Li Ching-Yuen - The Man Who Lived For 256 Years!

It is so rare to find a 100-year-old person (we are not talking about Okinawa Island, Japan). However, there was a man in the modern history of the Earth (yeah he is not alien) lived more than two centuries. Li Ching-Yuen, an herbalist, and martial artist lived nearly two centuries and a half of time. He was born in 1677 (his true date of birth was never determined with certainty) and died in 1933 at the age of approximately 256 years. Some source said that during his lifetime, he married 24 women. His 24th wife was 60 years when he died, and he has 200 descendants during his life span.

Li Ching-Yuen, lived most of his life in the mountains collecting herbs either to eat (that said helped him stay young and healthy) or to medicine. He served in the Chinese army as a teacher of martial arts and as a tactical advisor, but it is really incredible that he has joined the army at the age of 51 years. He retired at the age of 78 after fighting a battle at Golden River.

According to an article in the New York Times in 1933, Wu Chung-Chieh, a professor of the Chengdu University, discovered an imperial government record in 1827 wishing Li on his 150th birthdays and another record wishing his 200th birthday. Some researchers are perceived that “256 years” is a multiple of 8, and eight is considered as good luck in China, so the whole claim of Li is a myth.

The article "Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog," from the 15 May 1933 issue of Time reports on his history and includes Li's answer to the secret of a long life.

Keep a quiet heart
Sit like a tortoise
Walk sprightly like a pigeon
Sleep like a dog

Extra Juice:

• There is a book about Li Qingyun by Yang Sen; which Stuart Olson translated to English “The Immortal: True Accounts of the 250-Year-Old Man”