4. In regard to prolongevity, there is a striking con-
trast between China and the West. In ancient Western
civilization, there are religious and magic forms of
prolongevity and examples of natural prolongevity: but
these tendencies remain fragmentary, while in China
they occupy a central position. As Max Weber ob-
served, Taoism for the first time in history fashioned
the vagaries of prolongevity magic and folklore into
a rationalized and disciplined system.
Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Lieh Tzu provided an
intellectual framework for Chinese prolongevity
(350-250 B.C.). First, the tao (the basic natural process)
is a single force. Distinctions between various phe-
nomena remain blurred; this supports “trans-
formation”; a human can change into an immortal
hsien. Second, “naturalistic pantheism” (Needham)
endows every individual with a spark of the divine.
Third, mysticism urges communion with the vivifying
tao. Fourth, “effortless action” conserves vital forces
and bestows remarkable powers over nature. Fifth,
primitivism glorifies primeval sages, immune to aging.
Institutional forms for prolongevitism were contrib-
uted by the Taoist religion (A.D. 184). The priesthood
tried to lead every member into the practice of pro-
longevity techniques—a gigantic health cult. As the
techniques became more complex, the pursuit of im-
mortality became restricted to monasteries. This
breakdown in communication between adept and lay
members caused the decline of religious Taoism. The
adepts underwent a sort of indirect apotheosis (“deliv-
erance of the corpse”); prolongevity techniques change
the body to imperishable substance, and the hsien
abandons the “cocoon.” Another analogy is to the
development of an embryo in the womb.
There were four major physiological techniques for
prolongevity. Respiratory techniques are central be-
cause of the possibility of contact with the heavens.
The long-term goal is to get enough nourishment from
the spirit-like air to dispense with grains, the products
of earth. It was believed the stomach extracts an es-
sence or “breath” from foods, and this food-breath can
be replaced by the more spiritual airbreath. Dietary
techniques are associated with respiratory ones; grains
and many other foods are prohibited. Drama is added
by an enemy inside the vital centers: the “Three
Worms” explain conflicts and dreams. Anoxia is com-
plicated by malnutrition, and it is necessary to use
hsien medicines. The adept tries to ingest substances
richest in
tao-like essence. Taoist gymnastics definitely
influenced Western medicine. Taoist purposes of the
exercises are to aid the circulation of the breath and
“essence” (repiratory and sexual techniques).
Taoists encoraged controlled sexual activity to in-
crease yet conserve the ching, identified with semen
and menstruum but ethereal. Observing that these
become scanty in the aged, Taoists assumed that reten-
tion of the ching is revivifying. It is necessary to bring
many partners to orgasm, while the adept himself
“returns the ching to the brain” (manually blocking
the urethra). Despite the secular semblance of such
techniques, adepts usually were religious and believed
material transformation must be accompanied by moral
and spiritual improvement.
Historians are coming to recognize the significance
of Chinese contributions to Western science and tech-
nology, and these achievements owe much to Taoism
motivated by the desire for prolongevity.
