Chinese mythology: the mystery of Pengzu's longevity

Peng Zu was the grandson of Shunxiang and the third son of Lu Zhong. Legend has it that his father, Lu Zhong, married the ghost Fangguo's daughter-in-law, who had only one breast and was three years pregnant, but the child could not always be born. In the absence of any way, she had to cut a hole in the left armpit of the woman's daughter, and three sons were removed from it, and three sons were removed from the right armpit. The third son, Qian Hao, was Peng Zu, who was enfeoffed in the Great Peng Kingdom, Peng Cheng.

It is said that Peng Zu lived for more than 800 years from the time of Yao Shun until the early years of the Zhou Dynasty. This eight-hundred-year-old grandfather, when he was dying, still felt that he was in his prime, and he had a regret of dying young. Why can Peng Zu live such an old age? Whether it was because he was a descendant of the Heavenly Emperor, this may be one of the reasons. However, there are so many descendants of the Heavenly Emperor, not every one of them can live for so many years and live so long. Peng Zu could live to be eight hundred years old, and there must be some other reason.

According to legend, when the Yin Dynasty was not old, Peng Zu had already lived for seven hundred and sixty-seven years, but his appearance did not look old, deaf, blind, back, waist and legs did not hurt, and he still looked quite young. Since childhood, Peng Zu liked to be quiet, did not pursue fame, did not learn from the world, and spent all day to maintain health and self-cultivation. The king asked him to be a doctor, and although he was extremely reluctant, he could not push back, so he had to promise. Peng Zu did not want to participate in political affairs, so he often did not go to the court on the grounds of illness. Peng Zu is also proficient in the art of tonication, often taking water cinnamon, mica powder, elk horn powder and so on. He was usually silent and never boasted of his own way.

Peng Zu also often traveled around, but he never rode on horseback. Even if he had to travel for dozens of days, sometimes even hundreds of days, he did not bring dry food. Surprisingly, when he returned, his clothing, body and mental outlook were no different from usual. Peng Zu is also good at guiding qi, often from morning to night to close the breath, after that, rub his eyes, massage the body, and then stand up and move. Peng Zu also had times when his body was tired and uncomfortable, when he guided the qi to shut down, so that the qi flowed smoothly throughout the body, so that the body could return to its previous state, comfortable and free. After King Yin heard about it, he also wanted to live a long life. So he personally went to Peng Zu's mansion and asked him for immortals, but Peng Zu was silent. King Yin thought of another way to use money to make him open his mouth. He sent him hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, and Peng Zu accepted it and distributed all the gold to the poor people, but he remained silent.

At that time, there was a woman named Cai Nu, who was also a person who was enlightened, and also knew some ways to maintain her health, although she was two hundred and sixty or seventy years old, but her appearance still looked like forty or fifty years old. King Yin sent Cai Nu to ask Peng Zu the secret of longevity, and Peng Zu replied: "The secret of longevity may really exist, but I have seen and heard very little about this matter, and I really can't say why." Take myself as an example, my father died before I was even born, my mother raised me until I was three years old, and she died too. I, the poor orphan, was left with the trouble of inuyasha, and could only go into exile in the Western Regions, where he spent more than a hundred years in that place with difficult conditions. From my youth to the present, I have died forty-nine wives and fifty-four sons. I have experienced so many sad parts of life and death, and my spirit has been devastated. Because I was not in good health since I was a child, and I did not get a good conditioning in the process of growing up, looking at my current physical condition, I am so thin, I am afraid that I will soon die, where is the secret of longevity. ”

After speaking, Peng Zu sighed and quietly left, not knowing the end. Seventy years later, it is said that Peng Zu was seen in the quicksand country on the western border, and he was riding a camel and walking slowly. The expression is pleasant and the spirit is strong. Peng Zu refused to say how he could prolong his life, and everyone guessed it one after another. Some people say that the reason why he lives so long is because he often takes some drugs; others say that he lives so long may be because he has practiced some miracles. In fact, the truth is not like what everyone says.

Peng Zu is good at cooking a pheasant soup, which he can make both delicious and new and unique. He offered the soup to the Heavenly Emperor, and after the Heavenly Emperor tasted it, he greatly appreciated it, because he had never eaten such a delicious pheasant soup. Therefore, as soon as Tianbu was happy, he gave Peng Zu eight hundred years of life. It is because of this that Peng Zu can live so long and live for more than eight hundred years. But Peng Zu, who had a high heart, felt that he had not lived enough until he was dying, and thought that he himself had died young. Although it is a legend, in fact, Peng Zu's longevity should have something to do with his good maintenance, but he refuses to tell outsiders.