deer.
There is also a legend about the god of wealth Zhang Xian that is still passed down in folk culture. It is said that when Lou Shide, prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was young, he suffered from a wasting disease and was very weak. One day, a Taoist priest passed by and said that he had no light in his head, was surrounded by black qi, and was terminally ill. If he did not receive help from a noble person, he would die in three days. Lou Shide had been ill for a long time and was not afraid of death. For three days, he did nothing but silently waited for death to come. But on the third night, Lou Shide saw a purple-clad man rush in through the door, take a bullet from his bosom, snap it shut, and without further ado, shoot Lou Shide. Lou Shide thought to himself, my time has come, there is no need to dodge, so he simply closed his eyes and waited to die. But after waiting for a long time, he felt nothing at all on his head, but instead felt as if his body was floating in the air, as if he were sitting on a spring. So he opened his eyes, and in an instant, he felt refreshed and his illness had completely disappeared. Lou Shide knew he had met a noble person, so he knelt down and asked the purple-robed man what kind of immortal he was. The purple-robed man told him that he was the God of Fortune, Zhang Xian. He then took Lou Shide to a stone house in the Department of Destiny, and told him to look up his fortune in the records. Lou Shide opened the book and saw that his name, date of birth, native place, time of becoming a scholar and entering the imperial service as prime minister, and the date of his death at the age of 85 were all recorded. He was overjoyed and was about to leave when he suddenly saw the name of an uncle. He wanted to read more, but suddenly a fierce beast charged in from outside the stone house, brandishing a mighty halberd and shouting, “How dare you, Lou Shide, mess with the records of your fortune!” Lou Shide was startled awake and realized it was just a dream. Later, Lou Shide did indeed become a high-ranking official and earned a large fortune, becoming prime minister, which fulfilled the experience in his dream.
Taoism is a religion that pursues immortality, and therefore has a deity in its pantheon that governs the lifespan of people. Legend has it that worshipping this deity often can make people healthy and live long lives. This deity is the Immortal of the South Pole, also known as the True Lord of the South Pole. Because he governs longevity, he is also called the “Star of Longevity” or “Star of the Elderly”.
Ancient star worship had many names, but the one that has endured and remains popular is Shouxing, the Star of Longevity. Belief in the Star of Longevity has been widespread since ancient times. The Shiji Fengshan Shu (Historical Records: The Sacrificial Rites to the Gods of the Mountains and the Seas) by Sima Zhen Suo Yin says: “Shouxing is the Star of Longevity in the Southern Polar Region. Seeing it means that the world is safe and peaceful. Worship it to pray for a long life.” The Erya Shitian (Erya: Explanation of the Heavens) also says: “Shouxing is also Jiao and Kang.” The two constellations of Jia and Kang are the first two of the seven eastern constellations of the Azure Dragon. Therefore, according to Guo Pu's commentary, the longevity star “begins with Jia and Kang” and “is the leader of the constellations, hence its name.” Sima Yu's “Historical Records: Book of Heavenly Officials” believes that there is a large star in the western wolf than the ground, called “the old man of the south pole”. When the old man appears, there is peace and order; when he is not seen, there will be war. Tang Dynasty scholar Zhang Shoujie explained this as follows: “The old man star is in the southern part of the sky (southeast of Sirius), also known as the South Pole, and is mainly associated with an extended lifespan. Its appearance indicates a long national life, hence the name Shouchang, and peace in the world. Its opposite appearance indicates the ruler's worries.” Therefore, the appearance of the Shou Xing (star of longevity) was of great concern. The Han Shu (History of the Former Han Dynasty) also says: “In the ninth month of the year, those who have reached the age of seventy are given a jade staff and fed gruel. For those aged 80 and 90, the gifts are increased. ... The old man star is worshipped in the old man temple in the southern capital of the country.” Combining ancient astronomy and religion, we can see that the old man star has two main meanings. One refers to a region of the sky, one of the twelve divisions, equivalent to the two constellations of the Horn and the Upper Dog among the 28 constellations. The other refers to the old man star in the western palace of the south pole, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the respect for the elderly was combined with the worship of the old man star.
Among the 28 constellations, the seven in the east are Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji, forming the shape of the blue dragon. Jiao has two stars, which resemble the horns of a sheep, hence the name “Jiao”, and in the seven eastern constellations of the blue dragon they resemble the dragon's horns; Kang has four stars, which rise straight up, hence the name “Kang”, and in the seven eastern constellations of the blue dragon they resemble the dragon's head. Modern astronomy classifies these two constellations as Virgo, of which the first-magnitude star, Antares, is very famous. It usually appears in the early evening of May each year, low in the sky, and is clearly visible at 7 pm. The star Canopus is classified as Carina, also a first-magnitude star, but because it is located at latitude 50° S, it is not easily visible in northern China. However, it is easily visible in the south of the Yangtze River and the Lingnan region. It often appears prominently in the south at a low altitude after 8 pm in February. The above are two different accounts of the Star of Longevity. During the Zhou and Qin dynasties, the Star of Longevity worshipped was actually the Southern Polar Star (Antares). However, according to the “Tong Dian · Li Si” (Compendium of Customs): “The Ministry of Rites should set up a special altar for the Star of Longevity, and worship the corners of the Star of Longevity and the seven constellations of Antares.” It can be seen that in the Tang Dynasty, the two were combined for worship.
Since the Zhou and Qin dynasties, the God of Longevity has been included in the sacrificial rites of successive dynasties. Even though the national sacrificial rites were abolished in the Ming dynasty, it was still widely popular among the common people. For example, in the Ming dynasty ballad “The Legend of the White Snake”, which was later renamed “The Legend of the Leifeng Pagoda”, “The Legend of the Righteous Demon” and later “The Legend of the Three Immortals”, the Southern Immortal appears as a kind-hearted God of Longevity. After the legend of the White Snake was adapted for the stage, the scene in which the White Snake drank realgar wine and revealed her true form, scaring Xu Xian to death, was added. The White Snake then sneaked into Mount Kunlun to steal the immortal grass, but when she was unable to defeat the two immortal guards, the crane and the deer, the immortal from the South Pole took pity on her and gave her a ganoderma lucidum mushroom, which Xu Xian then ate. Many people have seen this play, and most of them are moved by the scenes. The story of the Star Elder of the South Pole is also specially told in the 39th volume of the famous short story collection from the Ming Dynasty, “Jingshi Tongyan” (“A Warning to the World”), entitled “The Three Stars of Fu, Lu and Shou Come to the World”. In addition, there are also works in Yuan and Ming dramas about the Star of Longevity, such as “Ascending to the Heavens in the South Pole”, “The Immortals Wishing Longevity” and “The Immortal Meeting”.
The image of the Star of Longevity was established at the end of the Ming Dynasty. This is because the previous Shouxing generally had a “wishful lotus crown, crane-skin robe, sign, bells*7, white hair, white beard, and holding a jade sceptre”, which is slightly different from the appearance of the Shouxing at the end of the Ming Dynasty – a Shouxing with white hair and beard, leaning on a long, curved walking stick, and a long, forward-curved forehead, i.e. a Shouxing with a high forehead. The basis for this is the book “Book of the Later Han Dynasty · Rituals” which says: During the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the Star of the Elderly was worshipped, a ceremony to respect the elderly was often held at the same time. Each elderly person over the age of 70 was given a 9-foot jade staff with a dove head, which is where the staff of the Longevity Star comes from. As for the shape of the staff, the fourth volume of the Chengshi explains: “Anyone holding a staff of the Longevity Star has a staff that is longer than the person's head and has a strange shape. The staff is straight and short, only reaching halfway up the body, and is not an auspicious object.” From this it can be seen that before the Southern Song Dynasty, the Longevity Star must be paired with a long, curiously bent staff. As for the reason why the head of the Shouxing is long and bulging forward (high forehead), according to “Tongxi Bian”, “In the secular paintings of Shouxing, the head is very long.” “Nanshi Yimu Zhuan” records that King Bi Qian was 12 feet tall and his head was 3 feet long. Since ancient times, he has been known as the Long-necked King. Painters may have based their depictions on this, to convey the meaning of longevity. Before the Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were often Shouxing temples or altars.
After the Ming Dynasty, the folk often worshipped the God of Longevity together with the Gods of Wealth and Honor on an altar, collectively known as the Gods of Fortune, the three most popular gods of fortune. As symbols of good fortune and well-being in the folk tradition, when the folk celebrate a birthday, they often hang a picture of the Gods of Fortune in the middle of the ceiling above the main room, with birthday couplets on the sides that read, “May you be as happy as the East Sea and as long-lived as the Southern Mountains” or “May you be as famous as the Big Dipper and as long-lived as the Southern Mountains.”
 

   在北京自云观的东院有一座新落成的殿堂——三星殿，里面供奉着幸福安乐和长寿的福、禄、寿三星神，他们执掌着人的幸福吉祥和长寿，在中国民间有着深厚的影响。俗话说：“人间福禄寿，天上三吉星。”三星神的形象和蔼慈祥，所以使人觉得可亲可近，民间百姓都新呢地称他们“三星老儿”。又因为他们是幸福长寿的象征，所以人们在对他们顶礼膜拜的同时，还将他们当作吉祥物进给新朋好友，从而使三星的信仰广泛深入民间。
幸福历来是人们祈望和希求的，《尚书·洪范》对此有五福之说：一 
曰，寿，二日富，三曰康宁，四曰攸好德，五曰考终命。《韩非子·解老》则说：全寿富贵之谓福。 《礼记·祭统》则日：福者，备也。备者，百顺之名也无所不顺者谓之备。可见，福字是长寿健康、安宁富贵、一切顺遂、万事如意的象征，于是千百年来人们对之孜孜以求，虔诚礼拜，希望幸福临门，福运绵延 。　　
对此，道教在丰富其信仰体系时加以吸收，称福神为星神，来源于福星，即岁星，称岁星照临能降福施祥。后来又将其人格化，其中较为著名的有福神天官和杨成。
天官信仰源于道教五斗米道的三官手书，是五斗米道教祭酒用于为病人祈祷的文书。祭酒为病人写三通文书，祈请于三官大帝。道教宣称三官大帝能为人赐福、赦罪、解厄。至此，人们便把天官作为福神来信奉了。在清代，天官信仰极其广泛，天官赐福的年画也是多姿多彩。图中天官是一副大员外的形象，身穿大红官服，龙袍玉带。手执如意，五绺长须，面容慈祥和蔼，显得非常雍窖华贵。有的年画上，天官慈祥地携五童子，童子手中各捧仙桃、石榴、佛手、春梅和吉庆鱼灯。张贴这些年画，人们就是为了祈求天官赐福长寿。
福神杨成，本为历史上的人物阳城。据《唐史演义》记载，阳城，唐定州北平(今河北完县)人，字亢宗，学识洲博，德行高尚，颇有名声。进士及第后，却隐居中条山。李秘荐举其为谏议大夫。京城官民均以为他上任后直进谏议，痛砭时弊。谁知他进京后整日饮酒，不理政事，大失所望。唐贞元十一年(795年)奸臣裴延龄误谄大将陆贽等人，唐德宗欲杀陆贽等人，朝野上下不敢劝谏，只有阳城力谏，帮助陆贽等人澄情事实，使陆贽免于一死。朝中金吾大将军张万福赞道：朝廷有直臣，天下太平矣！从此阳城名倾朝野。后来阳城又力谏德宗不要重用佞臣裴延龄，德宗不听，阳城遂辞官而去，隐居山林。
然奉阳城为福神，则与其抵制进贡道州矮民一事有关。据《旧唐书·阳城传》记载，道州的老百姓因水土原因，身材都十分矮小，每年每户都要进贡男子，号为矮奴。阳城到达道州，禁以良为贱，又悯其编氓岁有离异之苦，乃抗疏论而免之，自是乃停其自贡，民皆赖之，无不泣荷。《新唐书·阳城传》标州人感之，以阳名之。阳城因不怕治罪，不怕丢官，抗旨直谏，拯救道州矮民，道州百姓感其思泽，为民作主，特建祠供奉，尊为福神。大诗人自居易在《道州民》一诗中赞道：道州民，民到于今受其赐，欲说使君先下泪，仍恐儿孙忘使君，生男多以阳为字。
其实道教神系中早有福神阳城的故事，只是时间和名字略有不同而已。据《道藏·搜神记》记载，福神者，本道州剌史杨公讳成。昔汉武帝爱道州民矮，以为宫奴玩戏。其道州民生男，选拣侏儒好者，每岁不下贡数百人，使公孙父母与子别。省剌史杨公守郡，以表奏闻天子曰：臣按《五典》本土只有矮民，无矮奴也。武帝感悟，省之，自后更不复取。郡人德之，立祠绘像供养，以为本州福神。后天下士庶皆绘像敬之，以为福神。
不管是汉代的杨成，还是唐代的阳城，均是因为拯救百姓而得以成神，这充分表明人们对善良和幸福的向往。
禄神为官职禄位之神。其源于中国古代的星神崇拜，其神为禄星，《史记·天官书》云：文昌宫有“司禄”，就是说文昌宫中有专掌司禄之星神。后来星辰崇拜渐渐人格化，禄神和福星、寿星一样，亦被喊予神性，这样便有了进子张仙的说法。在传统的“福禄寿”年画中，他常常抱或牵一小儿。
禄神在民间很受人们的欢迎，民间常有“加官进禄”、“福禄寿”、“官上加官”、“加官进爵”、“马上封候”、“连升三级”等题材的年画、风惜画和吉祥图案等。这一类的画还常常使用谐音的方法，以某种实物来代替字义。如以“鹿”代替“禄”，如三星图中常画老寿星骑着鹿，跟随一些桃侍从，上空飞着蝙蝠。或者是束带高冠帽的官员，正抚摸一只鹿。
在民间还流传着禄神张仙的一个传说。相传唐朝宰相娄师德年轻时就患有虚劳病，身体十分虚弱。一天一个道人从他面前经过，说他天灵无光，黑气缠绕，病入膏肓，若无贵人相助，三日必死。娄师德久病不愈，对于死亡也就无所顾忌。三天中，他无所事事，默默地等待着死亡的来临。可是到了第三天晚上，娄师德见到从门外闯进一紫衣人，正从怀中取出一弹日，扣上弹丸，不由分说，就朝娄师德一下。娄师德心想，命已到期，无须躲闪，于是干脆闭目待毙。可是等了许久，头上一点感觉没有，反而觉得身体飘飘欲仙，如坐春台。于是睁开眼睛，一会儿神清气爽，病痛全消。娄师德自知遇上贵人，下跪问紫衣人是何路神仙。紫衣人告知是禄神张仙。说着便将娄师德带到“司命署”的一问石屋中，让其查阅禄命典籍，娄师德翻开一看，自已的姓名、出生年月、籍贯、进士及第、入台辅为宰相的时间及其85岁之寿终均记录在案，心中大喜，正准备离去，忽然看到自已一个叔伯兄弟的姓名，欲观其详，突然从石屋外闯进一猛兽，手执万化大戟喝道：大胆娄师德，岂敢乱翻禄籍！”一下子将娄师德惊醒，才知是一场梦。后来娄师德果然高官厚禄，位居宰相，应验了梦中的经历。
道教是一个追求长生的宗教，因而其神系中，有一位主掌人寿命的天神。传说经常供奉这位天神，可以使人健康长寿，这位天神就是南极仙翁，又称南极真君。因为他主寿，所以又叫“寿星”或“老人星”。
古代星宿崇拜，名目繁多，而能经久不衰，且备受人们欢迎的即为寿星，对寿星的信仰自古以来就极为普遍。《史记·封禅书》司马贞索隐说“：寿星，盖南极老人星也，见则天下现安，祠之以祈福寿。” 《尔雅·释天》亦说：“寿星，角、亢也。”角、亢二宿，是二十八宿东方苍龙七宿中的头二宿，故郭璞注曰：寿星“数起角、亢”，“列宿之长，故曰寿”。司马迂《史记·天官书》认为，在西方狼比地有颗大星，叫“南极老人星”，老人星出现，治安，老人星不见，兵起。唐代学者张守节对此解释说：“老人一星，在弧南(天狼星东南)，一曰南极，为主占寿命延长之应。见则国命长，故谓之寿昌，天下安宁，反见，人主忧也。”因此对寿星的出现极为关注。《汉书·天文志》又曰：“仲秋之月，年始七十者，授之以玉杖，哺之糜粥。八十、九十，礼有加赐。……祀老人星于国都南都老人庙。”至此，将古代的天文学与宗教结合起来考察，可以发现寿星主要有两个方面的意义。其一是指天空某一区域，即十二次之一，范围相当于二十八宿中的角、亢二宿；其二是指属于西宫的南极老人星，且在东汉时已把敬老括动与祭祀老人星结合在一起。
二十八宿中，东方七宿分别为角、亢、氐、房、心、尾、箕，成苍龙之形。其中角宿二星，形似羊角，故曰“角”，而在东方苍龙七宿中犹如龙角；亢宿四颗星，引亢直上，故曰“亢”，在东方苍龙七宿中犹如龙头。现代天文学将此二宿划入室女座，其中角宿是一等亮星，甚为出名。其一般出现在每年五月初的傍晚低空，晚七点时就很清楚了。而南极老人星则划入船女座，也是一等亮星，因它处在南纬50。以南，故在我国北方不易见到。但在长江以南和岭南地区，都很容易见到。它常显眼地出现在二月间晚上八点后的南方低空。以上是对寿星的二种不同说法。周秦时，祭祀的寿星，实际上指南极老人星(亢宿)。但据《通典·礼四》载：“敕宜所司特置寿星坛，宜祭老人星角、亢七宿。”可见到了唐代二者合而为祭了。
周秦以降，寿星在历代皇朝中皆被帝王列入祀典，直至明代，国家祀典虽废，但其在民间却广为流传。如明代弹词《白蛇传》后易名为《雷峰塔》、《义妖传》以及后来的《三仙宝传》中，南极仙翁均作为一个好心肠的寿星出现。《白蛇传》改编成戏曲后，其中《盗仙草》一段，讲白蛇饮雄黄酒现形将许仙吓死后，连潜入昆仑山，盗取仙草，与鹤鹿二将神格斗不胜时，南极仙翁怜而赠以灵芝，许仙遂括。许多人均看过此剧，大多均为其场面所感动。在明代著名短篇小说集《警世通言》第三十九卷《福禄寿三星度世》中，也专门讲述了南极星翁的故事。此外，元明杂剧中，讲述寿星的著作中还有《南极登仙》、《群仙祝寿》、《长生会》等。
寿星的形象是明末定型的。因为先前的寿星一般是“如意莲花冠，鹤氅、牌子、玎*7、白发、白髯、执圭”，与明末老人模样——白发白须拄一弯弯曲曲长拐杖头额长而向前隆起，即高脑门的寿星——稍有差别。其根据是《后汉书·礼仪志》书中说：东汉奉祀老人星时，常同时举行敬老括动。对七十岁以上的老人各赐一根九尺长的鸠头玉杖，寿星的拐杖即源于此。至于拐杖的形状，《程史》卷四释曰：“凡寿星之扶杖者，杖过于人首，且诘曲有奇相。杖直而短，仅至半身，不祥物也。”据此可知在南宋以前，塑寿星必配一根弯曲奇特的长拐杖。对于寿星头部长而向前隆起(高脑门)的原因，据《通惜篇》说：“世俗画寿星像，头每甚长。”《南史·夷貊传》载，毗骞王身长丈二，头长三尺，自古不死号长颈王，画家意或因乎此，盖取其长寿之意。元明以前，常建有寿星祠或寿星坛。
明朝以后，民间常把寿星与福禄二星结台起来祭祀，合称福禄寿，成为人们最受欢迎的三个福神，作为民间吉祥如意的象征，故民间祝寿时，常在正屋面墙上悬挂福禄寿的中堂，两侧寿联为福如东海寿比南山或名高北斗寿比南山。