"The light of Taiding, life like Zhang Cang", this is a common phrase praising purple sand tea sets, saying that drinking tea with a good purple sand tea set can be as long as Zhang Cang. The length of Zhang Cang's life span can be seen. So, who is Zhang Cang? And why live so long? According to the Chronicle of History· The Biography of Zhang ChengXiang records that "after Cangzhi was spared, he was old, toothless in his mouth, and he ate milk, and the woman died for milk, and Cang was more than a hundred years old." This means that after Zhang Cang was dismissed from his post as prime minister, although he was already an elderly man without teeth in his mouth, he paid special attention to drinking milk for health, because he had to drink human milk every day, so he hired a woman as his wet nurse, and as a result, he lived for more than a hundred years before he died.
Xiang Zhang Cang
Zhang Cang, a Yangwu man of the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, was a native of present-day Yuanyang County, Henan. He studied under Xun Zi and was a brother in the same disciple as Li Si, Han Fei and others. During the Qin Dynasty, he once served as a royal historian. Liu Bang rebelled, he submitted to Liu Bang, and after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, he successively served as the acting minister and Zhao Xiang. Because of his merits in helping Liu Bang eliminate the rebellion of Zang Di, the King of Yan, he was awarded the title of Marquis of Beiping by Han Gaozu Jin, and later promoted to ji xiang and chief planner. After the death of Emperor Wen of Han, Chen Ping took over the post of chancellor, and Emperor Wen of Han voluntarily retired in the first year of the first year due to different political views. The main protégé was Jia Yi, a native of Luoyang. In fact, Zhang Cang was not only a politician active in the political arena of the late Qin and early Han dynasties, but also a mathematician who made outstanding achievements in almanac in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. He has made outstanding contributions to the development of natural sciences in ancient China.
Zhang Cang studied the Spring and Autumn Zuo Clan Biography from Xunzi. Xian Shi Qin, Ming Xi Tianxia Book Count. Later, after Liu Bang rebelled and Liu Bang pacified the world, zhang Cang was erudite and made great achievements in calendar and arithmetic. He ordered Zhang Cang to "set the constitution", including the "chapter art of the calendar" and the system of weights and measures, and he "made good use of the arithmetic calendar" to live in the xiangfu and be responsible for the financial statistics of the whole country. When Xiao He was a minister, he was responsible for the accounting books presented by the county and the state, and later formulated the legal calendar. Zhang Cang used the "Zhao Yu Calendar" as the Han calendar. In 161 BC, Zhang Cang was over ninety years old and was relieved of his post as chancellor due to old age and illness. Ten years later, he died at the age of one hundred. After his death, he was known as "Marquis Wen". Zhang Cang was proficient in astronomical almanacs, and was an official to the chancellor, who died more than 100 years old, and was a typical representative of the ancient Fushou Shuangquan. Zhang Cang's legendary life experience has been smeared with a thick layer of mystery by history.
Court woman of the Song Dynasty
According to relevant historical records, Zhang Cang was more than eight feet tall and was born with a table of talents. Smart and studious, "omniscient, omniscient". He is particularly good at music, decrees, astronomy, and almanac. He served as a royal historian in charge of the Qin Dynasty. He had a great sense of justice, and when Liu Bang led the anti-Qin rebel army through Wuyang, Zhang Cang took advantage of the situation to join the rebel army. When he went with the army to attack Nanyang, Zhang Cang took matters into his own hands On the day of the execution, Zhang Cang was stripped of his clothes and prostrated on the chopping board naked, seeing that he would become a ghost under the knife. When wang Ling, the superintendent of the beheading officer, saw that Zhang Cang was tall and burly, with fair and moist skin, and was a very rare beautiful man, it was a pity to kill him, so he moved his heart of compassion and decided to leave people under the knife, and immediately reported to Liu Bang and asked for leniency. Liu Bang approved Wang Ling's request, and Zhang Cang was finally pardoned and was able to die. In the future, Zhang Cang handled things cautiously, abided by the law and discipline, and was loyal to his duties. To this end, he was constantly promoted and reused, and eventually became the minister of the Western Han Dynasty.
The life-saving grace of Wang Ling, Zhang Cang had no teeth to forget. Even if he later became a marquis and worshiped him, he has always been "fatherly" Wang Ling and his wife. This is called the Zhi En Tu Bao. Subsequently, Zhang Cang, along with Liu Bang and others, captured Xianyang, marched west into Hanzhong, and attacked Sanqin and other places. When Chen Yu sent troops to drive out Zhang Er, the king of Changshan, Zhang Cang was appointed by Liu Bang as the commander of Changshan County, assisting Han Xin in attacking King Xie of Zhao and capturing Chen Yu. After this battle, he was promoted to the position of acting king Liu Heng's chancellor and guarded the northern border. Soon, he was moved to the position of Zhao Wang Xiang (赵王丞相), and successively assisted Zhang Er and Zhang Ao in ruling the country and the people. Later, due to the needs of border passes, he was reappointed as the acting wang chengxiang. In 202 BC, the Yan king Zang Di plotted a rebellion, Liu Bang led a large army to attack, Zhang Cang led the army to assist in the battle as the acting Wang Chengxiang, and made meritorious contributions many times, which was valued by Liu Bang. The following year, on the reward of merit, Zhang Cang was given the title of Marquis of Beiping and received 1,200 households.
After 200 BC, Zhang Cang participated in the administration of the Han Dynasty's Chancellor's Mansion headed by Xiao He, formulating a set of corresponding systems to bring the new regime into normal operation. Xiao He formulated decrees, Han Xin formulated military law, Shusun Tong determined etiquette, and Zhang Cang presided over the unification of weights and measures procedures and the formulation of calendars with his knowledge. Han inherited the Qin system, because Liu Bang entered Bashang in October that year, so. Zhang Cang adopted the Qin state used the Han calendar. This was the most advanced of the "six calendars" such as the Yellow Emperor calendar, the Huangdi calendar, the Zhao calendar, the Xia calendar, the Yin calendar, the Zhou calendar, and the Lu calendar, which were popular at that time, and were closer to the actual situation of the operation of the celestial signs. As a result, it was practiced for nearly a hundred years, until 104 BC during the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when it was replaced by the more advanced Taichu calendar.
In 196 BC, Yingbu, the king of Huainan, rebelled and was suppressed by Han Gaozu. In order to consolidate Liu's world, Liu Bang made his own son the King of Huainan. Zhang Cang was appointed as the minister of Huainan and handled the military and political affairs of the county. Zhang Cang served as Huainan Xiang for sixteen years. After Empress Lü's death, Zhang Cangguan was promoted to imperial history, entered the central decision-making class of the Han Dynasty, and together with Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, he welcomed Liu Heng as Emperor Wen of Han for four years, and then promoted to the position of chancellor, presiding over the central administrative work of the Han Dynasty for fifteen years, in the late period of Emperor Wen of Han. The period of Emperor Wen of Han and later Emperor Jing was the peak of the Han Dynasty. The economic prosperity has greatly surpassed that of the Warring States period, and history is called "the rule of Wenjing". Zhang Cang not only achieved success in his career, but also achieved a high lifespan, according to the "History · Zhang Cheng Xianglie's biography" (張丞相列傳), "More than a hundred years old and died". How could Zhang Cang achieve a high life expectancy of more than 100 years? According to historical records and analysis of relevant articles, it is mainly due to the following aspects:
Diligent reading, diligent in using the brain in the "Records of History", said: "Cang you are good at reading, omniscient, omniscient, especially the calendar." He studied diligently, was widely involved, and was knowledgeable, proficient in music and astronomical almanacs, which he calculated and formulated in the early years of the Han Dynasty. He was diligent in his use of the brain, and in his later years he continued to write astronomical calendar works. It is precisely because he is tireless, so the brain is more and more flexible, the brain is always not confused, naturally will not suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. A writer once said, "Longevity lies in hard work." This does make a lot of sense, in fact, no long-lived person is a slacker. Although there are many reasons for Zhang Cang's longevity, it cannot be denied that diligence is inseparable from his longevity.
Erudite and versatile, Zhang Cang is proficient in astronomical calendars, but also understands architectural engineering and certain craft techniques, and is very proficient in musical laws. Zhang Cang was good at playing the flute, and his skill was superb, surpassing the level of professionals in the palace at that time. It is precisely because he is versatile and has many interests and hobbies, his spirit also has many aspects of sustenance, life is full, from no emptiness, bitterness, wandering feelings, which is very beneficial to his physical and mental health.
High morality, knowing grace will be repaid Zhang Cang attaches great importance to moral character cultivation, is kind to people everywhere, helpful, and knows that grace must be repaid, and interpersonal relations are very good. For example, Wang Ling is his savior, he has always kept it in mind, and he has "done the mausoleum with his father" all his life, respecting the royal tomb like filial piety to his parents. After Wang Ling's death, he served Wang Ling's wife like a filial piety to his parents. At this time, Zhang Cang was already an official and a minister of the state, but he did not have the slightest arrogance and slackness because of the rise of his official position. Every morning, Zhang Cangbi combed through the whole thing, went to see Madame Wang Ling, asked her to say hello, and after seeing her finish breakfast with his own eyes, he rushed to the imperial court to deal with various administrative affairs. Zhang Cang's noble character has created good conditions for his health and longevity.
Family harmony, filial piety and grandson Zhang Cang respect the old and love the young, and constantly teach by example, which has a great impact on his family, and his descendants are also very filial to him. In his later years, Zhang Cang was old and toothless and unable to chew food, so he hired a hundred women as his nurses for him to drink every day. Human milk is rich in nutrition and comprehensive, which undoubtedly plays a positive role in prolonging Zhang Cang's life. In fact, Zhang Cang's ancestors and fathers were all people who were less than five feet short, and if their ancestors were measured by the scale of the ancient "seven-foot boy", their ancestors were disabled. In order to change the genetic factors of the family, Zhang Cang pays special attention to nutritional health care, he does not drink alcohol, does not eat spicy food, prefers to eat human milk, he likes music, is good at playing the rhythm and singing, he is optimistic and carefree. In the end, his efforts were really realized, not only changing his image, but also benefiting two generations of descendants, his son was eight feet tall, and his grandson was also six feet tall.
In his lifetime, Zhang Cang wrote sixteen articles of "Zhang Cang", proposed and formulated a relatively complete set of theories on degree, quantity, balance and aspect, and directly applied the results of arithmetic research to the national economy and people's livelihood; In terms of the use of calendars, he compared the Yellow Emperor's calendar and other ancient six calendars, advocating the use of the "Huangdi Calendar"; The "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" has been updated and deleted, making it a classic work that has influenced traditional Chinese mathematics for more than 2,000 years, and it can be said that his life is a life of outstanding contributions and a life of brilliant achievements. However, gold has no red gold, no one is perfect, Zhang Cang used so many women's milk to seek his own longevity, which is really a practice that insults and damages women's dignity and rights and interests, so that it has become the biggest flaw and stain in his later years.