(Untitled)

[liukaiqin]

Comments

[csn]

I always thought it was pretty amusing that, according to Chinese/Yin-Yang/Daoist theories, sexual activity and exercise both decrease lifespan for men/one's yin, and that the women should always be brought to orgasm, but the man should hold it in most of the time. I guess that makes us more pure or something..

[liukaiqin]

I think technically they feared for their qi (气), which could be sucked from them in all kinds of unexpected and unpleasant ways, contracting their lifespans. At least that's how it was at the time of Qin Shi Huangdi, who allegedly sent boatloads of children to find the mystical mushroom-shaped Floating Islands of Penglai, where their youth and innocence would help them obtain the elixir of longevity from the Immortals. They would then bring it to him and he wouldn't have to die. The kids were never seen again, but the "islands" of Penglai have since been captured on film - they turn out to be some kind of unique coastal mirage phenomenon. We saw a video of them in a lecture, they're really odd.

[csn]

I'm not familiar with Penglai..interesting. You are a treasure boat of odd folklore!