Interestingly, throughout the ages, there are also some old people who can easily live to be eighty or ninety years old.
According to relevant historical records, in addition to objective reasons such as social stability and economic prosperity, there is also a secret related to these birthday girls, that is, they are familiar with the way of health preservation.
The wind of respecting the elderly advocated by the ancients not only conforms to the idea of "providing for the elderly" in traditional etiquette, but also because the elderly have many life experiences, which can make the younger generation take fewer detours.
Just like in primitive times, before words appeared. Although the old man is no longer engaged in agricultural labor, he will still guide the younger generation to farm.
Because of their rich farming experience, they are a valuable asset of the tribe.
In addition to farming experience, these ancestors have mastered many health secrets after years of practice. For this reason, some health-preserving proverbs have been derived, such as "three dates a day, you will live forever" and "walk a hundred steps after dinner and live to ninety-nine".
Although from a modern point of view, these proverbs are full of feudal backwardness. But there are still many health tips that can stand the test of science. This is the bud and embryonic form of the development of ancient health preservation theory.
Having said that, it was in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that health preservation really became a theory and was generally accepted by the people. In this era of a hundred schools of thought contending and a vast sea of blood, the theory of health preservation has also been formally formed to some extent.
Ancient scholars all had the great ideal of "governing the country by self-cultivation", and at the same time they also firmly believed in the saying "governing the country by governing the body and governing the country by one principle".
Therefore, various schools of thought more or less contain some health preserving ideas. Among them, Taoism and Confucianism have the greatest influence.
Taoism, which arose in the Eastern Han Dynasty, aims at "gaining the Tao and soaring". Although Taoism also advocates Laozi, Taoism and Taoism are two concepts. But Laozi's views and suggestions on health preservation are completely accepted by Taoism.
So what is Laozi's idea of keeping in good health? To sum up, it is four words: indifferent and inaction.
As for the specific explanation, let's see how his favorite disciple Wen Zi explained it. See "Literary and Art Joining Forces and Fang Shu Department": "If you cultivate the spirit above, you will cultivate the shape below. It is also the foundation of health preservation that the spirit is clear and harmonious, and all the joints are peaceful. " It enriches the skin, fills the stomach and stops craving, which is the end point of health care. "
It can be seen that Lao Tzu pays attention to "nourishing the spirit". He doesn't pursue foreign things, and he doesn't want to find any elixir. He believes that only a quiet rest and less selfish desires can make your heart free from external interference and play a role in health preservation. Therefore, some Taoist priests often meditate, which is influenced by this idea.
Unfortunately, Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, although it inherited the Taoist theory of health preservation, combined it with "longevity" at the end of the Warring States period, trying to prolong life through alchemy. Obviously, superstition is inevitable in this way.
Let's talk about the Confucian theory of health preservation first.
Interestingly, although both Confucianism and Taoism advocate joining the WTO and being born, their views on health care are quite consistent. Confucius had two long-cherished wishes in his life, one was to cultivate a gentleman, and the other was to restore the ritual system.
Therefore, Confucian disciples are strict with themselves in daily life and diet. In terms of diet, the Zhou Dynasty set up a "food doctor" to strictly control all kinds of dishes. Therefore, Confucius would say, "I am never tired of eating delicious food, and I am meticulous."
With this foundation, Confucianism is very particular about diet and gradually tends to "abstinence". Dong Zhongshu, a master of Confucianism, once said: "The reason why benevolent people live long is that they have no greed outside, are quiet inside, have peace of mind without losing righteousness, and take the beauty of heaven and earth to keep healthy."
This shows that Confucianism pays attention to health preservation as well as inner peace. And slightly different from Taoism, Confucius also advocates that disciples can strengthen their physique through exercise. Professor Confucius' disciple, the six arts of a gentleman, is the best evidence.
Yan Yuan, a Qing man, said: "Confucius learned to salute, enjoy, shoot and resist, which can strengthen people's bones and muscles, coordinate their qi and blood, and adjust their temperament."
In the formation of China's ancient health theory, besides Taoism and Confucianism, Buddhism also played a great role.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism has spread eastward to Middle Earth. Like Taoism, Zen Buddhism advocates spiritual detachment. In their view, a person's inner health can directly affect his health and longevity.
Because of this, Buddhism advocates giving up "secular desires" and trying to ensure that one's inner emotions are not disturbed by emotions. But in this way, it is somewhat unreasonable.
The "breathing" method pioneered by Zen Buddhism has injected new vitality into the way of keeping in good health.
People often take deep breaths when they are nervous. This habit is influenced to some extent by the Zen way of "turning turbid into clear".
As can be seen from the above, China's main idea of ancient health preservation is actually nothing more than two aspects:
First, cultivate the mind and promote abstinence. A person's mood will greatly affect his physical fitness. Pursuing calmness, inaction and tranquility is conducive to people's better health. Judging from the examples of some sages, almost all of them have good self-restraint, which is the result of years of nourishing qi.
The second is to cultivate self-cultivation and advocate qi and blood. Whether Confucius leads his disciples to cultivate the six arts of gentlemen or Zen, their main purpose is to achieve good health through scientific exercise.
The core of China's health preserving theory is the combination of the above two points, that is, paying attention to holding one's breath and pursuing a healthy lifestyle in daily life.
As can be seen from the above, although the ancient way of keeping in good health has a certain theoretical basis, it still lacks some practical practices. Just like when people are learning a formula, although they know its principle, they don't know how to use it. But the real application of the theory of health preservation to daily life can not be separated from some celebrities in the history of ancient medicine.
The "Five Birds Play" founded by Hua Tuo is a famous fitness method in history.
The description of Hua Tuo in the history books is like this: "Knowing the art of health preservation, you are a hundred years old and strong. At that time, people thought you were a fairy." This shows that Hua Tuo's regimen is transparent.
At that time, Taoism advocated the use of an introduction to relieve the meridians of the whole body by moving joints.
Inspired by the introductory thought, Hua Tuo carefully observed the life postures of five animals: tiger, bear, ape, bird and deer. After constant experiments and revisions, he finally created "Five Birds Play".
Not only that, after years of medical exploration, Hua Tuo also invented a magical prescription, which can play a role in health care and longevity. So, did Hua Tuo's efforts bear fruit?
According to the biography of the reflection of Ji Fang, Hua Tuo passed on the Complete Works of Wu Qin's Plays to his disciple Upp, and then passed on the prescription to another disciple, Fan A, who lived to be over 90 years old, and Fan A lived to be over 100.
Although people's life span is related to physical fitness, these two people can live to 100 years old during the Wei and Jin Dynasties when medical conditions are backward, which shows that Hua Tuo's clever health care means.
Unfortunately, Hua Tuo's medical skill was finally lost. However, Tao Hongjing, a scholar in the Liang Dynasty, once wrote a book "Keeping Healthy and Prolonging Life", which successfully preserved the "Five-Animal Play" and had a far-reaching impact on the later health gymnastics.
After Hua Tuo, another person who played an important role in promoting health care in China was Sun Simiao, the king of medicine. As an expert on longevity, Sun Simiao lived from the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, and even Wei Zhi and others asked him for advice when writing history books.
In Qian Jin Fang Yao, Sun Simiao's idea of keeping in good health was everywhere. It is worthy of recognition that "Qian Jin Fang Yao" also records many traditional health exercises, and the most common fitness methods of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are all involved.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ancient health preservation has made great progress, and there were even more than 100 health preservation works at that time. What is worth mentioning is the theory of warming and reinforcing in Ming Dynasty.
They not only recorded many secret recipes to prolong life, but also advocated that the world should pay attention to the warming of the five internal organs when preserving health. Try to keep the relative balance inside the human body by dieting, refreshing and health care.
Generally speaking, the reason why modern health preservation can be generally accepted by people and widely used in life is actually inseparable from the efforts of these famous medical experts. They are like a kind of bond, which can make the seemingly abstruse and obscure health theory smoothly enter the reality and the daily life of thousands of families.
Through the above interpretation, perhaps many people think that the way to keep in good health is to give priority to "abstinence", and have more fun when you have time. But there is another way for the ancients to keep in good health, which may be beyond your imagination, and that is the combination with traditional music.
Here, we need to add something.
Shortly after the formation of the ancient Confucian theory of health preservation, Huangdi Neijing also appeared. It not only inherits some ancient Confucian health preserving theories, but also provides a new idea for future generations, that is, music health preserving.
"Huangdi Neijing" "Heaven has five tones, man has five internal organs, heaven has six laws, and man has six internal organs. This person corresponds to heaven and earth. " In the eyes of the ancients, human internal organs correspond to the natural laws between heaven and earth. Thus, through the joy of elegance and integrity, it helps people cultivate their inner sentiments and make their spirits happy, which finally conforms to the ancient thought of "the unity of heaven and man".
In other pre-Qin classics, this idea of musical health preservation can also be seen everywhere.
For example, the Book of Rites and the Book of Music record that "musicians are in harmony with heaven and earth", and that music is a necessary means for people to communicate with heaven and earth, and at the same time "saints make merry to cope with heaven".
According to legend, in ancient times, people were very afraid of the unknown natural environment. In order to serve this fear, the Yellow Emperor ordered relevant talents to make all kinds of elegant and upright pleasures based on the sound of nature, to help people adapt to heaven and earth, so as to enter the ideal "harmony between man and nature".
Therefore, Ruan Ji wrote in "On Music": "Musicians make people calm, but they are not tired. Heaven and earth are in harmony, and things are far away, so it is called joy. "
Ruan Ji was a famous figure in Wei and Jin Dynasties and a famous musician in ancient history. Although the original version of Guangling San written by him has been lost, it is still listed as one of the top ten famous songs in China.
Ruan Ji achieved health through music, mainly relying on guqin. "Historical Records of Le Shu" records: "Five tones are harmonized to support everything." It shows that the ancients often achieved the purpose of self-cultivation by playing guqin.
Ouyang Xiu, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, also recalled his own way of keeping in good health by music.
He has a good friend named Sun Daozi, who is good at playing guqin. Ouyang Xiu learned guqin from him because of great pressure. After a period of "music health therapy", Ouyang Xiu's melancholy mentality gradually disappeared.
It can be seen that nowadays we relax ourselves by listening to songs, but in fact our ancestors are still playing with the rest.