On February 14, 2003, Li Chengyu, the 24th generation disciple of the Xuanmen sect in Wudang Mountain, died at the age of 118.
Her life spanned more than a century, and while people lamented Li Chengyu's longevity, they were also full of curiosity about her.
After all, the highest state of cultivating Taoism is immortality and feathering into immortals.
In addition, Li Chengyu also found black hair and new teeth in her later years, which also made the outside world more curious about her story.
So, what kind of legendary life did she have?
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Childhood was miserable and became a child bride
Li Chengyu was born in 1885 in the Guangxu period, her ancestors had been in business for generations, and her family was originally wealthy, but due to changes in the social environment and her grandfather's poor management, the family fell into decline when she came to her father.
But fortunately, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and the family relies on the only remaining shop, and life can be considered passable.
However, as the number of children in the family increased, and the father was often sick, the family's life became difficult.
Later, gradually, the business of the shop could not be done, so he had no choice but to close the store, and the family had no income after losing the shop.
At that time, when the children of poor families could not afford to raise them, they would send their daughters to local large families to be child daughters-in-law.
Li Chengyu was 6 years old at the time and was the eldest in the family, so her father gave her to a local squire surnamed Li as a child daughter-in-law.
On the day of parting, his father took Li Chengyu's hand and said that he could live a good life when he went to the squire's house.
However, in fact, the life of the child daughter-in-law is not easy, except for the housewife who is better to Li Chengyu, everyone else treats her as a subordinate.
Especially the sister-in-law of the long house, because she was jealous of Li Chengyu's deep love for her mother-in-law, and was worried that she would divide the family property after marrying her second brother in the future, so she often bullied her secretly.
not only didn't feed Li Chengyu, but also ordered her to do some heavy work. Usually, as long as the work is not done well or not finished, what awaits Li Chengyu is a beating and scolding, and Li Chengyu's life can be regarded as miserable.
But fortunately, although life is very hard, Li Chengyu is still lucky to grow up. Li Chengyu has grown up, which also means that she has to fulfill her obligations and become her husband's true wife.
When she was 17 years old, Li Chengyu was already very smart, and she was at the age when she should start a family, and she married her husband that year.
After marriage, the two of them lived a good life, although the sister-in-law still targeted her as always, but now with the blessing of her husband, life is a lot better.
However, what people didn't expect was that only three years after marriage, Li Chengyu's body had problems.
At first, everyone thought that she just had a cold, so she had a cough, and the sister-in-law in charge just found a random Lang Zhong to prescribe a few pairs of medicines in order to save money.
But what people didn't expect was that Li Chengyu's condition not only did not improve, but coughed up blood!
Her husband, who was busy with business outside, finally learned the news of Li Chengyu's illness and hurriedly invited a famous local doctor to see her.
After the doctor finished taking the pulse, he shook his head and said, "The second grandmother has tuberculosis in this situation, and according to the current situation, I am afraid that time is running out!"
Tuberculosis is what we now call tuberculosis, and the husband learned that Li Chengyu's condition was caused by untimely treatment, and immediately understood what happened to his wife at home.
That night, he had a quarrel with his eldest brother and sister-in-law, and his mother also hurried out to mediate after learning about the incident, and the sister-in-law said that she would find the best doctor for Li Chengyu to treat the disease.
But in fact, at that time, due to the limited medical conditions, most people who suffered from tuberculosis could only wait quietly to die.
And after Li Chengyu learned that her life was not long, she did not give up hope, thinking that she and the Taoist Zhenwu Patriarch were on the same birthday, and thinking that Wudang Mountain was not far from her, so she thought about going to Wudang Mountain for help.
I asked myself to go down and become a monk
Every day after that, Li Chengyu would go to Wudang Mountain to pray, hoping that the gods in the sky would appear to save her.
Li Chengyu's every move was seen by Zhang Zongshen, a Taoist priest of Wudang Mountain on the side, and he was also moved by Li Chengyu's integrity, so he personally diagnosed and treated her pulse. Unexpectedly, a month later, Li Chengyu, who had little time, was cured.
After learning that his wife had recovered, her husband was ready to take Li Chengyu to live in the city, but he didn't expect to be rejected by her.
"Xianggong, the concubine's body is now in good health, and she relies on the help of real people. Earlier, when the concubine prayed in Wudang Mountain, she made a wish that if the concubine was well, she would become a monk for the rest of her life and devote herself to learning Taoism. ”
"Well, now that you're in good health, you really should thank the real person. In that case, I'm going to set aside a room for you to worship a real person!"
Seeing that her husband didn't understand what she meant, Li Chengyu simply said directly that she was going to Wudang Mountain to become a monk. In order to thank her husband and mother-in-law for taking care of her, she would wait for her husband to divorce and find a bride again before leaving.
Li Chengyu's words shocked a thousand waves, and her husband immediately rejected her request.
Seeing that her husband was unmoved, Li Chengyu could only find her elderly mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law was reluctant to let Li Chengyu, a diligent daughter-in-law, go.
After getting the promise of her mother-in-law, Li Chengyu began to collect school-age girls in the town, and the next day she found her husband with the portrait.
When her husband saw the portrait in her hand, he knew that Li Chengyu was not just talking. In the end, seeing that Li Chengyu had made up his mind, he could only write a letter of resignation and let Li Chengyu leave.
However, when Li Chengyu came to Wudang Mountain as he wished, he found that it was not easy to become a monk here.
Because Li Chengyu was beautiful and plump, no one believed that she really gave up Hongchen to become a monk at that time.
But Li Chengyu doesn't care about the opinions of outsiders, she still does her own thing, she gets up every day before dawn to fetch water and chop wood, and when she waits for morning class, she studies scriptures with the disciples of the Taoist temple, and sleeps in the courtyard of the Taoist temple at night.
A few months have passed, and Li Chengyu has not only not retreated, but has become more and more motivated.
So, Daoist Zhang Zongshen finally decided to accept her as an apprentice, and in order to welcome her into this big family, he also held a special apprenticeship ceremony, and then renamed her "Li Chengyu" according to the genealogy.
"Rejuvenation" Aunt Dao
In this way, Li Chengyu became the 24th generation disciple of the Xuanmen sect of Wudang Mountain. In addition to teaching Li Chengyu Taoism, Master Zhang Zongshen also taught her some methods of health preservation.
The days of cultivation were boring, and her three meals a day were just some corn paste, tofu and some wild vegetables, but Li Chengyu enjoyed it.
After more than 50 years of practicing in Wudang Mountain, Li Chengyu has also witnessed the changes in Chinese society, and gradually, she has reached the age of 80.
But unlike ordinary people in their eighties, Li Chengyu's body is quite tough, and it is not a problem to meditate for half a day in a row.
However, what really makes people feel incredible is not that she is still very strong in her eighties, but that she is actually rejuvenated after being full of silver threads and falling out teeth!
On this day, the disciple who took care of Li Chengyu found that a few black hairs appeared on Daogu's head, and she didn't care about it at first, just thinking that Daogu's hair was not completely white.
However, after a while, the disciple found that the number of black hairs on Li Chengyu's head was increasing, and new teeth had grown in her mouth!
The revival of a body that had already resembled the roots of a withered tree may sound incredible, but it is a real thing.
Soon, the local government and religious management department also noticed Li Chengyu's rejuvenation, so they specially organized and summoned experts and professors from the hospital to go for a physical examination for her.
What people didn't expect was that according to the results of various examinations, Li Chengyu's life characteristics were normal, and there were even several indicators the same as those of young people!
The story of a long-lived Taoist aunt on Wudang Mountain soon spread, and many experts, scholars and people who aspired to longevity came one after another, and came to ask for the secret of longevity.
In this regard, Li Chengyu also unreservedly told everyone the "secret" of his longevity.
Fast forward to 2003, and on the evening of February 13, Li Chengyu seemed to sense that something big was about to happen. So, she called her disciples to freshen up and dress herself, and after packing up everything, she recited and meditated calmly as usual.
"Master, it's so late now, let's rest early!" the disciple felt sorry for Li Chengyu and said with concern.
But Li Chengyu just shook his head lightly and continued to meditate and chant the scriptures.
At this time, there was goose feather snow outside the window, and after Li Chengyu opened his eyes and looked at the disciple in front of him, he closed his eyes forever after leaving only the three words "I will go".
In this way, Li Chengyu, who is already 118 years old, sat on the ground in the early morning of the 14th.
After Li Chengyu's feathering, stories about her continued to circulate, and many people began to study and analyze Li Chengyu's longevity secrets based on some past records. In the end, I really discovered this secret, and that is to be pure and have few desires.
As a Taoist aunt, Li Chengyu has spent most of her life concentrating on cultivating and learning Taoism, and has no desires for all things in the world. In terms of diet, she never wastes a grain of rice and a mouthful of soup, and eats some coarse tea and light rice every day, without heavy appetite.
No distractions and a light diet are the secrets of Li Chengyu's longevity, but unfortunately, even if the outside world already knows this secret, there are very few people who can really treat themselves as strict as Li Chengyu.
We are all part of this red dust, we all have our own desires, and wanting to live long is also a desire. Therefore, even if the secret of longevity has been mastered, there are very few who can really live long.
epilogue
Looking back on Li Chengyu's life, her childhood was full of misfortunes, she was born in the last years of the Qing Dynasty and her family was in a middle-of-the-road business, and she often did not have enough to eat.
When she was 6 years old, in order to support her family, she was sold by her father to a local squire as a child daughter-in-law.
The sister-in-law was jealous that Li Chengyu was appreciated by her mother-in-law, so she changed her ways to make it difficult for her, asking her to do the heaviest work and not giving her enough food.
Fortunately, she finally grew up safely, although she and her husband lived okay after marriage, but her husband was away all the year round, and there were few days to protect her.
The woman in the back house has always had a difficult life, and Li Chengyu, who was originally just a small cold, was dragged alive and became tuberculosis.
Fortunately, in the end, Zhang Daochang was fortunate to save his life. Perhaps because she had experienced life and death, Li Chengyu also saw it after recovering, and she took the initiative to go to court and marry her husband Zhang Luo, which can be regarded as the grace of taking care of her over the years.
After finishing the earthly affairs, Li Chengyu made up his mind to come to Wudang Mountain to become a monk. At the beginning, everyone was not optimistic about her, and even Zhang Daochang was afraid that she was impulsive, so he ignored her.
But Li Chengyu has made up her mind, in order to stay in Wudang Mountain, she sleeps under the eaves at night, and during the day she has to chop wood and carry water, and follow the disciples of the Taoist temple to take classes.
In the end, through her efforts, she touched everyone, and after passing Zhang Daochang's test, she officially became a member of Wudang Mountain.
In the days that followed, she devoted herself to the cultivation of the Dao Fa, so that she had no distractions, and her diet was always kept light and strict, which was the secret of her "rejuvenation".
Resources
Li Chengyu - Douyin Encyclopedia