Pengzu

The Eight-Hundred-Year Man

Legendary long-lived sage of the Shang era, archetype of longevity in Chinese culture.

Pengzu, whose personal name was Jian Keng, was said to have lived eight hundred years across the reigns of Yao, Shang and the Five Emperors. He practiced breath control, ate sparingly and refused the throne that was offered him, choosing stillness over power. In later legend he appears as the ancestor of longevity, and “to live like Pengzu” still means to live very long indeed.