The Secret to Living Past 97? Doctor Gong Tingxian’s Twenty Admonitions for a Long Life: 20 Rules for Health from a Ming Dynasty Imperial Physician

Patient search terms: how to live a long and healthy life / longevity advice from traditional Chinese medicine / Doctor Gong Tingxian Twenty Admonitions / why did the Ming imperial physician live to 97 / health rules for the elderly / how to stay healthy without medicine / how to regulate emotions for health / 20 rules for longevity

Corresponding medical names: longevity and wellness (yang sheng) · regulating the heart-mind and emotions (yang xin) · liver qi constraint (gan qi bu shu) · spleen-stomach weakness · adapting to the four seasons · preserving the essence and spirit

Opening: yesterday was about “taking medicine,” today is about “not taking medicine”

Picking up where yesterday’s Doctor Gong Tingxian series left off. The three formulas from yesterday — Tian Zhen Wan (Heavenly Innocence Pill), Ba Zhen Wine (Eight Treasures Wine) and Yi Shou Bi Tian Gao (Life-Rivaling-Heaven Plaster) — left everyone saying: my goodness, this is far too complicated, too much trouble to make.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Folks, good things are made this way. Do you really think the simple things are better? These medicines go through all kinds of processing and preparation (pao zhi) — the medicinal properties are brought out, the toxicity is suppressed, the side effects are eliminated, and once made into preparations, they do enormous good for the body. So great physicians like Gong Tingxian would spend considerable time making these things. Busy as they were, health came first. When they finished, they kept them in a pouch — when they met the right person they gave some away, and they took a little themselves every day. There are still Chinese medicine doctors who do this today — gathering the ingredients, making plasters and pills, giving them to friends. Not selling, just giving. Wonderful.

So why did Gong Tingxian live to 97 in excellent health? Beyond those secret formulas there is something even more important — his level of understanding was very high. He was extremely particular about wellness, about how to protect your health. That is why his books are full of little verses and admonitions meant to enlighten people. What we are reading today is called the Yan Nian Er Shi Zhen — the Twenty Admonitions for a Long Life. “Zhen” means true words, advice — twenty pieces of advice to make you live long.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: What he says is very interesting. Listen in the morning and see whether it inspires you. Which of these twenty items prolongs life? Let us go through them one by one.

Walk with heaven: follow the four seasons, guard yourself at dawn and dusk

First item: Follow the four seasons, guard yourself at dawn and dusk — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: What does it mean? In the four seasons the body is not the same — the Si Qi Tiao Shen Da Lun (Discourse on Regulating the Spirit According to the Four Seasons) in the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) explains it clearly: in spring things should sprout and rise, in autumn they should harvest and contract, in winter they should seal and store. Following the changes of the seasons requires knowledge — you have to understand it. “Guard yourself at dawn and dusk” means morning and evening are also different — temperatures swing between cool and warm, and you must notice when the wind is strong and when it is weak, and protect yourself according to the climate. Do this, and you can prolong your life.

Second item: Revere the three lights, be wary of thunder and rain — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: What are the three lights? The sun, the moon and the stars. You should treat them with respect. When the sun shines by day, accept its radiance — especially if you are a cold-constitution person: learn to use tian jiu (heaven moxibustion). This is the moxibustion the heavens give you: sun your back until it is warm, and the whole body warms up. Sunlight is the source of life, enormously important. When there is moonlight and starlight, the ancients said you can absorb their essence and cultivate in the moonlight — there is something deeper there, which we will not open up today. In short, the ancients held the three lights in great reverence.

And “be wary of thunder and rain”? The ancients said there are days you should keep away from certain things — for example, on thunderstorm days, do not do moxibustion, and do not conceive a child. This is reverence toward nature. In truth, the qi field around you changes during thunder and rain; rain brings heavy dampness, and if you open your pores at such a time, dampness easily enters and cold-damp attacks you. So there are things to avoid on thunderstorm days. Doctor Zhang Jingyue once spoke of such matters too — we will tell that story when we get to him.

Choose good friends, let go of gain and loss: filiality, selflessness, acceptance, forgetting

Third item: Keep filial and loyal friends, value propriety and righteousness — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The friends you keep are filial to their parents and loyal to their companions, people who live by propriety and honor. With such friends there is no scheming, no idle gossip — what they talk about is upright and proper. Keeping company with friends like this prolongs your life. Do you see? Gong Tingxian is talking about level of being — health is not just about taking medicine. Much of what he says has nothing to do with medicine at all; it is about changing your character and changing your habits. I think this is the ancient Chinese understanding of health, and it is very profound. Many people today shallowly believe health means taking medicine, running everywhere begging famous doctors for formulas — let me tell you: when treating illness, the formula may account for three-tenths; changing your habits and regulating your disposition accounts for seven-tenths. In an acute crisis the medicine must be strong; but for ordinary chronic problems, adjusting your state of mind and your lifestyle matters more.

Fourth item: Benefit others at your own expense — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This one is deeply humble — stay courteous and yielding, love and care for people, often do things for others. Benefit others at your own expense: I am fine, you take a little more, take a bit more — put everyone first, yourself last. Why does this lead to longevity? All the chapters of the Dao De Jing I have lectured on come down to this — when you genuinely wish others well, your state of mind is excellent. This is what they mean by giving roses to others leaves fragrance on your own hands. You help people, they greet you with smiles, and your heart is truly pleased. Look at the old scholars who taught all their lives and educated countless students — when they walk through the school, everyone says “Hello Professor Zhang, hello Professor Wang,” and the joy inside is real. Why do so many old professors at Peking University and Tsinghua live past one hundred? They do not eat health supplements — their state of mind is good, they keep giving, burning like candles. A happy heart prolongs life — that is the true foundation of health.

Fifth item: Meet events as they come; once past, let the heart rest — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When something arrives, I handle it by going along with it, not pushing against it; once it is over, I do not keep thinking about it. Many people lie awake at midnight after something is done, still worrying — “what shall I do?” — no need. Meet events as they come; once past, let the heart rest. Put it down. Long-lived people all have this temperament. This really is a secret of wellness.

Sixth item: Forget comparisons between self and others; do not chase the heat and cold of worldly fame — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: “Forget self and others” — everything is empty; why compete? Let go of comparing and keeping up with the Joneses: so-and-so became a high official, so-and-so became a billionaire — as long as they live well, fine. Just be happy. “Do not chase the heat and cold of worldly fame” means do not run after the “hot topics” — the crowd runs to the doors of the powerful and the rich; do not join that scramble. When we forget self and others, none of it matters — everything is a dream, a bubble, a shadow. Live each day joyfully. If you do not, that inner “fire” smolders in you day after day, and your liver qi gets constrained (gan qi bu shu) — how can that be good?

Seventh item: Speak no reckless words, harbor no reckless thoughts — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Do not talk nonsense from your mouth, do not boast about yourself — this is what Buddhism calls not creating negative karma of speech. Do not let your thoughts run wild — this one is harder. Nonsense speech we generally avoid, but wild thinking happens all the time: I should be like this, my little goal is a hundred million, I must get promoted… all kinds of thoughts come out. Some are legitimate goals, but when the goal grows too big it becomes a delusion. No need — why must it be so? Delusions carry a terrible price. Relax a little. This can prolong life.

Match your strength, follow the clock: this is how you use your body

Eighth item: Do nothing useless; always guard against harm — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Do not do things that benefit no one or hurt people. When something could go either way, and you insist on doing harm — that will not do. “Always guard against harm” — always consider whether people might suffer loss, think of everyone’s interests and protect them. For example, when you see a child walking toward the water’s edge, hurry over and call out: “Little one, don’t go further in, you’ll fall in!” — that is guarding against harm. Such a person has an excellent state of mind, because you help people and they treat you well in return; your mind is relaxed, your qi and blood flow freely. And from the perspective of what we cannot see, heaven is willing to bless a person like this.

Ninth item: Match your actions to your strength; never exhaust yourself — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When you work, walk, or labor, always measure it against your own strength — many people never learn this. Look at how every year people die in marathons. Why? Because they did not match their actions to their strength. “Never exhaust yourself” — do not let your body overwork. Some time ago several doctors wrote on Weibo: a man in his thirties had worked overtime for days; that day was his daughter’s birthday, and he was driving home — on the way he felt something wrong, hurried to the hospital, and by the time he arrived he was gone — cardiovascular disease. His daughter was still saying: “When will Daddy celebrate my birthday with me?” The doctors’ hearts ached to hear it. So do not burn yourself out too hard. Measure yourself: take the tasks you can handle, decline the ones you cannot. Money, more or less, is fine — once your body is hurt, everything is gone. What a pity.

Tenth item: Rest and sleep according to the season; never let the body be worn out — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When you sit to rest or lie down to sleep, follow the rhythms of heaven — do not let your body get overtired. Your daily schedule should correspond to nature. Modern people, with electric lights and phones, often watch short videos and movies at midnight or one in the morning. One year I was in Changsha, and at midnight the streets were densely packed with people — I was curious: what time do these people go to work in the morning? Many friends from the south said: when young, stay up all night and go to work in the morning; now they cannot stay up anymore — do that and you collapse. Staying up late is very bad for the body. In fact, there is a Nobel Prize in Medicine whose recipients proved that sleeping in the daytime and sleeping at night are not the same — hormone secretion differs. Chinese medicine has said this all along; foreigners studied it slowly and confirmed it with hormone research. If you invert it — sleeping by day, excited by night — hormone secretion easily goes abnormal and the body suffers. So rest and sleep according to the season, do not let your body tire — this can prolong life.

Eleventh item: In sorrow and joy, do not let emotion run to extremes — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Do not be wild with joy, do not be sunk in grief — keep your emotions steady. It is real: when some people grieve beyond control, their hair turns white quickly — grief wounds the body terribly. After a family member dies, the body is hurt very badly. I know from my own experience: after my father passed away, I had diarrhea for two months. I knew I should treat it, but at the time I simply did not want to. The heart ached, so let it ache — never mind. So grief truly affects the body. Excessive joy is not good either. A person should have joy and happiness, but calmer is better.

Think it through, sleep soundly: the finer points of emotion and daily rhythm

Twelfth item: Weigh love, hate, gain and loss with righteousness — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Love, hate, gain, loss — the people you love, the people you hate, the smooth stretches, the disasters — you must set them straight with the principle of righteousness and think them through. Sometimes people cannot bear it: “Why is my life so rough?” You have to reason it out: there is always a cause — sometimes it is something I did poorly, sometimes it is forgivable… Many people never straighten out this reasoning and get stuck in the emotions of gain and loss, love and hate. Emotion solves nothing — it only hurts you. Some people genuinely collapse in one swoop: the spirit fails, and of course the body fails too. There is always something — think it through, put it down, then turn around and change it. Do not let emotion wound you.

Thirteenth item: Dress for the weather; do not crave luxury finery — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Wear clothes that match the weather and keep you warm — that is enough. Some people dress carelessly but are the warmest of all. Never chase elegance — many women go out in winter wearing light, thin clothes, “I’m not afraid of the cold” — then of course you get sick. On bitter cold days wearing very thin clothes — that will not do.

Fourteenth item: Keep a regular rhythm in movement and rest; speak with restraint — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Keep your daily routine regular. Some people find a fixed routine boring, but it does you good. Others carouse and stay up late tonight, sleep in hugely tomorrow, stay up late again the day after — people who torment themselves like this never have good health; it drains the body enormously. Regular movement and rest — fixed times every day — no problem. “Speak with restraint” — the character jie means “moderation” — speak in moderation. Do not chat for hours on end; some people talk for several hours straight and get so tired their head spins. Talk a little less.

Fifteenth item: Refine your breathing and keep the spirit calm in the chamber — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Regulating the breath is one of the most important things in wellness — tai chi and standing meditation (zhan zhuang) both emphasize the breath. Getting your breath in order is very important. “Keep the spirit calm in the chamber” (an shen gui fang) is addressed to the gentlemen: when you are in the inner chamber, in the company of the opposite sex, keep your mind settled — do not let the imagination run wild. A settled spirit prolongs life.

Have faith, read good books, do good deeds: cultivating the heart is cultivating health

Sixteenth item: Honor the Lotus; revere the Buddhist and Confucian teachings — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When you have time, cultivate according to Buddhism — “the Lotus” (the Lotus Society) refers to Buddhism; and study Confucius’s Confucian thought with respect. Does this relate to health? I tell you, it genuinely does — this is a very important part of cultivating the heart and nature. Many of the health losses in our lives come from deluded thoughts and reckless actions. If you truly have an important faith, the chances of delusion and recklessness drop sharply: some people run out to play wildly every day and burn themselves out; with faith, you do not run wild like that, and your chances of getting sick fall greatly. Your life becomes quiet, your heart quiet, your food simple — everything is good for health. Yesterday a doctor posted a sigh: a female college student in her twenties had dated seven or eight boyfriends, contracted HPV, and her cervical cancer had already turned malignant — this is what over-indulgent living does. If you live like a puritan, with a calmer heart, your chances of infection fall and your chances of health rise. Even more important is cultivating the mind — some things you truly cannot figure out: “Why is he so well off, why am I so miserable, it enrages me!” Practice a little Buddhism, settle down first, think some things through — it does you good.

Seventeenth item: Delight the heart with poetry and books; refresh the spirit with mountains and forests — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Read good poems often and beautiful books — the heart feels great joy; then go walking in the mountains and forests so your feelings become joyful. When I am in Sanya I especially love watching the distant mountains and the sea — what is the point? It regulates the emotions, makes your heart quiet and your thoughts far-reaching, and gives you a beautiful experience. As the late Master Nan Huaijin said: our heart is only as big as a fist — it cannot hold too much, so you have to clear the bad things out; but the heart is also quite large, it can hold a lot — how? When you see beautiful scenery outside, take it in, absorb the beautiful things into your heart, and let the impression stay — this is good for the body. Reading good poems, good books, looking at mountain and forest scenery — few things in life are finer.

Eighteenth item: Children and grandchildren filial, servants and staff agreeable — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: A good family climate — the children are filial and happy to support you; the household staff and nanny have no conflicts with you and do their work well — the whole household is bathed in harmony, everyone glad to see one another. Liver qi constraint disappears; with the liver qi flowing freely, of course all is well.

Nineteenth item: Body and mind at ease; the four elements at leisure — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Body and mind at ease — nothing too hard, able to relax. Let go of things, and you can prolong life.

Twentieth item: Accumulate good deeds; quietly store up hidden virtue — this can prolong life.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The final item is the finishing touch — try to do good deeds, accumulate the merit of goodness, and quietly store up yin de (hidden virtue): do good without boasting or publicizing it; no one sees it, but the good is stored up for you. Giving roses to others leaves fragrance on your own hands — you are happy, your liver qi flows freely, your qi and blood run smoothly, and your body is well; and there is also the hidden virtue, an invisible fortune that may yet benefit you.

Closing: why did he live to 97? Because he treated wellness as a discipline

Having gone through all twenty items, Doctor Luo Dalun sighs: Gong Tingxian learned a great many of these things — for what purpose? To educate the common people.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Take the Yan Nian Er Shi Zhen and read it; look at it often. Some items you should learn, some you should strive toward — this is the goal of life. If you truly do these things, you will certainly live long — like Gong Tingxian, who made it to 97; if he lived today, I reckon past one hundred without any problem. Conditions back then were nowhere near as good. The man was a true master of wellness: he did not merely write prescriptions and heal the sick — from the angle of cultivating the heart and of daily habits, he said an enormous amount. If these contents were opened up fully, they would all be excellent wellness lessons — every single item, examined closely, holds truth and benefits people. We should study more and strive in this direction.

This is the most valuable part of listening to ancient physicians speak about wellness: the best prescriptions are often not medicines at all — they are those twenty lines of advice.

(Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s lecture series on Doctor Gong Tingxian’s medical cases; the source texts are Shou Shi Bao Yuan [Preserving the Origin of Life], Wan Bing Hui Chun [Myriad Diseases Return to Spring] and other works by Gong Tingxian.)

What to take away: Doctor Gong Tingxian, the Ming dynasty imperial physician known as the “Medical Number One Scholar,” lived to 97 — and most of his longevity secret had nothing to do with herbs. His Yan Nian Er Shi Zhen (Twenty Admonitions for a Long Life) boils down to: follow the four seasons and keep regular hours; respect nature (sun your back as “heaven moxibustion,” avoid moxibustion and conception on thunderstorm days); keep upright friends and a harmonious household; help others at your own expense; meet events as they come and let them go once past; do not compare, do not chase fame, do not speak or think recklessly; match every action to your strength; do not overwork or stay up late (day sleep and night sleep are not the same — a Nobel Prize confirmed it); keep emotions steady (grief truly wounds the body — Doctor Luo himself had two months of diarrhea after his father passed); dress for the weather; keep a regular rhythm and speak with restraint; refine the breath and keep the spirit calm; have faith, read good books, walk in mountains and forests, and quietly accumulate good deeds. The core message: a formula counts for only three-tenths of health — changing your character and habits counts for seven-tenths.