Since ancient times, human beings have been pursuing longevity.
In the West, there is the legend that Alexander the Great and the Spanish explorer De Leon searched for the Fountain of Immortality, and in China, there is an allusion that Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu Dongdu to find the elixir, and that feudal rulers such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recruited alchemists to refine the elixir of immortality.
And in Shandong, there is such an ordinary person, he is illiterate, he has never heard of the Fountain of Youth, and he does not know what the elixir of longevity is, but he can go through 117 spring and autumn in the world without disease and disaster.
He lived from the 23rd year of Guangxu to 2014, the longest-lived male birthday star recorded in Shandong Province in mainland China so far, Yang Mingyun.
A reporter once asked the local well-known birthday star for the secret of health and longevity, and the old man Yang Mingyun replied with a smile: Exercise more, eat well, and sleep well.
Is it really that simple? Let's find out.
In 1897, that is, in the 23rd year of Guangxu, Yang Mingyun was born in an ordinary farming family in Leting County, Hebei Province.
It was the turbulent end of the Qing Dynasty, and at that time, ordinary peasant families had to make a living by renting land from tenants, and Yang Mingyuan's parents were no exception.
Even though his parents worked hard all day, the family still did not have enough to eat, and in the midst of famine, the family often could not open the pot. So in this situation where even basic food and clothing are difficult to guarantee, Yang Mingyun followed his parents to work in the fields since he was a child.
At the age of 13, Yang Mingyun was introduced by a distant relative to the local Phoenix Mountain temple to work as a handyman, sprinkling sweeping, carrying water, cooking, and planting crops and vegetables, which became his daily compulsory classes.
Perhaps after staying in the temple for a long time, Liu Mingyuan was infected here, which also paved the way for his future development of an indisputable character.
Time passed unhurriedly, and Yang Mingyun reached the age of starting a family.
At the age of 26, in order to make a living, Yang Mingyun followed his father to Yantai, Shandong Province, and got a job loading and unloading goods at the wharf.
There, Yang Mingyun got up early every day before dawn to go to the dock, carrying heavy goods back and forth non-stop.
This is a hard work, although fatigue is inevitable, but Yang Mingyun does not feel hard, and can get more wages in his hometown, Yang Mingyun is very happy, decided to work hard.
In his spare time, Yang Mingyun has no pastimes or hobbies, the only thing is to practice the "shaking the mountains and shaking the sea" skill he learned from an old monk in the monastery.
One day, on the way back to his residence after Yang Mingyun finished work, he saw a small teahouse brightly lit and crowded with people, and cheers came from time to time in the crowd.
He approached curiously, and heard a subdued voice in the crowd: "It's too late, it's too fast, I only saw Wu Song ......"
He patted the person next to him on the shoulder in confusion and asked, "What is this?"
The person next to him turned his head and replied, "This is talking about Wu Song fighting the tiger!"
It turned out to be a folk artist telling a story!
Since then, after Yang Mingyun finishes work, he will come here whenever he has a gap.
As soon as he saw the storyteller wearing a long gown and sitting behind a wooden table, holding a folding fan and waking wood, he knew that storytelling was about to start again!
Yang Mingyun was illiterate, but this did not prevent him from listening to book reviews, so he listened to many traditional stories between labor, including some traditional Chinese masterpieces, such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Bao Gong Case", "Yue Fei's Biography", "Yang Jiajiang" and so on.
I don't know if Yang Mingyun has a good memory, or because he has listened too much, but after a few months, he can remember it and tell it to his co-workers with relish.
Over time, when the workers were free, they would encourage Yang Mingyun to speak a few paragraphs: Yang Mingyun, let's talk! Yang Mingyun!
Yang Mingyun enjoyed it, and the time for him to give full play to his "expertise" had arrived. So, he began to talk with a fluttering eyebrow!
The storyteller never gets tired of telling the story, and the listener sometimes asks questions curiously, sometimes laughs, and often listens to it with great satisfaction, and then asks to continue when he finishes a paragraph. But sometimes it was late, and seeing that the moon had risen very high outside the house, Yang Mingyun could only wave his hand and tell everyone, "I want to know the follow-up, and listen to the next decomposition."
Seeing that the surrounding workers are all married, Yang Mingyun is still single, and his family is also asking someone to introduce him to the marriage.
At the age of 30, at the behest of his parents and the words of the matchmaker, Yang Mingyun got married. After marriage, the couple was very harmonious, but because of the wife's health, the couple has not been able to have children.
In that era of pursuing "there are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great", this incident did not affect the relationship between the husband and wife, and the couple were very open-minded: "Go with nature." ”
Later, Yang Mingyun's nephew Yang Yuxing was passed on to the old couple to raise, firstly, because the brothers had many children, and secondly, it also gave the couple more emotional sustenance.
Yang Mingyun and his wife were very happy, and they regarded their nephew as their own.
Yang Mingyun will teach his nephew Yang Yuxing the truth of being a man and doing things, and his nephew is also very sensible, he is very calm at a young age, he will help adults do things, and treat people with courtesy and courtesy.
nephew Yang Yuxing reached marriageable age, and Lu Yuzhen, who was 13 years old at the time, married into the Yang family.
After Yang Yuxing and Lu Yuzhen got married, they had 4 children, and later added 4 grandchildren to Yang Mingyun and his wife, forming a happy and harmonious family, "father" and "son" filial piety.
Yang Mingyun grew up watching these juniors, and he was always very patient with these juniors. He still loves to tell stories, which he used to tell to his nephews and then to his grandchildren.
"Virtue carries things", "The prime minister can hold the boat in his belly" and other words that he heard when listening to the book review before, the old man Yang Mingyun will borrow it to educate future generations.
Yang Mingyun has a kind personality and gets along well with his family. Niece Lu Yuzhen is virtuous and virtuous, since she married into the Yang family when she was 13 years old, she, like her husband, also has great respect for Yang Mingyun and his wife.
Lu Yuzhen loves cleanliness, always cleans the house clean and tidy, in that era of shrinking clothes and dieting, she always wears patched old clothes all year round, but leaves the good ones for the elderly and children.
The surrounding neighbors often praise Lu Yuzhen, in their eyes, Lu Yuzhen supports the old and the young, knows how to run the house, is kind-hearted and does not do bad things.
Up and down, the grandchildren of Yang Mingyun's family are also very filial and polite.
Time flies, and Yang Mingyun is already a centenarian.
One day in 2004, the old man Yang Mingyun accidentally fell in the bathroom, and this fall caused a sharp pain in his heart, and the old man couldn't move on the spot.
Hearing the noise, Yang Mingyun's grandson immediately rushed to the bathroom, followed by his nephews and nephews, who called a car and took him to a nearby hospital.
The hospital diagnosed Yang Mingyun as suffering a leg injury caused by a fall and needed to be hospitalized.
During Yang Mingyun's hospitalization, his nephew-in-law Lu Yuzhen fed him water and food, and took feces and urine.
After hanging the bottle for 6 days, the hospital let Yang Mingyun be discharged. The old man is too old, and this fall is not light, even the doctor thinks that Yang Mingyun may be difficult to walk independently in the future.
However, lying in bed all day long and lacking activity is harmful to health but not beneficial, what can I do? Yang Mingyun also thought about being able to walk around by himself.
So the family looked around for medicine, and later learned from an old Chinese medicine doctor that they could try the massage method.
The nephew then found time to massage Yang Mingyun every day and apply hot compresses for physiotherapy. When the weather is fine, push him outdoors in a wheelchair to bask in the sun, breathe fresh air, and see the scenery.
A few months later, the neighbors saw the old man Yang Mingyun walking tremblingly downstairs in the community on crutches, while his family watched over him inch by the side.
"The old man is recovering well! Take good care of his health!" The neighbors were all happy for the old man when they saw it.
Yang Mingyun pointed to the nephew and nephew next to him, and then smiled and opened his mouth with all his strength and said loudly: "It's the nephew and nephew who take good care of them, and they are closer than their own!"
When the family saw that the old man could move with crutches again, they were all happy for the old man, and health and longevity were the family's greatest wish for the old man Yang Mingyun.
In the hearts of nephews and nephews, the old man is the lucky star of the family, and it is because the old man is alive that the family is more festive during the New Year!
Nephew Lu Yuzhen not only tried her best to take care of Yang Mingyun, but also took care of Yang Mingyun's wife.
Yang Mingyun's wife was unfortunately blind at the age of 60 until he died at the age of 71.
When Yang Mingyun was 90 years old, he occasionally drank a little wine, and the old man loved to eat fruits and vegetables, as well as seafood and meat, and was not picky at all.
However, after turning over 100 years old, Yang Mingyun almost stopped drinking, but his other eating habits did not change much.
In order to take better care of the elderly, her nephew Lu Yuzhen will always change her ways to make delicious meals according to the tastes of the elderly.
Since the old man has already lost all his teeth, Lu Yuzhen will deliberately cook the food more softly, and the old man loves to eat porridge when he is old, Lu Yuzhen will burn some porridge that is conducive to the digestion of the old man's stomach, sometimes pumpkin porridge, sometimes egg porridge, boiled into a paste.
In 2013, Yang Mingyuan was 116 years old, and he had moved into the Jinxiu Community of Yuhuangding Street in Yantai City with his nephews and nephews.
As the nephews and nephews were getting older, the grandchildren joined the ranks of taking care of the grandfather.
Worried that Yang Mingyun would make a mistake when he was old, the family took care of him almost 24 hours a day.
The youngest grandson, Yang Guichun, would come to Yang Mingyun's room every night to sleep with him, and the other children would take turns to take care of Yang Mingyun during the day.
Not only that, during the New Year's holidays, the staff of the community will also come to visit Yang Mingyun.
"The living environment for the elderly is still good," the staff said.
Yang Mingyun's room faces south, the lighting is very good, and there is a large pot of green plants in the room, and the warm sunlight sprinkles on the room, and the whole bedroom looks warm and vibrant.
There is also a magnified photo of the old man hanging on the wall of the room, in which the old man has a kind face, strong spirits, a snow-white beard, and a happy smile.
The staff was still impressed by the scene of visiting the old man in 2000, although the old man was over 100 years old at that time, his body was very strong!
"He was still pushing a bicycle to comment on the book to everyone!" The scene at that time seemed to be vivid, and the staff couldn't believe that Yang Mingyun couldn't read big words, because he told the story vividly and interestingly, and from time to time interspersed with a few sentences of Chinese!
One day in 2013, the staff of Yuhuangding Street, where the community is located, came to visit the elderly as usual, and saw Yang Mingyun sitting on a chair covered with cotton and linen cushions and closing his eyes to recuperate.
"The old man has lost a lot of weight this year. Yang Yuxing said worriedly, "The old man has never taken much medicine in his life, and he has taken all kinds of medicine this year." ”
The staff stepped forward and gently took the old man's hand, "Hello, old man, I came to see you again, do you remember me?"
But the old man remained motionless as if he hadn't heard. The old man's nephew, Yang Yuxing, explained that the old man's hearing is not as good as before, and he needs to speak loudly to hear.
At this time, Yang Yuxing leaned his mouth close to the old man's ear and said loudly: "This is the director who comes to see you every year." The old man nodded, remembering the staff member in front of him.
"How old are you this year?" the staff teased the old man, and the 116-year-old Yang Mingyun opened his mouth and said loudly: "I don't know, I was born in the Guangxu period." It turned out that the old man always remembered that he was born in the Guangxu period.
The old man's nephew Yang Yuxing said with some concern: "Since the old man had an illness during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, his physical condition has been much worse than before", "Two days ago, the old man had diarrhea after eating two spoonfuls of apple puree, and we didn't dare to feed him fruit puree easily in the past two days." ”
Yang Mingyun loves to eat liquid food, especially desserts, he swallows it when it suits his appetite, spit it out if it doesn't suit his appetite, and even spit out medicine, which also makes Yang Yuxing very worried.
Fortunately, the old man's mind is still very clear. Yang Yuxing added.
Throughout the life of the old man, whether it was working as a handyman in the temple in his early years, or coming to Yantai as a porter in order to make a living in his youth, and later entering the flour mill, the old man's life was ordinary and hard, although he did not have a "dazzling" resume, but he was content and happy, and there was no quarrel with the world, which is undoubtedly not a great wisdom of life.
"The old man doesn't like to blush with people", nephew Yang Yuxing was very respectful when he talked about Yang Mingyun. "I didn't quarrel with my co-workers before, I wasn't anxious or annoyed at home, and I didn't argue with my neighbors."
Yang Mingyun in everyone's eyes is always happy when he sees people, as if there is nothing to worry about.
Yang Mingyun not only knows how to be satisfied, but also knows how to repay kindness.
When Yang Mingyun was working as a porter at Yantai Wharf, it was winter, the weather was cold, due to lack of food and clothing, on the way to load and unload goods, he fainted to the ground because of fatigue and hunger and cold, and an unknown worker saw this, helped him back to his residence, poured hot water for him, and cooked for him.
Afterwards, Yang Mingyun was grateful, always kept in touch with the worker, and also helped the worker's family.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, life is getting better and better, Yang Mingyun often feels that he has caught up with the good times, and he should be more happy, how can he have the time and energy to worry about others!
It can be seen that such a good attitude has made him have a lot less troubles, his mood has become better, and his body will naturally be better.
One of the habits of the elderly: he has adhered to the "shaking the mountains and shaking the sea" for a hundred years
When the old man Yang Mingyun was working as a handyman in the temple, he was very curious to see that the monks would sit upright every day, and their whole bodies would keep shaking back and forth, left and right.
"May I ask what kind of kung fu are you practicing?" the young Yang Mingyun couldn't help but be curious, and asked one of the monks.
An old monk asked him if he would like to learn.
Of course Liu Mingyun was willing, so under the teaching of the old monk, Liu Mingyun soon learned, not only that, but the old monk also taught Liu Mingyun acupoint massage, which is said to be able to invigorate blood and clear stasis and soothe muscles and bones.
Since then, he has been practicing for half an hour every morning and evening.
"After practicing, you will feel relaxed and clear-headed. Old man Yang Mingyuan once said.
After practicing the "shaking the mountains and shaking the sea" exercise, the old man Yang Mingyun will still insist on acupoint massage, which he also learned from an old monk in the temple in his early years.
After Yang Mingyun retired from the Yantai Flour Mill in 1957, he had more time to exercise, and the place of exercise was not particular, and he would practice both indoors and outdoors.
In addition to insisting on practicing the "shaking the mountains and shaking the sea", Yang Mingyun also walks every day, especially likes to go to the beach in Yantai, and sometimes climbs the mountain. When he got home, he would do what he could, tell stories to his grandchildren, watch TV, and listen to some programs.
Perhaps it is because of the daily insistence on exercise and acupressure that the elderly can still be deaf, dazzled, and clear in their minds when they are very old.
The second good habit of the elderly: regular work and rest, not picky eater
"I have a very regular life, I get up before dawn every day to move, then eat breakfast and watch the morning news on TV. Yang Yuxing introduced Yang Mingyun's old man's work and rest habits, "After watching the news broadcast at night, I went to sleep, slept for about 8-9 hours, and got up at 5 o'clock in the morning."
After the age of 100, the elderly will add some rest time in the morning and afternoon every day, even if they do not sleep, they will close their eyes and recuperate.
The old man has a good appetite, is not picky eater, loves to eat polished rice and white noodles, and does not mind whole grains, and only eats seven or eight points full each time. A little liquor will be drunk every day, but only for a small cup.
Nephew Yang Yuxing said that after the old man is 100 years old, three meals a day with porridge as the staple food, each time with fresh vegetables, he will eat a small amount of meat dishes every day, especially love to eat fish, sometimes love to eat fatty meat, the old man will eat eggs and drink soy milk at breakfast, and fresh fruits are also loved by the elderly.
Therefore, the old man's spirit has always been good.
On March 17, 2014, 117-year-old Yang Mingyun passed away peacefully at home.
Two days later, a memorial service was held at the funeral home in Zhifu District, Yantai City.
The old man walked very peacefully, and left with a smile. When he was dying, the family stayed by the old man's side, and the old man did not leave any last words or wishes.
After Yang Mingyun passed away, his family hung his laughing photo high on the wall of the living room, and whenever they passed by and saw the photo, they would always feel that Yang Mingyun was still with them.
Yang Mingyun in the photo is like an immortal, infecting his family with his unique spirit, and even those who come here to mourn him.
Surrounded by photographs are certificates and trophies of various "Century Old Persons", "Longevity Stars", and "Birthday Stars", as well as family photos of their families of various ages.
Looking back on the life of Yang Mingyun, the reason why he lived so long is undoubtedly inseparable from a good attitude, daily exercise, regular work and rest, and healthy diet.
Yang Mingyun is an ordinary person, he was not born rich, and he was not even born at the right time, he did the most ordinary work, he worked hard all day but three meals were still unsustainable, he had no children and no daughters, but he gained the filial piety and love of his nephew's family.
Some people say that his longevity is because of good living habits.
Correct and not entirely true. An open-minded and optimistic attitude seems to be a healthy plus.
Yes, no matter what era we live in, in fact, we inevitably have the worries of each era, as the so-called, people have no foresight, there must be near-term worries, the key is to look at it with what kind of attitude to face, is to care or let go, to determine your future direction.
Only health can enrich the length of life and enrich the quality of life.
And self-discipline and perseverance can make bright flowers bloom in the mud......