Zhou Shouyi is a native of Kunshan, Jiangsu. Zhou Shouyi was born in 1264 AD, that is, five years after the reign of Emperor Lizong in the Southern Song Dynasty. Song Lizong, the longest-lived emperor in the Southern Song Dynasty, happened to die in the year when Zhou Shouyi was born.
in p>1276, when Zhou Shouyi was 12 years old, Xiao Zhou witnessed the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty. His hometown, Kunshan, is only less than 2 kilometers away from Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the process of destroying Yuan Xing in the Song Dynasty, there were troops coming and going, and there were also down-and-out nobles passing by his door, but unlike many people who have read books, Zhou Shouyi, who was born in poverty, did not know what it meant to ruin the country.
Zhou Shouyi became a docile subject of the Yuan Dynasty, and spent the whole 92 years of the Yuan Dynasty safely. During this long period of time, Zhou Shouyi lived an unremarkable life, only seeing his parents, brothers, relatives, friends and acquaintances getting old one by one. However, he learned to sing Kunqu Opera only because he was in Kunshan.
in p>1368, the Ming dynasty destroyed the yuan dynasty and restored the Han people to the world. Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of Ming Dynasty, yearned for longevity, and especially liked people who lived long. He admired Zhang Sanfeng, who was also born in the Song Dynasty and lived in the Yuan Dynasty, and became more and more popular in the early years of Ming Dynasty. He had searched for Zhang Sanfeng several times, and wanted to meet a figure like this immortal and be touched by others.
But Zhang Sanfeng refused to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, and refused several times. It was not until Zhu Yuanzhang's death that his son Zhu Di, the Ming emperor, adopted Yao Guangxiao's plan and forced Zhang Zhenren to be born in the name of Wudang Mountain's Taoist view, and finally got what he wanted and met Zhang Sanfeng.
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't see Zhang Sanfeng, so he wanted to settle for the second best and meet other long-lived old people. Therefore, Zhou Shouyi from Kunshan, Jiangsu Province was chosen to go to Nanjing to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Taizu. People over 1 years old had a bumpy journey from Kunshan to Nanjing, but Zhou Shouyi was not tired at all. As soon as he arrived in Nanjing, he went straight to the Golden Temple, without breathing or being sleepy.
Zhou Xuanyong, a native of Kunshan in the Ming Dynasty, described this meeting in his book The Continuation of Jinglin.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to see Zhou Shouyi. He first asked Zhou Shouyi's age. When he learned that Zhou Shouyi was 17 years old, he asked Zhou Laoren the secret of longevity. Zhou Shouyi casually said four words: abstinence from desire.
Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply impressed by what Zhou Shouyi said, but he knew that he could not be abstinent when he thought of his own complicated world in Daming. Zhu Yuanzhang had a cordial conversation with Zhou Shouyi. Zhou Shouyi also sang a Kunqu opera for Zhu Yuanzhang on the spot. Zhu Yuanzhang was also a discerning person. He recognized that this Kunqu opera was lost in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty, and he admired Zhou Shouyi very much.
after the meeting, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a wine banquet for Zhou Shouyi, and also sent someone to send Zhou Shouyi back to his hometown of Kunshan.
in the 13th year of hongwu in Daming, that is, in 138, the old man Zhou Shouyi finished his long life.