Bodyshock: The Amazing Story behind the 256 Year-Old Man

This is actually a very well-known story in the world of Chinese herbalism. The main herbs he was supposed to have lived on were actually Ginseng (Ren Shen), Polygonum (He Shou Wu) and Wolfberries (Gou Qi Zi). It is indeed a shame that there isn't more documentary evidence on this case, but this article pulled some together to offer a point of departure into more serious review. With many things in the realm of traditional Chinese medicine and potentialist skills, such a Gung Fu, there is a vast array of both amazing real-life skills, such a breaking boards with bare hands, and genuine legends, that of a woman living naked in a forest for 300 years and still looking like a young girl eating only a particular herbal seed (Bai Zi Ren, as the legend has it). The problem with dismissing the legends without further consideration is indeed these examples of extraordinary achievement. Though like everybody else I am dubious about the story of Li Ching-Yun, I am also very curious of it, from the standpoint of the possibility that it could actually be true. For interesting reading on this subject please see "Legendary Chinese Healing Herbs" by Henry Lu.

I don't mean to offend anyone, especially with the approaching olympics and all, but the Chinese government is an evil, sociopathic, lying machine.
The Chinese government has a known history of manipulating & lying about scientific data, as well as commiting human rights atrocities, all in the name of futhering their political efforts.

This story first surfaced in the 1960's, shortly after China opened its doors to Nixon and the US. However, it was proven shortly afterwards to be nothing more than state sponsored propaganda, to promote the Chinese agenda.
Some US researchers were genuinely interested in the possibility of an "Ancient Chinese Secret" for increasing longevity but what they found, only humiliated the Chinese government.

Don't ask me why but the Chinese are retarded that way. I've been to China and have a fairly good grasp of their culture. In some ways, it's beautiful and in other ways, its deeply psychotic and disconected from what the western world considers "reality".

With plenty of exceptions, the Chinese are the sickest population in Asia. It's something of a cultural title that they sought to change with a few government constructed stories...much like the Bush administrations fake news correspondence, ala the Jessica Lynch lie....

So before everyone gets pumped up on vitamins, chinese herbs and other great life enhancers, you need to consider the obvious, which is/was nothing but a perpetrated lie. If my memory serves me, the guy was like 89 years old...a far cry from 256!!!

Much of Asia/China is still steeped in folk traditions, superstition and magical thinking. These things aren't necessarily bad per'se. But they often get in the way of clear thinking. Chinese Medicine is great stuff but it won't violate the rules of biology. As far as we "currently" know, 256 violates the rules of biology. It still remains to be seen, but as they say, extrodinary claims require extrodinary evidence.

Cheers.

it's funny reading through these, you can instantly tell the intelligent from the unintelligent. those that say "show me and i'll believe"...unintelligent. those that say "hmm yeah well who's to say it's not possible?"....intelligent.

it's funny how everything jumps to religion too, there was hardly any religion in this, so can the christians please fuck off, we're not interested in bible studies here thankyou. and no spell check, i will not capitalize christians haha

256 years seems a bit suspect.

lol,

atw

As a few of the comments referred to...the Bible...If one can live as long as Methusla 969 years and endless people believe in the Bible, then why is this such a long shot? The Bible was written by men that said it was 'inspired' of God. How many have seen God? No one. Not even Moses who spoke to a burning bush labeled as God's voice.
Open your minds. Wouldn't it be grand to eliminate disease by just eating correctly the fruits of the land?
I'm 57 and would love to live a very long life. To me life is what you make it. This gentleman was a wise man and followed a straight path to longevity. Did you know in Okinowa over 500 years ago there was a mass exodus by doctors because most Okinowans live past 100 because of the way they live and eat? Check out the information. Therefore doctors were in fact starving from lack of patients.

People is several other countries drink water that runs off the mountainous rocks. There are vast amounts of coral calcium in this water. Therefore, numerous minerals travel down to the people below, which enables extreme good health.

Just take the time to learn before you condemn. Knowledge is ever so powerful...use it.

256 wow im going to beat that by 257 you all just wait and see!

I tend towards the explanation that this is, simply, an exaggeration, perhaps with imperial blessings. I lived in China a number of years, and some people there (as everywhere) do tend towards the superlative. In living memory, that was particularly noticeable in official announcements coming out of Beijing, such as during the terrible famine in the late 1950's, which killed somewhere around 20-40 million people. But you wouldn't have known it from government announcements about harvest amounts, particularly staple foods such as rice and wheat, and livestock yields, especially pork. If they really had that much rice and wheat and that many pigs, there wouldn't have been room for all the *people*! Another example came from an official English-language newspaper in my early years there in the 1980's. There was a story saying that as "everyone knows and has always known" -- dead certainties that what was about to come was going to be One HUGE Whopping Lie -- "that all religion is a myth, including the so-called 'Garden of Eden." However, IF there really was a Garden of Eden, then our scientists have discovered it right here in China!" (I think the claim was in Yunnan Province.) I collapsed on my desk laughing hysterically.

This was interesting to read.

In the bible it even says people used to live for hundreds of years even a millenium in the time of abraham religion is the anser not science study religion wont u

judging by the photo looks to be 109.

I hope this isn't supposed to be taken seriously.

Conclusion: Not 'humanly' possible. So either he wasn't human, or it's a nice fable. lol

Isn't it strange? 256? Either this story is made up, either God optimized memory too much in this world. I mean, how could it be a power of two, and not just a power of two, 2^8 (char)

I thought I was the only one to dupe Father Time! Must be that damn Chinese Ginseng!!!!!!

You know, at first, I thought I was reading the onion, then I realized I was on environmental graffiti; and this story is relevant because he probably passed enough gas during his long lifetime to cause global warning.

A couple other things I have seen written about him:

- Died with his own decent set of teeth
- Believed in Garlic, Ginger, Ginseng, and Gotu-Kola for long life
- Would not eat Tropane containing foods (Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Tobacco), nor any 'root' foods besides the couple above.
- Won some master herbalist award 3 times in a row in China. This contest happened once every 50 years

Take with a grain of salt, this is too much ancient history to verify now.

to Jimbo - belief is a funny thing that makes a lot of people get out of bed early on a Sunday.

Whatever is the truth behind this story, the message behind this man's life is clear to me. Live life and work hard. Live like its your last day, and if you're right, you're gonna live for a long time ;)

"Was he really that old? Could he have forgotten his own birthday or exaggerated his claim? Environmental Graffiti investigates."

...

"Does this therefore signify a superhuman body capable of lasting one quarter of a millennium, or is the story of Li Ching-Yun based on a series of half-truths, lies or exaggerations?

Unfortunately, we may never know. You may draw your own logical conclusions."

Great investigation. Thanks for the waste of time.

Thank you, come again ;)

Heiroglyphs or it didn't happen.

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don't be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

It is not biologically possible, not even with China's famed herbal medicines.
Typically the truth behind this kind of story ends up being that some sort of political incentive makes it adventageous for a son to take the name of a father.
For example, if the military draft takes most of the seventeen year olds in a town, perhaps a family might let a boy steal the identity of his recently deceased father. Or, if inheritance taxes are high, then it might make eminent sense for a family to pass on the identity of the patriarch, from generation to generation, just to avoid taxes.
There was a myth that yogurt could extend life, because the old guys in a town in Soviet Georgia, allegedly lived to be well over a hundred, but that ended up being a draft evasion, situation. Yogurt is still popular, though, despite that the truth eventually came out...

Hazrat Babajan (Poona or Pune, India) reportedly lived 140 years.
Born ca 1790 died September 18 1931.
Others say she was born in 1806.

(Again, no proof ...)

my thoughts exactly. why not just link to the wiki entry.

waste

Sounds like make believe to me!

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don’t be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

ROFLOLMAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

he probably ate some tiger penis or rhino horn or whatever

Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence.

And extraordinary evidence was not forthcoming.

Seeing a name written in a book from hundreds of years ago, and somebody claiming to be him, is not extraordinary evidence.

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don’t be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

...wow. Your proctologist just called. He found your head.

Assuming that age at time of death can be plotted to come out in a bell-shaped curve, there will always be outliers. The vast majority will fall somewhere in the middle, but there will always be those that seemingly out of the ordinary.

klaasand: "And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing."

You’re kidding, right? There is a whole field of medicine dedicated to aging, known as gerontology. Given that humans are incredibly complex organisms, there are many mechanisms whereby we age. For example, molecular plaque buildup can, over time, cause a deterioration of the body’s cells.

As for your comments about “spiritual healing,” show me some verifiable data and provide me with some reproducible experiments, and then maybe I’ll believe it.

he follows the way. or daoism. the words he spoke about sleeping like a dog are quotes from the tao te ching or one of the other taoist writings. its all about finding your true self ect. who knows mabe its real it'd be sick if it was

You know I'm not a scientist, but most organisms' hearts only beat roughly one billion times, so in theory if you could train your heart into maintaining a minimal level of activity your organs would have extraordinary longevity. You could do this with chemical, physical, and psychological techniques. The herbs could slow your heart rate and change the neurological receptors in your brain to maintain a state of calm. A routine of slow, careful and precise movement would keep the strain on your body minimal. A mindset of peace and tranquility could also contribute to a long life. But why live slowly, when you can live fast. Live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse as they say in the west.

I'm pretty sure that the statistically supported possibility of a longevity occurrence like this is not impossible. Our species history is undeniably shapped by the influences of the Platos, Mozarts, Davincis and Einsteins to name a hackneyed few. I am sure however, that I am safe in regarding this as an ill-concieved journalistic ploy for limelight and an overt disclaimer to this blog's street cred.

“the age at time of death” is NOT a bell-shaped curve. Life expectancy is of a little more than 80 years for women in France or Japan for example, that means by definition that half of them die before their 80’s and half die older than 80; this curve is also a symmetrical one so the percentage of death happening right after birth should be reflected in the percentage of death at >100 yo. If this curve was to be a bell-shaped curve, we’d have 0,5% of death at the age of 160 as well as the existing 0,5% of infant mortality of these countries. Nobody in France or Japan lived longer than Jeanne Calment (122 years) so it’s a flat zero between 123 and infinity. It’s already quite flat after 105.

do u know nothing about maths it can be bell shaped curve but not a equal one its called skew effect go back to school if u arnt still in it and relearn your maths given enough ppl and enough time is may mathmaticaly speaking be posible to get ppls living to 500 yrs but at rediculesly low percentage

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don’t be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

OH you are KIDDING right?

You are citing the Bible as some kind of proof of scientific possibilities?

Wow. Just wow. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Clearly you've been using some form of herbal medicine.

hann Says:
December 21st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
it’s funny reading through these, you can instantly tell the intelligent from the unintelligent. those that say “show me and i’ll believe”…unintelligent. those that say “hmm yeah well who’s to say it’s not possible?”….intelligent.

it’s funny how everything jumps to religion too, there was hardly any religion in this, so can the christians please fuck off, we’re not interested in bible studies here thankyou. and no spell check, i will not capitalize christians haha

i think i love :D christains if u are here why u should be looking for ways to die quicker to get ur big fat reward and would make the rest of us realy happy

I think it should be noted that we do, in fact, know why we age.

As we age, the protective coating around our chromosomes slowly begin to wear away. Each cell that we replicate in turn replicates a little bit less of the casing around the chromosome. The less of a sheath we have around the chromosomes, the less able the body is able to maintain itself.

The rate of degradation is not consistent in all species or even within the species. This is why some people look particularly aged at 60 and others look particularly youthful at 90.

Because clams, crabs, and lobsters to not suffer this effect, they could theoretically live forever. Take the quahog clam that was found in arctic waters about six months ago. They estimated it was over 400 years old. This is possible because each shell in these species is able to almost perfectly replicate itself.

There is actually a lot of research going on to see if there is a way to slow or stop the degradation of the chromosome sheathing.

It should be noted that this story is (and I use this word as loosely as I can) possible. However, the more likely story is passing on the name, and essentially life, of the patriarch to the next son.

This artlice is all fluff. It doesn't answer any questions. Every segment reads like the introduction, without providing any solid information or drawing any conclusions!

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don’t be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

Might I point you to

True or not. that does not look like a youthful man in his 60's.

what about carbon dating?

I don't know about the supposed impossibility of this. The longest living dog lived to the ripe old age of 29, which is about 200 by human standards. The man living to 197, is not unfeasible. 256? A stretch, but why wouldn't it be possible? I mean, some people die of "old age" in their 70s, some past 100. Perhaps he lived the type of live that resulted in less wear and tear on his vital organs. I mean, there are some biologists that say that if the body produced its own Vitamin C and Calcium, we could live to be 600, maybe the stuff he ate tied down the essential nutrients he needed to sustain a long life.

But, Occam's razor, the old man was senile and had the same name as his dad.

Let's not forget Javier Periera, a Zenu Indian from Columbia, who lived from 1789 to 1958.

trees are known to get up to 10000 years old, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)

Impossible ... having more than 3 wifes in a lifetime ... that itself would kill you :P

that's why I'm not getting married ! yay buahaa

wahooo great story 200 over great man how he manage his mental balance great one

Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Why are we so sure we know everything? Don’t be so self righteous as to dismiss the possibility of this occurring. People today dismiss healing the wah Jesus did because all they know is doctors yet many religions practice spiritual healing (not faith healing) of all forms of physical illness with great and consistent success.

I'm a doctor and there are many many physiological reasons for aging...what are you talking about you mooncalf?

While I am not going to state whether I believe in this story or not, I think it is very naive to say this isn't possible.

There are many medical mysteries out there. There are diseases that make a person age rapidly. I certainly see no reason why there couldn't be a 'disease' that slows down the aging process tremendously, enough to live 250 years.

It is not unrealistic. Whether or not I believe in this particular story is irrelevant, but for anyone to say it is impossible is just plain ignorant.

Mr. Magorium? He was 432 years old. ;)