Bodyshock: The Amazing Story behind the 256 Year-Old Man
Sat, May 3, 2008
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Li Ching-Yun. Image from The People’s Republic of China
According to the 1933 obituaries in both Time Magazine and the New York Times, Li Ching-Yun was reported to have buried 23 wives and fostered 180 descendants by the time he died at the age of 256.
Was he really that old? Could he have forgotten his own birthday or exaggerated his claim? Environmental Graffiti investigates.
The Secrets to an Interminable Life
“Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog.” These were the words of advice Li gave to Wu Pei-fu, the warlord, who took Li into his house to learn the secret of extremely long life.
Li maintained that inward calm and peace of mind were the secrets to incredible longevity. His diet after all, was mainly based on rice and wine.
From 0 to 256
Unsurprisingly, not much is known about Li Ching-Yun’s early life. We know he was born in the province of Szechwan in China, where he also died. We also know that by his tenth birthday, Ching-Yun was literate and had travelled to Kansu, Shansi, Tibet, Annam, Siam and Manchuria gathering herbs. After that, it gets a bit fuzzy…
Apparently, for over one hundred years, Li continued selling his own herbs and then subsequently sold herbs collected by others. He also (according to Time) had six-inch long fingernails on his right hand.
You might be thinking that he looked decrepit, shrivelled, leather-like and creepy, however sources at the time were astonished at his youthfulness. Was this suspect? Was Li Ching-Yun as old as he claimed he was, or was his birthday a clerical error or exaggeration?
Let’s take a brief look at both sides…
The Nine Lives of Li Ching-Yun
By his own admission he was born in 1736 and had lived 197 years. However, in 1930 a professor and dean at Minkuo University by the name of Wu Chung-chien, found records “proving” that Li was born in 1677. Records allegedly showed that the Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th Birthdays.
So the question is, had he forgotten his own birthday? Was this even the same Li Ching-Yun?
Looking at all of this from a medical and documented perspective: Jeanne Louise Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 so far holds the title for the person who has roamed the earth the longest: 122 years, which is a phenomenal length of time.
That means, that if the records discovered by Wu Chung-chien were accurate, Li Ching-Yun’s age would surpass the official record by more than 130 years. Is this even medically possible?
The detail, which seems to prove both arguments and debunk them at the same time, is Li’s youthful appearance, noted in a 1928 article from the New York Times. Visually and physically, he appeared to look like a typical 60 year-old. 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.
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4 Trackbacks For This Post
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Not So Summer-like Randomness « Murphy’s Law Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 12:12 am[...] 256 Year Old Man To believe or not to believe.. [...]
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mental_floss Blog » Morning Cup O’ Links: 10 Insulting Words You Should Know Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:31 am[...] kingdom. Each of these 53 reasons leads to an expended explanation. * The Amazing Story of the 256-year-old man. His 1933 obituary listed his year of birth as 1677. * Top Ten Crazy Asian Pizza Crusts. Shrimp, [...]
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The Amazing Story behind the 256 Year-Old Man | Funny, Amazing and Cool Pictures, Photomontages and Videos every day! Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 11:34 pm[...] SOURCE: EnvironmentalGraffiti.com [...]
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LHI CHING YUEN, USIANYA MENCAPAI 256 TAHUN « TOPIK WARNA-WARNI Says:
February 6th, 2010 at 3:19 am[...] Wikipedia Inggris dan Environmentalgraffiti) [...]
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I hope this isn’t supposed to be taken seriously.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:10 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:29 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:56 am
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 ;)
May 4th, 2008 at 2:19 am
“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.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Thank you, come again ;)
May 4th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Heiroglyphs or it didn’t happen.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:32 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:32 am
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…
May 4th, 2008 at 2:35 am
my thoughts exactly. why not just link to the wiki entry.
waste
May 4th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Sounds like make believe to me!
May 4th, 2008 at 3:06 am
ROFLOLMAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
May 4th, 2008 at 3:16 am
he probably ate some tiger penis or rhino horn or whatever
May 4th, 2008 at 3:18 am
…wow. Your proctologist just called. He found your head.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:23 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:34 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:41 am
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
May 4th, 2008 at 3:53 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:59 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:16 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Might I point you to
May 4th, 2008 at 5:42 am
True or not. that does not look like a youthful man in his 60’s.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:04 am
what about carbon dating?
May 4th, 2008 at 6:05 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:19 am
trees are known to get up to 10000 years old, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)
May 4th, 2008 at 7:59 am
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.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Mr. Magorium? He was 432 years old. ;)
May 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
with all the shit in our food, the medics in the water, work stress, alcohol and nicotine and caffeine and so forth we don’t have to worry about garlic or anything. We just live our lives and don’t bury women.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
You must not have heard about Wayhigh’s Law, part of which is as follows, “The first person to use the bible as an authoritative source in an argument instantly loses the argument.”
May 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Good for him :)
May 4th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
One thing wrong with this: Carbon dating uses the loss of Carbon-14 to determine the age of biological matter. C-14 is only lost after death and burial, so it would only tell you how long ago he died, not how old he was when he did.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Cut off one of his lages and count the rings.
Seriously, if someone could conceivably live that old, it may have a genetic base. How old did any of his children or other relatives live to?
May 4th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Oops. That first line should read: Cut off one of his LEGS . . .
May 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
hard to believe.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Another victim of the Y2K bug (sort of): 0, 1, …, 255, DIVIDED BY ZER_
@S. Bernard, #15> no, “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.
Infant mortality is 20% in Liberia and with a life expectancy of 42 years, obviously there isn’t 20% of Angola people living up to 83 and then suddenly dying at 84 ! So no, it’s not a bell-shaped curve but yes there are “outliers”.
The problem is we can only consider those who were born and died in country with reliable source of Vital records …
May 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
what a worthless article. there are no answers no nothing. I read the title and asked myself how is this possible then come to read the whole page. wasteing my time.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I think the secret definitely lies within the use of herbs. It is curious though, if the wives ate the same diet and took the same herbs…. maybe they didn’t?
May 4th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Not possible. It says he had 23 wives! I am convinced No man can outlive 23 wives!
May 4th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Good God! As if the 80 year old Chinese man driving 20mph in the fast lane with his blinker on wasn’t bad enough!
May 4th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
For all those right brainers, who think they blog something of value, ask yourself this question, “Why were plants and animals so much larger in the past?” Even 15,000 years ago, giant bears, giant elk, giant sloth, giant Mammoth, and yes even giant men. Where do think this is coming from? Go back even further, dragon fly 3 feet long, conifers 1000 feet tall, look at the fossil records! If you don’t believe in life force energies I suggest you take a second look at history, and then ask yourself how these (lower life forms) were able to out perform us? The answers are hidden in plain site, right under your noses, or perhaps over your head, every day. You think stories sre longevity are just fables? Think again. Just a suggestion, perhaps you should wake up from your slumber party.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
There is a rare condition that causes a person to age at an accelerated rate, called progeria.
If that condition exists, why not a rare condition that acts in the opposite direction, or life extending,rather than life shortening.
If there are 6 billion people alive today, who’s to say that one or more of them may not radically extend their life span(s)
May 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I think that he would have gotten more credibility if this was more real this sounds like a lochnessy monsterish type of deal.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Wow, Tim. You are such a douche. Life force energies?! Dumb dumb dumb. Plenty of scientifically plausible hypotheses with varying degrees of evidence for your claims without having to invoke woo-woo and fairy dust. For example, 3 foot dragon flies lived in an epoch in which there was demonstrably more oxygen in the atmosphere.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I don’t know what you people are complaining about. This happens all the time. In fact, this man died fairly young. I myself am 328 years old and don’t look a day over fourty
May 4th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
oxygen? Well if that were the case don’t you think every poultry farmer and hot house owner in the states wouldn’t be raising their stock in a pure Oxygen emviroment, to double or tripple their yield. Your’re going to have think a little deeper than that, my friend. How do the cells communicate? What turns on and off aging genes. Why are they even an aspect of genome?
Where do the plants get their energy, and we indirectly through them?
May 4th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
<blockquote cite=”For all those right brainers, who think they blog something of value, ask yourself this question, “Why were plants and animals so much larger in the past?” Even 15,000 years ago, giant bears, giant elk, giant sloth, giant Mammoth, and yes even giant men. Where do think this is coming from? Go back even further, dragon fly 3 feet long, conifers 1000 feet tall, look at the fossil records! If you don’t believe in life force energies I suggest you take a second look at history, and then ask yourself how these (lower life forms) were able to out perform us? The answers are hidden in plain site, right under your noses, or perhaps over your head, every day. You think stories sre longevity are just fables? Think again. Just a suggestion, perhaps you should wake up from your slumber party.”
Idiotic. Did I miss the paragraph in the article that mentioned the chinese dude was 20 feet tall? Quit talking out your ass, this has nothing to do with anything. Besides, if I recall correctly, these large creatures existed thousands of years ago, not in the 1700’s AND their life span was shorter than their smaller decendents. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THIS IS A WORTHLESS ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY ANYTHING.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
There are Yogis in India who have lived for over 300 years. Some of them have addresses and you can go to visit them.
Leonard Orr, my teacher, and the ‘father’ of Rebirthing, has some of their contact info. He has visited some of them, notably Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of India.
For a good intro to the idea of Physical Immortality, please watch Leonard’s video on You Tube….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT36RVkmj50
(”Death Is A ‘Grave’ Mistake”….Leonard Orr)
May 5th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Spectacular claims require spectacular proof. Exaggerated lifespans are a trademark of human cultures. An authentic 100 year lifespan is indeed a rarity, but to claim 200 unsubstantiated years is an insult to the centenarian community.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Thomas Parr supposedly lived 152 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Parr
I agree with the skeptics, 252 is impossible in the 21st century, I don’t think you past 50 if you constantly eat at McDonald’s and take prescription drugs.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I’m sorry, but may I point out the law of @$$hole-ery. “The first person to say that a person instantly loses an argument by quoting a Bible gets a round house kick to the face by Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee beating them with their own spine, and a piece of lemon squirted in their eye. This practice may go past the first said person.”
May 5th, 2008 at 2:06 am
If I told you I was eleventy hundred and twelve would you believe me?
May 5th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Well said.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:13 am
He is dead now, so I guess the world is back on track. I do have to wonder why he married 23 wives…didn’t he learn after the first one?
That means 23 mother-in-laws…wouldn’t that kill you faster. Jeeze, 23 wives and putting up with them for 256 years? That poor guy couldn’t catch a break!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Why dont they dig him up and carbon date his bones?
May 5th, 2008 at 4:02 am
What’s to say that people aren’t capable of living for more that 120/130 years. Humans have so many other things that kill them on a regular basis. If someone that had the potential to live longer died in a car accident the world would never know what the potential was. Old age used to be 40 back in the day, what would THEN think of people NOW, working and being vibrant members of society until their 70 and older. Just food for thought.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Well, before we start looking for Robert Anson Heinlein’s fictional Lazarus Long (aka Woodrow Wilson Smith, Et Al.)Who appeared in “Methusila’s Children”, “Time Enough for Love”, “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”, Natural death apears to occour at a rate of 50% of a population for each eight or nine years of life beyond a certain age with women entering this phase about eight or nine years older than men (a result of having two X chromosones).
Thus the Chinaman has a one in sixteen million chance of surviving to such an age if he reaches the age of 64. At that time few survived to age 64.
My pet theory on Progeria: It might be a Growth Hormone defiency, treatable with Human Groth Hormone produced by gene enginered bacteria. Perhaps the Chinaman had a pituitary conditiond that kept his Groth Hormone levels high, but not high enough to cause Acromeglia (and make him look like Ted ‘Lurch’ Cassidy, or “Jaws” in the James Bond movies.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:22 am
To answer your questions in order Cells communicate by using hormones. Any genes are turned on and off by transcription factors. “Aging genes” get destroyed by the bodies immune system mainly by protien degradition or in the worst cases by the bodies anti cancer genes.
Plants get their energy from the same source that we do. Cellular respiration takes place in plants the same way it does in humans. What plants produce themselves is the sugars that are broken down in cellular respiration.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:23 am
i have heard a simular story relating to a Englishman almost to simular in fact. i have to feel this is either a hoax or just a old wives tail. in the englishmans story he body was pure from not eating highly seasoned foods, and died after eating dinner with the kind at the time in which the food was to heavily seasoned.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:31 am
I can easily believe these things where many others seem to be unwilling or unable to. I once read a book when I was a child that taught me that the only reason pepole die, is because they believe they will. I was pleased to read and learn about count St. Germain, now this. I believe that “What a man thinketh upon, he becomes.” I think I’m becoming healthier every day, stronger every day and happier every day! I’m not becoming older, I’m becoming better. I believe I’m becoming wiser, and richer and more adept, with every tick of the closk. and let me tell you, I feel good!
May 5th, 2008 at 4:34 am
“And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing” My wife and me is homeschooling our 9 kids to be doctors. in the “Evilgelical Book of Medicine” it says the reason for ageing is cuz man strays from the WORD. seems this chinese guy wasn’t a demoncrat
May 5th, 2008 at 4:44 am
He reminds me in that picture of Sai Baba. I’m presently taking fish oil, niacin, mens vitamins (I wont mention the brand name here) ginsing and garlic pills and the world is absolutely mine. I can outwork any two people I know, I feel incredibly good all the time and nobody that I tell that I’m 47 can believe that I’m actually 47. But it’s true, I was born in October of 1960…I drink cranbery juice from time to time and do a lot of gardening. I believe that gardening is a key to longevity as well as these other things that I’ve mentioned. That fresh air and sunshine.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:17 am
There is conclusive evidence that the Oxygen levels as far back as 200 million years ago was as high as 50%. Today O2 levels are around 19% and the rest is nitrogen and other gasses. That is the reasoning behind the large species that roamed the earth. O2 levels for some reason around 30k years ago plummeted from 30% to 20%. A sudden change in the O2 levels could account for species becoming smaller and living longer. Most of the oxygen we breathe in, has what’s called a free radical. This is when only one of the oxygen molecules bind with carbon and leave a free oxygen atom floating around or even binding with another oxygen to make O3. These free radicals are like tiny knives that mutate and destroy DNA / RNA and speed up the aging process. This is where anti-oxidants come in to play.
This relates to this article because this man was a herbal genius that probably knew of the properties found in antioxidants. I am skeptical on his claimed age but I do believe he probably made it to over 150 years old.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:29 am
“There are Yogis in India who have lived for over 300 years. Some of them have addresses and you can go to visit them.”
And it must be true because an internet guy said that an Indian guy said it was true, and if you ask him he will tell you that he’s correct.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:46 am
I can see where poor records and no government number system can cause the government to believe 3 different people are the same person over the course of 2 centuries. Probably burocracy going amuck is the best reason and of course 3 different people played along for the ride possibly with the same name.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Sometimes weird things happen in humans. Progeria causes people to die of old age by about 13. I remember reading a story about a 2-year-old “bodybuilder”; he just had a condition that gave him a fantastic metabolism.
If people can die of old age in 1/6th the usual time, the hyper-rare case of someone living double also seems possible.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Remember, these are the people who think powdered rhino horn is viagra. Bullshiat.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
er … isn’t the simplest explanation that he was born in 1836 not 1736
May 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Three words:
“Dread Pirate Roberts”
Same name, many men.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
It didn’t say why the wives died. Remember that child birth is not a safe and easy process, especially prior to the advent of modern medicine. Many women died due to complications with pregnancy and birth. Additionally, women took on riskier aspects of managing the household that were more likely to result in some kind of physical harm (cook fires, etc.). Li Ching-Yun gathered and sold herbs for a living and reputedly had 6-inch nails on his right hand… which signified that he did not have to do much physical labor.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
look at Yoda he was like 800 or 900 years old. may the farce be with yew.btw was prolly son of a son of a son. not saying it couldn’t happen just prolly didn’t
May 5th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
The real secret to living a long time is to be a total prick. We all know the cool people go early.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Dig him up, run some tests. See what the science will show.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Biblical references record people of even older ages. And doctors admit that there is no physiological reason for ageing.
We are homeschooling our 9 kids to be doctors and in the “Evilgelical Book of Medicine” it says the ageing is because of man’s failure to follow the WORD. so the old chinese guy must not have been a demoncrat
May 5th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
This story simply is not true. I subscribe to both Time and The New York Times online archives and have researched both for this man’s obituary. It does NOT exist in either archive. No one could live to be nearly this old. This is a story that can not be proven… ever. There is not enough evidence to prove it. This may be the story of one man and several of his descendants who chose to take on his identity over the course of several generations. With the lack of birth and death documentation in the past 200 years, these claims can’t be corroborated. Choose to believe this far-fetched stuff if you want. Elvis is still alive and the moon landings were a hoax. This is the stuff of urban legend and nothing more.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Wow… Wow… There are not words for this stupidity. Raising poultry in a 100% oxygen environment would NOT triple or quadruple the output because the chickens would first have to ADAPT through NATURAL SELECTION after many generations to be able to process the oxygen. The chickens as they are have evolved to only be able to process so much oxygen.
The reason our dragonflies are smaller is because the environment DID in fact lose oxygen, but gradually. As more oxygen was lost, the dragonflies requiring more weren’t able to pass on their genes–they DIED. The ones requiring less lived, reproduced, and spiralled through the gradual process that has left us with the tiny ones we now know.
Cells communicate through molecular, ionic, enzymatic, etc. hormones; genes are turned “on” and “off” by whether or not they are recessive, dominant, or in the presence of a substance that activates them; plants get their energy from glucose via photosynthesis, and when we eat them, we get the starches.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Actually, there are articles on him from the Times and Time. They are listed in the sources above. Here’s the NY Times one: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0915FE3E5C16738DDDAF0894DD405B838FF1D3
May 6th, 2008 at 6:09 am
It is not uncommon through out some of the more remote regions in
Europe and Asia for these claims to exist. My own great-great grandmother was one such.Doctors hear used to joke that when she died they would have to do a bone-age.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:58 am
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.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:14 am
http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/li-ching-yuen-the-amazing-250-year-old-man/
And if you think that is amazing, check this out:
http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/yogi-stops-heart-for-six-weeks/
I have more, but I’ll stop there.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I’m a doctor and there are many many physiological reasons for aging…what are you talking about you mooncalf?
June 30th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
It might have just been a line of sons claiming to be their fathers as part of a little hoax.
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
My great grandmother on my mom’s side is now approaching her mid-80s, and she has just started smoking a few months ago. Laugh on that, will you. (Serves you right for pointlessly trolling other people’s comments)
July 9th, 2008 at 1:34 am
I thought I was the only one to dupe Father Time! Must be that damn Chinese Ginseng!!!!!!
August 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Amazing story!The day will come when everyone will live at least 200 years.
January 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Yep, a very good story ended in 1933.
On those day’s Edgar Cayce was still on the earth and was giving readings.
A.R.E http://www.edgarcayce.org/ .
In these readings you can find the same dieet which Li Chung Yun lived on.
It’s based on the wholeness awareness of Body-Mind-Soul health. Even the readings gaves a meal of Red Wine and Bread! It’s something to think over hey.
We didn’t made our physical machine, the body. So how do we really know what it needs for recharges the life energy? In the Edgar Cayce readings you will find the idea of pH measurement of the body fluid. Taking Food in combination towards each other and what it does in our chemical body factory.
Mind health by praying, meditation and attitude and Soul by purpose of the highest by free will focus.
It’s based of the idea of new cells, and as you already know. The body do make every day new cells, and with the right combination like Li Ching Yun seem to know it can be done.
enjoy life guys.
February 6th, 2009 at 8:49 am
This was interesting to read.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Well good for him if this is true!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
What a TERRIBLE article. All you did was ask questions while leaving the reader to think you had more to say when really you had nothing to say.
Soo… did he really live 250 years? How did he do it? Is that even possible? Is he the same person that the Imperial Chinese congratulated?
Your post needs some serious work. In it’s current state it clearly is half-assed and posted perhaps to only fill space and make-up for a lack of articles.
*thumbs down*
April 19th, 2009 at 7:33 am
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
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
klaasand! the bible is aload of Bollox!
May 30th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
this post asks a lot of questions
to bad they’re all a variation on “is this possible”.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
256 years seems a bit suspect.
lol,
atw
June 8th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
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 …)
June 9th, 2009 at 1:38 am
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.
June 20th, 2009 at 4:10 am
“For all those right brainers, who think they blog something of value, ask yourself this question, “Why were plants and animals so much larger in the past?” Even 15,000 years ago, giant bears, giant elk, giant sloth, giant Mammoth, and yes even giant men. Where do think this is coming from? Go back even further, dragon fly 3 feet long, conifers 1000 feet tall, look at the fossil records! If you don’t believe in life force energies I suggest you take a second look at history, and then ask yourself how these (lower life forms) were able to out perform us? The answers are hidden in plain site, right under your noses, or perhaps over your head, every day. You think stories sre longevity are just fables? Think again. Just a suggestion, perhaps you should wake up from your slumber party.”
I’m sorry to tell you that the reason that animals were this big in the past is bacause there was more oxygen on the atmosphere. With more oxygen on the atmosphere, you can have a faster metabolism and support a bigger body. And I’m sorry to tell you that there were no giant men, people nowadays are getting bigger and bigger. The closest thing to giant man would be Giganthopithecus, a giant gorilla that standed around three meters tall. Also there never has been 1000 ft tall conifers. I’m also sorry to tell you that the biggest animal ever, balaenoptera musculus, or the blue whale, is alive nowadays. And what do you mean with “lower life forms” and also what do you mean with “out perform us”? The term lower life form is extremely ridiculous, life forms are not superior or inferior, some may be bigger, some may be more succesful, some may be smarter, but “upper” and “lower” is not a scientific term. And out perform us, when did this animals you mention did out perform us? If anything, we out performed them, because many extinted bacause of our action. I hate it when people talk without knowing.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
idk.. my fam is from szechuan n i’ve never heard about this dude. you’d think a 256yr old man would be somethin the province bragged about. that said, people in szechuan do tend to live longer lives. my great grandmother died at 109. she lived to witness 3 different rulers of china, including the last emperor and remembered all her grandkids & great grandkids’ names.. the secret to her longevity was probably the fact that she really didn’t give a fck about anything going on in the world. she was very active, climbing 6 flights of stairs twice a day.. walking everywhere even though cars were readily available.. and being very kind n generous. n interesting fact, her feet were bound when she was a child so even at her old age, they were extremely small. pretty creepy and sexist but whatevs, it’s a part of the chinese history.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:14 am
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.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:38 am
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!
July 20th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Let’s not forget Javier Periera, a Zenu Indian from Columbia, who lived from 1789 to 1958.
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:17 am
right john there are plenty of drugs that calm you down they’re called depressents but i hear LSD works to…
.. plus you get bonuses like hallucinations and vomiting… but in reality they shorten your lifespan…
…also stimulants work if you have ADHD but again possiblity of organ failure is what makes it a problem
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:45 am
I have heard that there were men (Yogis) who lived 250 years or more someone nearly 500 years in India. You can find out by search.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:22 am
SOUNDS LIKE THE WORLDS OLDEST BULLSHITTER TO ME.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:27 am
“Why dont they dig him up and carbon date his bones?”
exactly. someone who isnt so ignorant as to say “nope. not possible” but to offer a solution instead of back and forth arguing-none offering any solution.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Those who ask why they can’t dig him up and carbon date him. Well it will only show how longs he’d BEEN dead. Not how long he lived.
I believe it can happen. Imo, it may have been a gene mutation. Even if the 21st century is filled with trash food, he lived solely on rice and wine so I guess there is a possibility? In the Bible there were people living up to 800. Winning the herbal award competition or whatever it was called which was commenced every 50 years 3 times in a row already says that he has beaten the french women who supposedly ‘lived the longest’ Even so he did not claim to be over 200 years old, it was later on someone else who discovered that he did.
We’ve had cases of humans with hair or fur covering them, reversing evolution. ALl these things have something to do with genes. A man who cant sleep for years yet still have enough energy to live on like every other man.
It may have been a gene mutation, enabling him to live that long. Although whether or not his descendants will inherit it or not may depend on their mothers because it cannot be guaranteed that it will pass on but that does not wipe out any chances that it will.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 am
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
September 29th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
A fairly simple way of determining his age would be to map out his DNA & that of his; children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, etc, etc,
Genetic dilution over the generations should be fairly easy to plot as would the buildup of heavy metals and other contaminants in his teeth/bones.
Now if many Chinese live this long, their population levels would be much easier to understand.
Plus, “if the bible told you so”…
September 30th, 2009 at 12:02 am
If you are a Christian then you believe in God’s word and if that’s true then you believe the scripture “in God ALL things are POSSIBLE”, it is not physically nor biologically impossible to sustain a long life however the reason we do live shorter lives is mainly because of 2 things. One being our diet, sodas, preservatives, etc.. and two, our enviroment such as living close to power plants, use of cell phones, laziness, cigarettes and so on. It is very possible this man lived as long as he did because of his diet and living a stress free life…cut out stress and you can add many years to your life alone. I read about this man 20 years ago and the fact it is mentioned again shows me the story I read was not a fluke…
September 30th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Let’s not forget Monk E.I. Peg: b.1990 d. c.3300. Oops, wrong century. You all aren’t ready for that yet.
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
It is impossible to live longer than 256 years because of the char size in matrix kernel code…
October 29th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Conclusion: Not ‘humanly’ possible. So either he wasn’t human, or it’s a nice fable. lol
October 29th, 2009 at 10:35 am
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)
November 8th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I know that I am very young(I am almost 10 years old)and I want to be a scientist.
I have all this inventions that I want to make stuck on my head, but I could leave it all and I could just find the truth about Li Chin-Yu.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:00 am
Phantom dead at 256? Lee Falk got it wrong?
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
This was a pretty shitty article.
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
What’s not mentioned is that unless his wives died about every ten years and he immediately remarried he was a polygamist. I knew it. I knew that was a secret to a happier life, er I mean longer life.
December 10th, 2009 at 3:14 am
This article is incredibly bad. How something like this can get awards is beyond me.
December 10th, 2009 at 5:59 am
i feel so sorry for all of you that laughed at the person who made reference to the bible you will never know the beauty and wonder that is actually out there bc u are too busy being skeptics. its really sad. let me say one thing: THERE IS MOST DEFINITLY A HELL AND YOU WILL ALL GO THERE IF YOU DONT BELIEVE. THINK THAT OVER BEFORE YOU JUDGE SOMEONE ELSE. IM NOT AN EVERY SUNDAY KIND OF CHRISTIAN BUT I KNOW THAT SCORNING AND LAUGHING AT SOMEONE WHO MAKES A REFERENCE TO THE BIBLE DOES INDEED BUY YOU A TICKET TO HELL (Pits of fire, demons, and misery that lasts an eternity.)
December 13th, 2009 at 12:08 am
the body is not meant to die , ever .
December 16th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Doesn’t matter if this guy was for real or not, truth is no one can live as pure as he did in this day and age (if he did live that long). Plus with the world it is today, do you really wanna live that long?
December 20th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
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.
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
December 31st, 2009 at 2:41 pm
256 wow im going to beat that by 257 you all just wait and see!
January 8th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
judging by the photo looks to be 109.
January 18th, 2010 at 12:50 am
“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
January 18th, 2010 at 12:54 am
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
January 21st, 2010 at 4:37 am
wahooo great story 200 over great man how he manage his mental balance great one
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Being a student of history I can only state a preponderant evidence of a lingering extra longevity factor found in all the fine details & documents of all cultures for time immemorial along with the belief that this factor was a surviving genetic link to an older earth civilization where longevity into the millenia was the norm of the high point of this former civilizaton. The details of this civilization are recorded and known but not popular with the those creationists who use artifice to prevent knowledge beyond their understanding or control being presented as a potential future for man even beyond life on earth.The hidden truths will come forth and give us clearer options in all activity. not the least which may be our own recreation of our destiny in divine image.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
It is difficult to think that a man can go on and on for this far , May be his life style did help him to do so.
January 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
It is 100% true. I went to school with him.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Josh’s comment:
For example, molecular plaque buildup can, over time, cause a deterioration of the body’s cells.
if that’s your comeback then you missed the point you were shooting down.
February 7th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Considering the highly suspicious nature of -modern- claims by persons supposedly 120+ years old, & the difficulty ‘disproving’ them, even a moment of thought to -ancient- claims is a waste of time & effort.