The average lifespan in the Western countries ranges between 75 and 80. But, what if we were meant to live much longer than we previously thought possible?
I’ve heard before of the Tibetan monks, the Himalayas’ Hunza tribes, and the Caucasus mountain people, all living well over a century and even reaching years well pass that, such as Shirali Muslimov, an Azerbaijani shepherd who died at 168!
But, I was shocked to recently find out that the longest living man on the record was a Chinese herbalist and martial artist-Li Ching-Yun. According to a 1933 article from The New York Times, he lived to be 256 years old!!!
Ever since he was 10 years old he was fascinated with herbs so much that he collected and sold herbs his whole life. And although his vegetarian diet—comprising mostly of herbs such as goji berries, lingzi, wild ginseng, he shoo wu, and gotu kola—contributed to his longevity, he thought that attaining inward calm was more important. He achieved that through daily practices of Qigong, meditation, and quieting of his heart, walking in nature and sleeping soundly.
Here is a full article well worth your read.
New York Times.
Saturday, May 6, 1933.
"Li Ching-Yun Dead; Gav His Age As 198".
'Keep Quiet Heart. Sit Like a Tortoise, Sleep Like a Dog,' His Advice for Long Life.
Inquiry put age at 256.
Reported to have Buried 23 Wives and Had 180 Descendants-Sold Herbs for First 100 Years.
Peiping, May 5-
Li Ching-yun, a resident of Kaihsien, in the Province of Szechwan, who contended that he was one of the world's oldest men and said he was born in 1736-which would make him 197 years old-died today.
A Chinese dispatch from Chung-king telling of Mr. Li's death said he attributed his longevity to peace of mind and that it was his belief every one could live at least a century by attaining inward calm.
Compared with estimates of Li Ching-yun's age in previous reports from China the above dispatch is conservative. In 1930 it was said Professor Wu Chung-Chien, dean of the department of education Minkuo University, had found records showing Li was born in 1677 and that the Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th birthdays.
A correspondent of the New York Times wrote in 1928 that many of the oldest men in Li's neighborhood asserted their grandfather knew him as boys and that he was then a grown man.
According to the generally accepted tails 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.
Wu Pei-fu, the warlord, took Li into his house to learn the secret of living 250. Another pupil said Li told him to
"keep quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sparingly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog."
According to one version of Li's married life, he had buried twenty-three wives and was living with his twenty-fourth, a woman of 60. Another account, which in 1928 credited him with 180 living descendants, comprising eleven generations, recorded only fourteen marriages. This second authority said his eyesight was good; also, that the fingernails of his right hand were very long, and "long" for a Chinese might mean longer than any fingernails ever dreamed of in the United States.
One statement of the Times correspondent which probably caused sceptical readers to believe Li was born more recently than 1677, was that "many who have seen him recently declare that his facial appearance is no different for that of persons two centuries his junior."
Regardless of the validity of Li’s exact age, eating more herbs, and using them to heal their bodies is a common practice among all centenarians.
It is not hard to grow, eat and drink your own herbs. I love to make my Tuscan herb mix from scratch.
And I also started enjoying drinking my cocoa-mushroom shake containing reishi and chaga mushrooms and he shoo wo root.
Cocoa-Mushroom Shake Recipe: 2 cups of nut milk
1/4 cup of cold brew coffee 1 tbsp of almond butter
1/2 banana
1 tbsp of cocoa powder
1 tbsp of reishi mushroom powder
1 tsp of chaga mushroom powder
1 tsp of he shoo wo powder
1-2 tbsp of date paste or maple syrup
