Many people think that Peng Zu is just a legendary figure and may not exist, because it is impossible to live to 800 years old, which does not conform to the natural law of physical illness. However, there is indeed a record of Peng Zu in the history books, which is very clear and will not be groundless. In other words, Peng Zu is not fictional. There are three different theories about why he lived to be 800 years old, and the second one is the most reliable.
Statement 1: Peng Zu is proficient in cooking and won the happiness of the Jade Emperor with a bowl of chicken soup. In return, the Jade Emperor gave him a life span of 800 years.
According to A Brief History of Cooking, Peng Zu is known as the originator of the culinary world because of his exquisite cooking skills. His specialty is making chicken soup. One day, Peng Zu went to the forest to play alone, and accidentally found a unique chicken with colorful feathers, which surprised him. It took a lot of effort to finally catch this chicken and stew a pot of delicious chicken soup with exquisite ingredients. It's delicious.
Peng Zu thought that he could never enjoy such delicious chicken soup, so he said to himself, "I really want to dedicate the chicken soup to the Jade Emperor and let his old man try it." As the saying goes, sincerity is the spirit, and the Jade Emperor was moved by his sincerity. After drinking a bowl of chicken soup, he suddenly sighed with emotion: "It's delicious, more than a grade higher than the food in the sky." Instead of being indecent, the Jade Emperor asked Peng Zu to count the hairs plucked from chickens. Peng Zu said there were 800, and the Jade Emperor said, "In this case, you can live to be 800 years old."
Statement 2: Peng Zu is not a person, but an ancient tribe.
More than 4000 years ago, in the Yao and Shun era, there was a place called Guo Peng. Yao sealed Peng Di to a man named Peng Keng, and Peng Keng's descendants addressed him as Peng Zu. Liezi Mo Lifeng wrote: "Peng Zu, the ancestor of Peng surname, was destroyed by Wu Ding, so Peng Zu died in 800 and Guo Peng died in 800." According to this statement, it was not Peng Zu who lived for 800 years, but Guo Peng who lived for 800 years.
Coincidentally, there are similar records in ancient books such as Annals of Bamboo Books and Records of Chu Family. This explains a problem. There is such a person as Peng Zu, but his life span is not as long as the legend, and he may be only a few decades old. Relatively speaking, this statement is extremely reasonable and sounds more reliable.
Statement 3: At that time, the "small flower counting method" was adopted. In fact, Peng Zu only lived 100 years.
Here, I want to explain what the "small flower counting method" is, that is, 60 days is a year, which is very different from the current 365 days. You can keep fit by snapping your fingers. If so, Peng Zu's 800 years old is only equivalent to the modern 130 years old. Although he still has a long life, it is not impossible.
In addition to the above three statements, some people think that Peng Zu really lived 800 years, which depends on his mastery of health preservation. As the pioneer of ancient Taoism, he probably mastered the art of monasticism that ordinary people could not reach, and even learned alchemy. In your opinion, can Peng Zu really live to be 800 years old?