Source: "Taoism, the road to Immortality", by John Blofield, Shambala Publications, Boston, 2000
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In 1939, in in China's leading newspaper,the Ta Kung Pao the following news item appeared: A gentleman of Wan Hsien, Szechuan province, born in the last year of Ch'ien Lung's reign [1796], worked during the final years of the following reign as secretary to the military authorities in charge of the Yangtse River Region. After retirement, he went off to Tibet in search of medicinal plants, disappearing for so long that he was given up for lost. However, in the autumn of 1931, at the age of 135, he returned to his native district where many aged residents recognised him as someone they had known when still very young. Despite his grizzled hair, he looked no more than 50 and had scarcely changed at all. This curious item brought journalists flocking to the scene and the same newspaper came out with a photograph of the Wan Hsien magistrate in company with the sturdy looking ancient. A few months later, he left on a second journey to Tibet and was not seen again. This story may seem hard to believe, yet I myself have encountered at least two Taoist adepts whose colleagues put their ages at around 150 years. There seemed no reason to dispute their claim, the more so as I remembered meeting a Turkish gentleman who had visited Cambridge at the age of almost 140, but I do not recall now whether those aged Taoists attributed their longevity to the use of medicinal drugs. |
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The Wandering Twist is one of the most detailed and authentic accounts
of the training of a traditional Taoist adept ever recorded in English. At
the end of the book, author Deng Ming-dao, who has become a disciple of
Master Kuan, recounts his first inquiry regarding Kuan s own teacher
the Grand Master of Hua-Shan:
'He must be very old,' I said, trying to keep the subject going.
Mr. Kuan was quiet, reluctant to discuss the matter.
'He is,' Mr. Kuan said after a moment of decision. 'He has
long white hair and beard and is now 142 years old. He spends
his time in meditation.'
'142! Is that possible?'
'Of course. He's a Taoist.'
One of the most remarkable cases of longevity to spill over into the
twentieth century is that of the Chinese herbalist and Taoist adept Lee
Ching-yuen, who maintained his youthful vigor, sexual potency and
perfect health throughout a long, active life. Lee died in 1933, shortly
after
marrying his 24th wife, and it remains a matter of historical record in
China that he was born in 1677, during the early years of the Ching
Dynasty. That made him 256 years old when he died, for those who wish
to count the years. Lee died with all his own teeth and hair, and those
who knew him say that he looked about 50 when he was already over 200.
Lee Ching-yuen left clear-cut guidelines for those who wish to follow his footsteps and emulate his example. He followed three primary rules in his regimen: 1. Never hurry through life. Take it slowly, take it easy, and take your time. He instructed his students to always keep a quiet heart, sit as calmly as a tortoise, walk as sprightly as a bird, and sleep as soundly as a dog. 2. Avoid extreme emotions of all kinds, especially as you grow older. Nothing drains energy from the body as rapidly, nor disrupts the functional harmony of vital organs as completely, as strong outbursts of emotion. 3. Observe a daily physical regimen of exercise and breathing. The duration and intensity of your regimen are not nearly as important as its daily regularity. In addition, Lee gave three specific guidelines regarding diet: 1. Do not overeat on hot summer nights. It causes stagnation of blood and energy. 2. Eat extra quantities of nourishing foods on cold winter mornings. It provides the extra essence and energy the body needs to compensate for having to keep warm in cold weather. 3. Adopt a primarily vegetarian diet, supplemented by life-prolonging medicinal herbs.
The herbs Lee recommended most highly were ginseng, whose prop- erties have already been covered in detail, and a little-known herb called Hydrocotyle Asiatica minor, a humble member of the pennywort family which grows wild in the tropical marshes of Asia. At the time, most of the Western medical scientists to whom Lee's case came to attention derided his claims to longevity and scoffed at the simple weed he recommended, but an enlightened handful of scientists took him at his word and investigated. The French biochemist Jules Lepine found a potent alkaloid in the leaves and seeds of this plant which has powerful rejuvenating effects on the nerves, brain cells and endocrine system. Professor Menier of the Academic Scientifique near Paris confirmed Lepine's findings in separate studies. In India, the famous guru Nanddo Narian informed his followers that this very same herb contains a vital ingredient that is missing in the general human diet, an ingredient without which it is very difficult to control the rapid decay that leads to premature death. When he gave this teaching. Guru Narian was already 107 years old and in better health than most of his students. A man who knew Lee Ching-yuen personally, became his disciple and followed his teachings till the end of his days, was the Chinese general Yang Sen, who moved to Taiwan during the Nationalist exodus from the mainland in 1949. Since Lee was a herbalist by profession, Yang naturally learned a lot about life-prolonging supplements from the great master. In addition to the uses of ginseng and pennywort. Lee taught Yang how to prepare the famous Chinese herbal elixir known as Spring Wine" Yang practiced breathing exercises, soft-style Chinese martial arts and the Tao of Yin and Yang. He celebrated all his birthdays in Taiwan by leading a marathon hike up to the 4,000 meter summit of Jade Mountain, the highest peak in Northeast Asia. Because of the rigors of this trek, usually only young people participated, but Yang Sen made it a point of pride to reach the peak first each and every time. Other Taoists in Taiwan attribute his 'early' demise at the age of 98 to the severe pollution of air, water and food in metropolitan Taipei, where Yang had to live after 1949 |