# Li Qing Yuen - oldest human ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024 "2008-03-28T07:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![human\_extinction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/1 "2008-03-28T07:04:41Z")
I always heard the oldest person lived to around 130 - with the oldest unverified person living to about 150, but I just read that there was a 256 year old man: Li Qing Yuen ([Li Ching-Yuen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Qing_Yuen)). I guess I don’t have a question, but I thought I should post since I had never heard of him - and some of you probably haven’t either. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/2 "2008-03-28T08:28:01Z")
[fixed link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ching-Yuen) He made a living promoting longevity stuff, so he’d want to be his own best advertisement, even if that meant having someone taking over the family business without changing the name. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/3 "2008-03-28T08:32:56Z")
That’s a really fascinating story. I wonder where I can get me some of this “fo-ti-tieng (Gotu Kola)” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/4 "2008-03-28T11:01:59Z")
[QUOTE=Crocodiles And Boulevards] That’s a really fascinating story. I wonder where I can get me some of this “fo-ti-tieng (Gotu Kola)” 😃 [/QUOTE] any chinese grocery that also carries patent meds from china - as for fo ti pills. I love me the tiger balm for aches and pains. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/5 "2008-03-28T12:05:09Z")
Here is a list of people who have been documented to be really old: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest\_validated\_person\_by\_year\_of\_birth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_validated_person_by_year_of_birth) The distribution of ages seems to be heavily concentrated in the 110 to 120 range, with a few outliers. So I have a hard time believing that anyone lived to 150, let alone 250. Seems more likely that the guy is a liar. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/6 "2008-03-28T12:08:52Z")
I’m skeptical. There’s no shortage of reputedly old folks, even in the West. Here’s **Old Parr** , who was painted by Rubens and Van Dyke (and was cited in **Dracula** as proof that a vampire could exist for a long time): [Thomas Parr - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Parr) The Count of **Saint Germain** (and his servant) claimed to be many centuries old (which let Chelsea Quinn Yarbro use him as a vampire character in a gazillion books) > **[Count of St. Germain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St_Germain)** > > The Count of St. Germain or in French Comte de Saint Germain (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French pronunciation: \[kɔ̃t də sɛ̃ ʒɛʁmɛ̃\]; c. 1691 or 1712 – 27 February 1784) was a European adventurer who achieved prominence in European high society of the mid-18th century due to his interest and achievements in science, alchemy, p And, of course, several Biblical patriarchs (Methuselah most famous of them, at 969 years, but included many others whose great ages are not as well-known, including a 930 year old Adam). > **[Methuselah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuselah)** > > Methuselah (US: /məˈθuːzˌlɑː/; Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}מְתוּשֶׁלַח‎ Məṯūšélaḥ, in pausa מְתוּשָׁלַח‎ Məṯū... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/7 "2008-03-28T15:54:19Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] And, of course, several Biblical patriarchs (Methuselah most famous of them, at 969 years, but included many others whose great ages are not as well-known, including a 930 year old Adam). > **[Methuselah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuselah)** > > Methuselah (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}US: /məˈθuːzˌlɑː/; Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"Ezra SIL SR","Ezra SIL","SBL Hebrew","Taamey Frank CLM","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Frank Ruehl CLM","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim C... [/QUOTE] Wiki has a more specific list [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogies_of_Genesis#Genesis_5_numbers) though the surrounding article is not especially well-written. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/8 "2008-03-28T16:21:13Z")
[Interesting article](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E0DE7DF1230E233A2575AC1A9609C946196D6CF&oref=slogin) from NY Times, 1910. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/9 "2008-03-28T17:03:43Z")
The fact that he supposedly lived 130 years more than anyone else, ever, at a time when most didn’t see 50, and was seven feet tall to boot (has anyone that tall lived to see 80?), it seems logical to me. And the description of him in the link is eerily similar to that of Homer in the General Sherman episode- Well, one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/10 "2008-03-28T18:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] The fact that he … was seven feet tall to boot (has anyone that tall lived to see 80?) [/QUOTE] Basketball great [George Mikan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mikan) was 6’10" and died a few weeks short of what would have been his 81st birthday. I’m not aware of anyone who was both taller and older. As for unsubstantiated claims of longevity: Colombian [Javier Pereira](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Pereira) claimed to have been born in 1789, and he lived into the 1950’s (while dates of birth are often understandably obscure, it’s interesting that the date of death is in question for someone who became famous enough to have a postage stamp issued in his honor during his lifetime). In 1956, the Soviet Union issued a stamp honoring [Mahmud Eyvazov,](http://www.azari.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/23_folder/23_articles/23_centenarians.html) who was claimed to have reached the age of 148 at the time. Azerbaijani shepherd [Shirali Muslimov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirali_Mislimov) died in 1973. According to his passport, he was born in 1805. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/11 "2008-03-28T18:11:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Azerbaijani shepherd [Shirali Muslimov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirali_Mislimov) died in 1973. According to his passport, he was born in 1805. [/QUOTE] What on earth would a shepherd in one of the most isolated places on earth need a passport for? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/12 "2008-03-28T18:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] What on earth would a shepherd in one of the most isolated places on earth need a passport for? [/QUOTE] Soviet citizens needed internal passports to travel to other parts of the USSR, so if he ever travelled to, say, Moscow he would need one. Despite the restrictions on foreign travel, (internal) passport ownership was widespread in the USSR. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/13 "2008-03-28T19:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Basketball great [George Mikan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mikan) was 6’10" and died a few weeks short of what would have been his 81st birthday. I’m not aware of anyone who was both taller and older. [/QUOTE] Sorry for the tangent but is being tall bad for your health? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/14 "2008-03-28T19:28:09Z")
Is a small tangent allowed? I see a couple of references in posts here suggesting that a person who was _very_ tall would be less likely to live to a _very_ old age. Is this a thing simply shown by population demographic trends, or is it to do with any “abnormalities” (for want of a less potentially offensive word) that may likely occur in people of unusually tall or unusually small height? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/15 "2008-03-28T19:54:42Z")
Excessive height puts a strain on the body in much the same way as excessive weight does. Think of the arms and legs as levers; it takes more effort to move them the longer they get. Continued strain over many years takes its toll, and explains why few extra-tall people live to advanced ages. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/16 "2008-03-28T23:51:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] In 1956, the Soviet Union issued a stamp honoring [Mahmud Eyvazov,](http://www.azari.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/23_folder/23_articles/23_centenarians.html) who was claimed to have reached the age of 148 at the time. Azerbaijani shepherd [Shirali Muslimov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirali_Mislimov) died in 1973. According to his passport, he was born in 1805. [/QUOTE] If I may be permitted a sidetrack, but hopefully an interesting one, I would like to remind everyone of why we need to be very, very skeptical of any claims of longevity coming from Soviet Russia. In the 1980s the population of Georgia had an offical average life expectancy of around 95. Not only that but the incidence of geriatric diseases was almost non-existent. That sent many experts from around the world scurrying to Geogia to find out why. Geneticists, dieticians, psychologists, oncologists and many experts inother fields all turned up to try to discover the secret of eternal youth. You can still find many of the journal articles published from that time ascribing the longevity and good health to various causes. Then eventually the demographers and statisticians arrived, and they discovered something astounding. Between 1915 and 1945 almost no males had been born. It was truly astounding. The female population distribution was typical of a rural thrid world locale, but for some reason almost no boys had been born for a period of thirty years. And those boys who had been born pre WW1 were routinely living into their second century, as though trying to make up for the lack of births. Then the historians arrived and the secret of yourth became clear: conscription. Rural Geogia was more or less the boondocks in early Soviet territory. Nobody had birth certificates. When the Reed Army conscriptors came to the village any man over 25 became over 45 so he could avoid conscription, and he was issued paperwork showing his newly acquired date of birth. Younger men fled into the hills until they could pass for 45. So until the region became modernised enough after WWII to issue birth certificates for every child there were almost no males officially born. And Those males who had offically been born before WWI were all surviving into their 80s and over half were surving into their 90s because they were all 20-30 years younger than their official age. Similar examples of longevity have occasionally surfaced for other locales such as some of the Mediterranean islands and some of the Japanese occupied islands. When they are examined they all show suspicious population distributions with unusual humps and bumps just as was shown in Georgia. In some of the Japanese islands there is an unusal distribution for both men and women, on other islands only for men, that seemed to defy the idea that it was men trying to avoid conscription. Then a Japanese historian compared the distributions with records of which islands were under the command of governers that “recruited” what were euphemistically termed “comfort women”, ie victims of repeated gang rape by soldiers. Amazingly those islands where young women were rounded up to be gang raped by soldiers showed a distinct lack of women who would have been 16-30 around 1940. So we need to be very careful when looking at examples of longevity. Most importantly we need to have some evidence of age from a time when a person had no interet in lying about their age, and for many parts of the world that is almost impossible to get for most indivdiuals until after WWII. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/17 "2008-03-28T23:51:55Z")
Seems like the chances of a human living past 125 or so is vanishingly small. But “Old Parr” intrigues me-he supposedy know Thomas Jenkins-another famous centernarian plus. I wonder what thw wo old geezers talked about? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/18 "2008-03-29T01:22:59Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] . I wonder what thw wo old geezers talked about? [/QUOTE] The trouble with young people today. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/19 "2008-03-29T01:51:53Z")
This takes us to one of those areas of Wikpedia that foster hours of fascinated clicking on my part. For example, looking on a _photograph_ of [Lemel Cook](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook), the last verifiable survivor of the American Revolution–and who lived to see the end of the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024/20 "2008-03-29T03:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] If I may be permitted a sidetrack… [/QUOTE] And a very interesting one. Something else about those old-timers was their uncanny ability to hold yogurt containers so that the Dannon label was perfectly readable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/li-qing-yuen-oldest-human-ever/443024.md?page=2)