According to a 1930 New York Times article, Wu Chung-chieh, a
professor of the Chengdu University, discovered Imperial Chinese
government records from 1827 congratulating Li Ching-Yuen on his 150th
birthday, and further documents later congratulating him on his 200th
birthday in 1877. In 1928, a New York Times correspondent wrote that
many of the old men in Li’s neighborhood asserted that their
grandfathers knew him when they were boys, and that he at that time was a
grown man.
Li Ching Yuen reportedly began his herbalist career at the age of 10,
where he gathered herbs in mountain ranges and learned of their potency
for longevity. For almost 40 years, he survived on a diet of herbs such
as lingzhi, goji berry, wild ginseng, he shoo wu and gotu kola and rice
wine. In 1749, at the age of 71, he joined the Chinese armies as
teacher of martial arts. Li was said to be a much-loved figure in his
community, marrying 23 times and fathering over 200 children.
According to the generally accepted tales told in his province, Li
was able to read and write as a child, and by his tenth birthday had
traveled in Kansu, Shansi, Tibet, Annam, Siam and Manchuria gathering
herbs. For the first hundred years he continued at this occupation. Then
he switched to selling herbs gathered by others. He
sold lingzhi, goji berry, wild ginseng, he shou wu and gotu kola along
with other Chinese herbs, and lived off a diet of these herbs and rice
wine
He Wasn’t The Only One
According to one of Li’s disciples, he had once encountered an even
older 500-year-old man, who taught him Qigong exercises and dietary
recommendations that would help him extend his lifespan to superhuman
proportions. Apart from Qigong and a herb-rich diet, what else can we
learn from this Master of Longevity?
Kanaliseret af Veronica Keen
