Peng Zu is the longest-lived person in ancient times, often referred to as the ancestor of China's traditional health culture and the king of longevity. He lived for more than eight hundred years and was a veritable "birthday star".
Sage Kong said in the Analects: "Speaking but not doing, believing is good and ancient, stealing is better than my old Peng." Confucius used Pengzu as a metaphor, saying that he preached the way of the sages without acting in vain, believing in and liking ancient culture, which also reflected Confucius's admiration for Pengzu.
Liezi, a representative figure of Taoism, said in the Liezi, "Pengzu's wisdom is not above Yao Shun, but eight hundred years old." ”
The patriotic poet Qu Zhi of the Chu State mentioned Peng Zu's art of food therapy, saying in the Chu Ci, "Peng Hao, Emperor He Fei? How long will it be?" Qu Yuan praised Peng Zu's cooking and health skills here.
China's first general history of the Chronicle of History, in the "History of History. The Chu Shijia records: "Peng Zushi, Yin Shi tasted Hou Bo, and Yin Destroyed Peng Zu In the Last Days." In addition, there is also a record of the State of Great Peng in the "Records of History", which says that Peng Zu himself was enfeoffed by Emperor Yao in the area of present-day Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and established the State of Great Peng.
And in the Book of Han. The GuRen Table says, "Concubine Lu, who gave birth to six sons: one kunwu, two samhu, and three pengzu..." It can be seen that Pengzu had six brothers, and he ranked third.
The life of Pengzu
Pengzu's surname was 篯 (pronounced Jian), because he was later enfeoffed with the title of Great Peng Guo (in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province), also known as Peng Hao, and was often revered by the world as Peng Zu. He was the eighth descendant of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan clan and the grandson of the Gaoyang clan. Peng Zu lived through the Yao, Shun, Xia, Shang and other dynasties until the time of the Shang Feng King, and died at the age of more than eight hundred years, which is a very incredible thing for ordinary people; another theory is that because the Great Peng Kingdom lasted for about eight hundred years, people believe that Peng Zu lived for more than eight hundred years.
Legend has it that Peng Zu was born in the era of Emperor Yao, whose father was named Lu Zhong and whose mother was a female clam of the Ghost Fang Kingdom. She was three years pregnant before she gave birth to Pengzu from under duress on June 6.
Peng Zu has been idyllic since childhood, not interested in worldly fame and fortune, but he specializes in various Taoist techniques. Another of PengZu's skills is his proficiency in cooking, especially in the preparation of delicious "pheasant soup", that is, pheasant soup. Later, Peng Zu offered the elaborate pheasant soup to Emperor Yao for consumption, and Emperor Yao greatly appreciated it, so he enfeoffed Peng Zu in the State of Dapeng, which is today xuzhou city in Jiangsu Province. Pengzu's name comes from the great Peng state he was enthroned, and Xuzhou is still known as "Pengcheng".
In the era of Emperor Shun, Peng Zu abandoned the official and returned home, studied under Yin Shouzi, and learned various Taoist techniques. After attaining enlightenment, Peng Zu and his two sons Peng Wu and Peng Yi lived in seclusion in the Wuyi Mountains, and the name of Wuyi Mountain came from this. Peng Zu sometimes traveled around, never rode a horse, did not bring food, and traveled for as little as tens of days to many years. It is difficult for ordinary people to know pengzu's whereabouts.
Later, in the era of the Shang Dynasty, Peng Zu was more than eight hundred years old (one said seven hundred and sixty-seven years old), but Peng Zu still could not see the appearance of aging, his ears were not deaf, his eyes were not flowered, his back was not bent, and his waist and legs were not painful. At this time, Peng Zu had already married forty-nine wives and fifty-four sons, all of whom had died of old age. The King of Shang had long admired Pengzu's great name, so he wanted to invite him to be a doctor in the court. After several pleadings from the King of Shang, Peng Zu could not refuse and had to come to the court. Unexpectedly, Peng Zu often used illness as an excuse to not go to the court, did not listen to the government, and did not participate in any secular affairs. There was no way to do anything about this, and could only pretend not to know about Peng Zu's behavior. Later, Peng Zu resigned from the government and traveled, and no one ever saw him again.
Pengzu Health Care Review
In the long history of the development of Chinese civilization for thousands of years, there are countless ways to maintain health in traditional Chinese medicine. Peng Zu not only created a variety of methods, but also put them into practice, becoming the most famous ancestor of longevity in the history of Chinese culture, and later his disciples compiled Peng Zu's various health care techniques into a health care masterpiece "Peng Zu Health Sutra" (which has been lost). Fundamentally, Pengzu's various health care techniques such as guidance, adjustment, diet therapy, and intra-room surgery are all common Taoist techniques for traditional health maintenance, and they can regulate people's physical and mental health from different aspects.
Pengzu's health care techniques mainly have the following characteristics:
First, exercise is the foundation of longevity. Now we all know the truth that "life lies in movement", which is the conclusion we have reached using modern scientific and technological research. Peng Zu understood the truth thousands of years ago and applied it to health maintenance, which played a very good effect. Peng Zu attaches great importance to the relatively gentle guidance technique. Such as getting up every morning and sitting on the back, rubbing the eyes, rubbing the noodles, tongue against the palate, swallowing jin, meaning to keep the dantian, deep breathing, bear shaking bird stretch, luck work and so on.
Second, cultivating the mind is better than cultivating the body. Peng Zu agreed with the Taoist practice of later generations, believing that maintaining a quiet and peaceful mood was conducive to longevity. Peng Zu himself never considered the gain or loss of reputation, did not seek fame and fortune, and did not seek material enjoyment. Although Peng Zu also served as an official for a short time, he soon abandoned the official Yunyou and went. And once you get money, you often use it to help the poor, never enjoying it yourself.
Third, maintain good living habits. Peng Zu himself attaches great importance to conforming to the principles of nature and respecting the way of the unity of heaven and man. In the winter, pay attention to the cultivation of warmth, and in the summer, calm down and cool, so that your body and the natural world are always "in sync".
Fourth, do not indulge in lust, nor abstain from lust. After all, people are not gods, people will always have certain desires to live in the world, and this is what "eating men and women" says. Unlike the strictly ascetic Taoist schools such as Quanzhen Taoism, Peng Zu believed that practice should go with nature and follow the principles of nature in order to achieve the goal of longevity.
Fifth, Peng Zu believes that life itself is a process of health care. It is often not easy to adhere to the "health" of taking some time. In daily life, living, sitting and lying down are the best moments for health care. There is no deliberate health maintenance, but it is always healthy, which is the highest state of health care and the secret of Peng Zu's longevity.