The emperor is the person with the highest status in feudal society. Everyone dreams of getting this position. This position has high power, good treatment, freedom, food and beauty, and enjoys the best material life and the most advanced at that time. medical conditions.
Being an emperor is a high-risk profession
Friends who like to watch costume TV dramas may have a doubt as to why the women in the drama can survive from the young ladies who just entered the palace to the queen, and then to the queen. To the Queen Mother, then to the Queen Mother, and most of the emperors died young? Do you think this is a plot deliberately created by the TV series to film the heroine's role? No, that's historically true.
Throughout history, according to statistics, there have been 493 emperors in my country's feudal society, and 206 emperors have clear age records in history books. Their average life span is 39.2 years old. It was simply an untimely death for an emperor. Why did the emperor become a high-risk profession? In addition to being related to the struggle for political power, it is also related to one of their hobbies.
The Emperors’ Ways to Longevity
Nowadays, there are merchants selling various health products, defrauding the elderly of their money under the slogan that the drugs can rejuvenate youth and cure all diseases. Do you think this kind of fake business is a specialty of modern society? There were also people in ancient times, but they had a very lofty-sounding name? Alchemists. They spent their lives pursuing the practice of making the elixir of life and becoming immortals. Apart from the stories of becoming immortals left by their predecessors, those who encouraged them to pursue their dreams continued. And the emperor's high hopes for them.
The first Chinese emperor to pursue immortality was Qin Shihuang, the founder of the feudal monarchy. After his death, he left a "Dan River" in his tomb, which is what we call mercury in our daily lives. . Most of the elixirs prepared by ancient alchemists, especially the so-called elixirs of immortality, contain heavy metal elements mercury and lead. This is because after a person takes a small amount of heavy metal ions, it will make people excited, energetic, swollen, and white and red. It looks like he has rejuvenated himself. Let the emperors believe it,
No matter how wise the emperor is, he can't escape it? The law of true fragrance?
With the lessons learned from Qin Shihuang, it stands to reason that future emperors should avoid taking elixirs. That's right, but the power on the throne is always fascinating. When we are young, we dare to ignore death, but when we reach middle age, we are afraid of death, because by then you have most of what you should have, and the emperor will This is even more true. They are used to living a life above ten thousand people and know nothing about death. They are reluctant to part with this supreme power and want to pursue immortality.
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, is a typical example of this. When he was young, he laughed at the ignorance of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. When he was old, he also became obsessed with the alchemist's skills. Finally, he took Hu Monk Medicine and died. Unable to save for sudden illness? After that, emperors of various dynasties pursued the elixir of life like moths to a flame.
The secret of longevity for Kangxi and Qianlong
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty suffered from smallpox when he was a child. After surviving the disaster, he cherished this hard-won life even more and resolutely resisted the temptation of elixirs. , not only that, his life is also very regular and his diet is restrained. As he said, the elderly should have an indifferent diet, and if they eat a vegetarian diet, they will be less likely to get sick.
In the Qing Dynasty, a large amount of Western science and technology was introduced into China, and Western medical skills were also introduced into the country. Kangxi had two foreign doctors around him. Because Kangxi was exposed to the high technology of the time, he trusted science and was interested in longevity. Immortality is taken lightly. When he was in his fifties, his hair and beard gradually turned white. Some ministers advised him to take medicine to treat it. Kangxi believed that whitening of hair and beard was a normal natural phenomenon and did not require artificial interference. Under this mentality, Kangxi lived to be 69 years old, which was considered the longest among emperors.
But Kangxi's grandson Qianlong lived longer than him and was the longest-lived emperor in China. Qianlong has always admired his grandfather Kangxi. Many of Kangxi's actions during his lifetime were regarded as examples by him. Kangxi did not smoke. As an old smoker, Qianlong also learned from Kangxi's self-discipline and quit smoking under the persuasion of others. Kangxi didn't believe in the alchemists' skills, and Qianlong didn't believe in the alchemists' skills either. Both his grandfather and his grandson lived a long time.
Why is it said that the long life of Kangxi and Qianlong is related to the skills of alchemists? Yongzheng among them is a good example. Compared with Kangxi and Qianlong, Yongzheng's lifespan can be said to have died young. Some experts found that Yongzheng may have died from elixirs, but Yongzheng has always been unwilling to admit that he took elixirs, and his son Qianlong also helped deny it, so we won’t make too many comments.
Birth, old age, illness and death are normal natural phenomena. Things like attaining enlightenment, ascending to heaven, and immortality are all stories made up by alchemists to make money. Otherwise, if this medicine really exists, wouldn’t you be able to take it yourself? Kangxi and Qianlong were able to break the superstition of their predecessors on elixirs and face life and death calmly. This was the secret of their longevity.
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