The Amazing Story of the Man who Reportedly Lived 256 Years

Li Ching-Yuen claims to have been born in 1734, but controversial birth records attest that he was born in 1677 in Qi Jiang Xian, Szechun province. So what was the secret to his long life? Lets find out.

Li Ching-Yuen, also known as Li Ching-Yun found the secret fountain of youth, as he was reportedly the oldest human on Earth, having lived 256 years. His 1933 obituaries which were featured in Time Magazine and the New York Times stated that he had outlived 23 wives and his amazing lifespan exceeds by far the oldest living person up to date, who lived 122 years and 164 days.

According to the records, Li Ching-Yuen was born in 1677 and died in 1928. The secret to his success? Li was a medicine physician, an expert in herbs, qigong master, and tactical consultant. As far as he would admit, Li said that his secret to a long life was:

“Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog.”

He told these wise words to Wu Pei-fu, a warlord of Republican China from 1916 to 1927. It was on this occasion when Li Ching-Yuen’s picture was taken, and by the looks of things, he looked young and reinvigorated.

It’s of no surprise that there is not enough information about the first years of his life, but we do know that by the time he was ten years old he was already a wonder child who had learned a lot and who had already traveled to Kansu, Tibet, Annam, Siam and Manchuria for his passion to gather herbs.

After his initiative journeys in the world of herbs, he immigrated to Kai Hsien where he met some well renown Taoist masters who taught him internal alchemy and chi kung, but also, the secret art of how to use herbs for a long and healthy life. Apparently, after learning the secrets of martial arts and herbs, Li Ching-Yuen went on to sell the herbs he collected.

At the age of 71, in 1749, Li joined the army of provincial Commander-in-Chief Yeuh Jong Chyi, undertaking the role of a martial arts teacher and tactical advisor.

In 1928, after returning home, one year later from his visit to Wang Xien, Szechuan, the old man died of natural causes, and General Yang Sen ordered his team to investigate the truth to his story.

The old man claimed to have been born in 1734 and to have lived 197 years, but the crew of investigators, lead by a professor and dean at Minkuo University by the name of Wu Chung-chien found records which proved that Li was born in 1677. Some documents attested that the Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th Birthdays.

The picture of Li Ching-Yuen shows not a man of over 200 years, but a joyful 60-year-old… so what is the key to his longevity? Just the herbs?

Li avoided drinking hard liquor or smoking, he took his meals at regular times, he had a vegetarian diet and he was known to frequently drink wolfberry (also known as goji berry) tea. Apart from that, Li went to sleep early and also got up early, and as far as exercising is concerned, Li sat up straight with his eyes closed and hands in his lap, at times not moving at all for a few hours.

I have found many places around the internet that claim that the story of Li Ching-Yuen living to such an old age is false and fake, however in each of these cases the only evidence provided by the these sites of these "It's not true" stories are the authors own admission that they simply don't believe that it's possible.  Not that they found any evidence proving that it was false, just they don't chose to believe it.

Of coarse at this point there is really no way for anyone to know for sure if this story is true or not. So it will have to be left up to the individual reader of the story to determine if they believe it or not.

For me, given the things that I have learned over the past few years (which I will be sharing in future posts on this blog), I am inclined to believe that at the very least it is possible.


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