From Qin Shihuang's sending Xu Fudong to look for the elixir of life, to Yongzheng's sudden death after eating Ziyang Dan medicine, countless tragedies have warned the world that Immortal Technique, who lives forever, does not exist, but there are ways to prolong life.
As a culture, health preservation has a very long history. As early as 1970s and 1980s, medical books and cultural relics unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb and Zhangjiashan Ancient Tomb Group have been able to prove the context and system of TCM health preservation.
At the same time, it also shows that as early as the pre-Qin period, China has conducted a very in-depth and systematic study on pulse science and qigong.
By the Han Dynasty, there had been practical experience and explanatory literature on health-keeping methods such as "indoor technique" and "introductory technique", which fully proved the historical significance of health-keeping as a part of China culture and also confirmed the records of health-keeping methods in many dynasties.
Before the Song Dynasty, keeping in good health was a high-end vocabulary, and the main groups of practice were Taoist alchemists and various official aristocrats.
Until after the Song Dynasty, due to the full development of productive forces and the gradual popularization of movable type printing, health books became a part of the developed commodity economy in the Song Dynasty, which made them have new development and a wider experimental group, thus becoming a popular culture that all walks of life can contact.
In this article, we will objectively look at the way of keeping in good health of the emperors in the Song Dynasty.
Speaking of the Song Dynasty, even keeping in good health can't avoid Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. Since Chen Qiao's mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, has never stopped pursuing longevity.
But for himself, Zhao Kuangyin was broad-minded and open-minded, so he didn't make the move that Qin Shihuang usually sent people to look for the elixir. He just cultivated his sentiment with his hobbies and lived a long life happily.
So what is Song Taizu's hobby? One thing I have to mention is music.
According to the History of Song Dynasty, "(Taizu) had a natural understanding of temperament, and in his later years, he felt that his elegant music was high, so he said,' The scale difference of millet must be considered.' Zhao (concurrently) is from Xi 'an. "
What role does music play in keeping in good health? As we all know, health preservation and prevention are more important than treatment, and it is more important than "no treatment, no treatment". It has a healthy attitude of harmony between man and nature and balance between yin and yang.
Music, on the other hand, is closely related to physical function, spirit and will, which can effectively regulate spirit and calm temperament.
In health care, "Qin, chess, calligraphy and painting" are among them, and "Qin" ranks first. Therefore, from the perspective of cultivation, music can indeed have a very powerful influence on people.
Because the concert promotes the secretion of dopamine in the human brain, makes people feel happy, can relax menstruation, promote blood circulation, and has an auxiliary treatment effect no less than many drugs. Moreover, music can effectively promote human intelligence.
According to modern medical research, even in the process of cancer treatment, music can significantly prolong the life of patients.
Brucia, an American music therapist, explained music therapy as follows in his book The Definition of Music Therapy: "Music therapy is a systematic intervention process.
In this process, the therapist uses various forms of music experience and the therapeutic relationship developed in the course of treatment as the driving force of treatment to help the helped person achieve the health goal. "Therefore, music is an important part of health care.
Music can nourish the heart, cultivate one's morality and be positive. Not only Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, but also his younger brother Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi is more fascinated by music health. He can not only distinguish temperament like his brother, but also make his own musical instruments, such as "nine-stringed piano" and "banjo".
In addition, Song Taizong's ability to compose music is second to none among emperors. On one occasion, An Deyu wrote Ruan Ge with Nine Strings and Five Strings to flatter Zhao Guangyi.
"Xu Xiangzhi" is recorded in this way: "Beggars add 20 silks with their contributions, numbered as Dagong and Wu. Palace string minus 20 silk, the number is small five. Its major chord, one of the lower palace emblems, determines its sound, and its minor chord, one of the upper palace emblems, determines its sound.
Not only that, but there is also a record of Zhao Guangyi's study of Gongdiao, which says: "Taizong loves ten minor tunes in Gongci, which were written by Sui and Ruobi, and their methods of selecting sounds, meanings and fingers are unparalleled in ancient and modern times." Ten officials were ordered to explore different viewpoints and write a poem.
Zhao Guangyi loves ten minor tunes in Gong Diao, so he renamed two of them to make their names more elegant.
At the same time, out of love, he ordered people to write praises for each piece. His obsession with music is the first of the emperors, and it is really a model of nourishing the heart and being positive with music.
Life lies in exercise, which is praised as modern wisdom by countless experts and scholars, and the view that moderate exercise is beneficial to health has been concluded as early as ancient times.
In the pre-Qin period, people would perform "dancing" after work every day to relax their muscles and spirits, and then achieve the effect of expelling diseases.
"Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that "at the beginning of Tao and Tang Dynasties, the yin stagnated and the waterways were blocked, which was impossible. The people are depressed and stagnant, and their bones and muscles can't shrink, so they will come as dances. "
There are various ways to keep healthy through exercise. It is recorded in Bao Puzi that "stretching, leaning, leaning, walking, walking, singing or breathing are all guidance." It can be seen that exercise is still a part of guiding art.
In Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and Song Taizu were very fond of exercise. "History of Song Dynasty" records that "(Taizu) learned to ride and shoot and learn to be a man." And like his eldest brother, "shoot less horses, control strings and arrows, just like when he was in Jinfu fifteen years ago, but he didn't feel weak."
The historical background of this record is 984. At this time, Zhao Guangyi is over 50 years old, but he can control the strings freely at once, and his arm strength is the same as before. Therefore, we can also draw the conclusion that persisting in exercise is of great benefit to health and longevity.
Not only that, riding and shooting, a kind of physical fitness, seems to have been handed down from the Zhao royal family. Even Song Huizong, whose life is debauched and his politics is in a mess, is "happy to ride and shoot, and likes to control strings", and Song Gaozong Zhao Gou is "strong in arm and can fight five battles with one stone".
One stone in ancient times 120 Jin. Although not as good as Zhao Guangyi's feat of opening three stone bows when he was young, opening a bow of 180 kg is by no means an ordinary person. It's all because of persistent exercise.
Of course, the emperors exercised not only horseback riding and archery, but also the most popular sport at that time-Cuju, compared with the level of men's football since the Millennium.
During the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, almost every fan was Messi and Kaka, not to mention the daily exercise could not be separated from the Emperor Cuju.
In this regard, there are many related documents, such as "History of the Song Dynasty", "March Wu Zixu, Prince Hui, Prime Minister Huaihai, Wang and Minister Cuju Daming Hall", and some people are even proud of their superb cuju skills. "Zhang humble, served me with cuju, was careful, and was seen by the next generation."
In addition, polo and other sports were deeply loved by the emperor of the Song Dynasty, so the scope of sports of the emperor of the Song Dynasty was indisputable.
Abstinence for health has existed since ancient times. The ancients believed that excessive sexual life would lead to insufficient kidney qi and insufficient middle qi. Kidney is the foundation of human beings. Without kidney qi, people will die.
Among the emperors of past dynasties, concubinage in groups in three palaces and six courtyards was the basic operation, and what's more, it was notorious as "steaming mother". Therefore, the word "abstinence" seems to have nothing to do with the emperor. However, throughout the history of the Song Dynasty, there was a man who was called "abstinence". Who is this? Song Gaozong, Zhao Gou, too.
Long Zunxu, a scholar in Ming Dynasty, thought in his monograph "Eating Sexy Gentleman's Words" that Song Gaozong's method of longevity was "generosity without desire". What does that mean? Generosity means talent. In other words, Song Gaozong was born with a good constitution. "He is gifted, knowledgeable and knowledgeable. He can read ten lines at a glance, recite thousands of words a day and be strong. He can take dozens of steps with a pair of meters. " This shows that it is naturally thick.
What about lust? In fact, when he was young, Song Gaozong indulged himself, saying, "Kang Wang, angry, lustful as a father, and many maids died." So what makes Song Gaozong abstinence?
"The legacy of the ruling and opposition parties" wrote that "Jin Bing invaded Yangzhou for three years, and when he entered the palace, he was shocked."
Scared to death, Zhao Gou also left the sequela of infertility. It can be seen that Song Gaozong had to abstain from sex. Although the reason is hard to say, it was of great benefit to his later longevity, and directly pushed him to the throne of the third longest-lived emperor in China history and the longest-lived emperor in the Song Dynasty.
The emperor's health care in Song Dynasty should not only cultivate sentiment, but also insist on exercise and temperance. Only by balancing the above three points can we prolong life.
References:
Song Shi
The definition of music therapy
A memoir of Shan Ye in Xuxiang
Legacy of the ruling and opposition parties