Even in modern times, it is considered a very long life for ordinary people to live to be 100 years old, and there are only a handful of people who can live to be over 100 years old in ancient times. But in ancient times, there was a strange man who lived to be 443 years old. He lived through Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, and Yuan dynasties. He is Chen Jun, who is known as "Vegetable Basket Lord". No one has broken his longevity record so far.
Chen Jun (881-1324 AD), courtesy name Keming, was born in Yongtai, Fujian. According to "Yongtai County Chronicles", Chen Jun was born in Tangquan Village, Yongjia County, Fujian Province (now Tangcheng Village, Wutong Township, Yongtai County). In the Jiazi year of Taiding (1324 A.D.), his life span was as long as 443 years, so he was called "Little Peng Zu".
It is said that when Chen Jun was young, he went to Yongtai to practice medicine and saw the beautiful mountains and rivers in Tangquan Village, so he chose to settle here. Chen Jun is
an upright person, happy to do good things for the village, and is respected by the villagers. He was very simple in life, and his three meals a day were simple tea and light food. In his later years, he was unable to support himself.
Later, as Chen Jun grew older, his muscles gradually atrophied, and his body became smaller and smaller, like a baby, just like the "rejuvenation" in the myth. It is said that when Chen Jun lived to be more than 400 years old, his whole body weight was only Less than five
kilograms. Because Chen Jun was inconvenient to move, all the neighbors made an extra-large vegetable basket out of hemp bamboo to hold the old man, and the supporters took turns to carry him in and out of the house, so the neighbors called him "Vegetable Basket".
People in Tangquan Village were very surprised to see the old man Chen Jun's longevity, and they all regarded him as a treasure in the world, and even regarded him as a god possessed. Normally, the villagers even went to work in the fields, fearing that the old man would be lonely,
so they would like to take the old man to the edge of the field to chat with him while working. However, because his teeth had fallen out and his digestive system had degenerated, he would be given by a villager. The child's women took turns breastfeeding him.
After Chen Jun's death, the neighbors put his bone statue in Tangquan Temple as a memorial, and called it "Little Peng Zu" (it is said that Peng Zu lived more than 800 years old). Chen Jun's life story was engraved on a wooden plaque, which was preserved from the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
But what is the secret of Chen Jun's longevity? Later generations speculate that it may be related to his hot springs. There is a hot spring with excellent water quality at the ruins of Chen Jun’s former residence. spring water and live long.
The Republic of China version of "Yongtai County Chronicles" also records that because Chen Jun is old and has no children, the villagers take turns to support him.
Legend has it that as Chen Jun grew older, his body gradually shrank, and his body became smaller and smaller, "like a child", and his movements were very inconvenient. People made an extra-large vegetable basket with hemp bamboo, put him in the vegetable basket, and picked him to the edge of the field.
That way they can take care of him while doing farm work. Therefore, the story of "Vegetable Basket Man" is circulating in the local area. After Chen Jun passed away, people carved a statue for him, and then put both the remains
and the statue in Tangquan Temple. Today in Tangcheng Village, Wutong Township, Yongtai County, there are still relics of Cailangong, which is hard to distinguish from the real and the fake, which is incredible.
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