"The Warring States Policy Chu Ce" records: "The King of Spirit has a small waist, and the Chu people make an appointment to eat, and Feng can stand up and get up. He can eat whatever he wants and endure. " The general idea of this article is: King Chu Ling likes people with thin waists, so taxi drivers in Chu go on a diet in order to have thin waists. As a result, they were so hungry that they had to hold something to stand up. Although they are eager to eat, they would rather starve to death than eat more.
"All Love of Mozi" also said: "The king of Chu is a gentleman with a thin waist, so all the ministers of the king of Chu regard rice as a festival, take it after threatening to rest, and then support the wall, which is darker than the previous year." The same is true: King Chu Ling likes literati to be thin-waisted, so all the courtiers cater to their own interests and only eat one meal a day; In order to make the waistline thinner, we often do the action of tightening the gas first and then tying the belt; I have no strength because I eat less, so I can only stand up against the wall. After a year, the courtiers in the court became yellow and black because of hunger.
King Chu Ling reigned from 540 BC to 529 BC, which shows that Chu people have been dieting and losing weight for more than 2500 years. This is the earliest documented case of dieting and losing weight in the history of China.
The eating behavior of ancient Chu people was mainly to please the king, which was incorrect in purpose and unhealthy in practice. Therefore, many people become weak and qi-deficient because of excessive dieting and hunger, and even many people lose their lives. "Biography of Yan Zi in the Spring and Autumn Period" said: "King Chu Ling has a thin waist, and many people starve to death in his dynasty." The purpose of dieting was originally to lose weight, but the effect it can receive is harmful to the body, which is really regrettable and I didn't know until today.