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Li Ching-Yuen or Li Ching-Yun
(simplified Chinese: 李清云;
traditional Chinese: 李清雲;
pinyin: Lǐ Qīngyún (?- May
6,1933) is the subject of a Chinese extreme longevity folk
legend. He claimed to be born in 1736, while disputed records
suggest 1677. Both alleged lifespans of 197 and 256 years far
exceed the longest confirmed lifespan of
122 years and 164 days of the French woman Jeanne
Calment. His true date of birth was never
determined. He was reported to be an herbalist, martial artist, and tactical
advisor.
Some claim that Li Ching-Yuen was born in 1326 in Qi Jiang Xian,
Sichuan province.[citation
needed] In a 1930 New
York Times article, Professor Wu
Chung-chieh of the Chengdu
University discovered Imperial Chinese government
records from 1827, congratulating one Li Ching-Yuen on his 150th
birthday,[1]
and further documents later congratulating him on his 200th
birthday in 1926. 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.[2]He
began gathering herbs in the mountain ranges at the age of ten, and
also began learning of longevity methods, surviving on a diet of
herbs and rice wine. He lived this way for the first 40 years of
his life. In 1749, when he was 71 years old, he moved to Kai Xian
to join the Chinese
army as a teacher of the martial arts and as a tactical
advisor. He lived until about 239 years old.
One of his disciples, the Taijiquan Master Da
Liu told of Master Li's story: at 130 years old
Master Li encountered an older hermit, over 500 years old, in
the mountains who taught him Baguazhang and a set of
Qigong with breathing
instructions, movements training coordinated with specific sounds,
and dietary recommendations. Da Liu reports that his master said
that his longevity "is due to the fact that I performed the
exercises every day - regularly, correctly, and with sincerity -
for 120 years."[3]
Returning home, he died a year later, some say of natural causes;
others claim that he told friends that "I have done all I have to
do in this world. I will now go home." After Li's death, General
Yang Sen investigated the truth about his claimed background and
age and wrote a report about his findings that was later
published.
He worked as a herbalist, selling lingzhi, goji
berry, wild ginseng, he shou wu and gotu kola along with other
Chinese herbs.[4]
Li had also supposedly produced over 200 descendants during his
life span, surviving 23 wives.[5][6]
Ching-Yuen lived off a diet of herbs and rice wine including
lingzhi, goji berry, wild ginseng, he shou wu and gotu kola.
The article "Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog", from the May 15,
1933 issue of Time reports on his
history, and includes Li Ching-Yuen's answer to the secret of a
long life:[1]
Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, in his book "Muscle/Tendon Changing and
Marrow/Brain Washing Qigong", says that Li Ching-Yuen was a Chinese
herbalist skilled in Qigong who spent most of his life in the
mountains. In 1927, the National Revolutionary Army
General Yang Sen (揚森), invited him to
his residence in Wann Hsien, Szechuan province, where the picture
shown in this article was taken.[7]
Chinese General Yang Sen wrote a report
about him, "A Factual Account of the 250 Year-Old Good-Luck Man"
(一个250岁长寿老人的真实记载), where he described Li Ching Yuen's appearance:
"He has good eyesight and a brisk stride; Li stands seven feet
tall, has very long fingernails, and a ruddy
complexion."[8]
Stuart Alve Olson's 2002 book "Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight
Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching Yuen" teaches the practice
of the "Eight Brocade Qigong" learned with the Taijiquan Master T. T.
Liang (Liang Tung Tsai), who learned it from the
General Yang Sen.[9]
According to legend, Li Ching Yuen was the creator of
Jiulong Baguazhang (or Nine
Dragons Baguazhang).
The Taoist Master Liu Pai
Lin (劉百齡), who lived in São Paulo, Brazil from 1975 until 2000,
had in his classroom another photograph of Master Li Ching Yuen
unknown to the West. In this photo his face is clearly visible, as
are his long and curled fingernails.[10]
Master Liu had met him personally in China, and considered him as
one of his Masters. He used to say that Master Li answered to him
that the fundamental taoist practice is to learn to keep the
"Emptiness" (Wuji). Master Liu's son,
Master Liu Chih Ming, teaches the 12 Silks Qigong in CEMETRAC, as
transmitted by Master Li.
Some theories say that there may be "transfer" of parent-child
roles, son, grandson, thus explaining their longevity
Many cultures around the world, particularly in India, Tibet and China, tell of
remarkable longevity achieved by spiritual (yogic and taoist)
adepts. Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi
with Immortal sage, Babaji and Peter Kelder's The Ancient
Secret of the Fountain of Youth being examples.[11][12]