How Mr Li Keeps Young 252(?) Years

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1082, 20 September 1930, Page 17

How Mr Li Keeps Young 252(?) Years

The Very Simple and “Fasy-to~ Follow” Rules of Health / Which This Remarkable j| Chinaman Claims to ( C Have Used for Prolonging Fife

Scientists, who arc forever seeking the secret of longevity, have been displaying great interest in the clai ms 0 f Li-Chung-yun, a Chinaman, who asserts he is PouniT arS °’ d and £till feel 3 intr ße< nn- t d ' s P a tclies from Peip- jk }>ig, China, related how no less an authonty than Pro

, . versity, had round records which showed that Li was born in 1677. These records also explained that Li had received official felicitation of the Chinese Government upon reaching his 150th birthday in 1827, and again in 1877 on his 200th birthday. What is interesting scientists, as well as all persons in whom lurks the spirit of Ponce de Leon, is not only the authenticity of this report, but also the secret of the Chinaman’s obviously extreme old age. There have been many widely opposing theories as to the best methods of living to what is popularly termed “a ripe old age.” The wise Greek admonition to be moderate in all things hasn’t helped much, because it has been too general and not sufficiently specific. In France, a few days ago, Dr. Alexandre Gueniot, member of the French Academy, explained that he had lived to the age of 93 and was still fit and vigorous because he learned how to breathe correctly. Other old men have insisted it was due to a vegetarian diet still others claimed plenty of meat had helped them. In the United States, physical culture of some sort or another is urged. Li-Chung-yun, however, eschews ail of these theories. He attributes his vigor and length of life to the use of certain herbs which contain vitamins for which scientists the whole world over have been looking—particularly during the past ten years. The significance of this lies in the fact that Western scientists have been extremely skeptical about the Chinese faith in the value of herbs, as medicines. Yet the old age of the Chinaman, who, in this case, has records to back his claims, has aroused their curiosity. The descriptions of him -which have been sent to the United States are almost fantastic. In spite of his alleged 252 years Li-Chung-yun is a sturdily

11 wra *'.<■ built man. He has prominent ears and a beard which “turned white more than a century ago.’’ During his eventful life he has managed to find no less than twenty-four women who were willing to marry him. Twenty-three of these have passed away and the twenty-fourth, a woman of sixty years of age, finds her husband more sprightly than herself. His home is at Kaisen in Sczechwan Province, but at present he is being entertained at Hojupou by Wu Pei-fu. who was the war lord at the head of the Chinese armies which a few years ago were busily engaged in civil wars. Wu Pei-fu, like everybody else, is studying the old man, trying to find out the secret of his longevity, and all he gets out of him is :

W Plenty of exThe most fa- . mous herb in China, incidentally, is the ginseng:, 01 * own of Man,” The roots of the'herb require many years to develop and then assume shapes very much like the human. It was discovered by the Chinese ages ago in the wild mountains of Manchuria. It is treasured in China as the most valuable of medicines, and as much as ten thousand dollars has beer, paid for a single very old root. Because the root 'was held sacred, its use was reserved at first for the royal family only. It is gathered even today with many superstitious ceremonies. Prayers and invocations to the gods for protection are the accompaniment of the uprooting of a single specimen when discovered. Each little filament or rootlet is carefully cleared so that not a fragment is torn when at last all the earth hat. been dug away from around it. Today ginseng is used in many ways by the Chinese, especially as a tea, which is held to be an excellent tonic for invalids. While Occidental scientists have questioned the value of

ginseng, a special study was made of it in a Russian laboratory. The results, while not yet conclusive, indicate that some valuable ingredients lie in the ginseng. Their absolute curing and strengthening power, however, has not been determined. It was perhaps while studying to be a pharmacist in his youth that old Li Chung-yun learned of the value oi herbs. He had to study, among othei things, the famous Chinese treatises on “Pun Tsao.” or “The Great Herbal." This is so extensive a subject that it takes up some forty volumes, citing not less than 1,000 authorities on thf use of herbs found in China. Dating back to a period long before the Chris tian era, the lore of ages was preserv ed in these pages. Superstition and religion, of course, also entered into the herbal theories of the aged Chinaman. The god of medicine among the Chinese is Shell hfung, in whose name all the cures are brought about. To this god is attributed the modem use of goose grease for rubbing on the chest to help a cold. The physiologists of our day, in fact, agree with the Chinese that goose grease has a most remarkable power of

penetrating the pores of the skin. V Incidentally, it is of in- v terest to note that in the V religions of China there are twenty-nine gods of healing and drugs. associated ’§||: with the seventy-two great Buddhas. Oddly enough, one of the Chinese hells is reserved especially for physcians and another for druggists. The thirteenth hell of Chinese mythology is devoted to compelling the victims to swallow very hot and disagreeable drugs. So it is no wonder that the Western world of medicine and science generally should be inclined to scoff at the Chinese ideas on health cures. Superstition, it will be said, plays too large a part in the Orient. Yet side by side with his use of herbs Li has made use of some of the timehonored exercises for aiding in removing diseases or preventing them. They are not so very different ,rom our own methods, adopted in gymnasiums (and in homes before the radio) through out the Occidental world. The Chinese, for instance, hold that by baring the chest, the heat of the blood is increased, thus aiding in curing any ailment. If the chest is kept bare and the arms are raised until they meet, this exercise will help to remove asthmatic congestions and pains, as well as internal, troubles. If you have insomnia or nightmares the Chinese advise you to sit on the floor or ground, read) over and catch hold of your bare feet, repeating the exercise until you have normal sleep. T? t.hfs SVfitpm 1C cllirririeln en/1

ach and liver bother you, sit on the floor cross-legged, and exercise by raising first one arm. then the other, while bringing the other arm across the stomach. If your heart does not work properly, or you are losing weight and suffer from fever, accompanied by a great thirst, exercise by raising both hands as high as you can, throwing back the head. Repeat this until relieved. When you feel weak, sit cross-legged and bring both hands to the shoulders repeatedly. If there is nothing the matter with you, but you want to remain well, sit down, raise both -hands to the ears, breathe deeply and repeat thi. exercise. Another method of keeping yourself in a good condition is to sit and place both hands on the hips, sway to the left and right while you breathe deeply. Should you feel dizzy, bare the upper part of the body, place both hands to your ears, and breathe deeply until relieved. If the head feels heavy, giving you the sensation of wanting to sleep, sit down, raise your hands over your head, clasping the palms, and as you breathe deeply the heaviness will pass away. Those suffering from pains in the knees, disturbance in the chest or stomach, should sit down on the floor and, taking one foot in both hands, raise first that foot, then the other, while breathing deeplv. If one leg 13 strained, the breathing is labored and you have pains in the stomach, sit on one leg, extending the other, and vice versa, until relief comes. If you think you have heart disease, pains and “that tired feeling,” sit -with Is your hands on both knees, breathe i deeply, and you will feel better. A bitp ter taste in the moHth or cold sweats H can be cured by getting down on both 1 knees, bending forward until the hands p touch the floor, and then b; k again, j- Another form of exerdise is to throw || the hands back of you, head up, feet g up. Accompany this with doses of :|p cinnabar and alum in cold water. If Is the soles of the feet and palms of the || hands feel feverish, sit quietly, with H the hands over one kr -, breathing g deeply § For curing congestion of the lungs, :g tightness of the chest, the Chinese idea I is to raise the hands, one at a time, p above the head, breathing deeply until & relief comes. Another method is to g raise both hands above the head re- :§ peatedly, breathing deeply. Those who % are restless should stand, raise both || hands above the head, breathing proII foundly until quieted. These exercises are very ancient, I running back to 2698 B. C., the time I of the Emperor Hoang Ti, and suppleg mented the use of the herbs, to which S Li attributes his long life and health.