Weibo recommendation | Today's Weibo hotspot (Editor: SN010) Share to: Welcome to post comments I want to comment ● They pledged their marriage when they were infants, never interacting before their wedding day. ● After nearly ninety years of marriage, they might be the longest-living couple in the world currently. Not long ago, the World Kim Clan General Association headquartered in Hong Kong specially went up the mountain to visit and console the two elder centenarians, Mr. Jin Jifen and his spouse. The representatives of the clan association also brought a message from the outside world: On January 6 this year, a British couple celebrated their 87th wedding anniversary, with the husband being 105 years old and the wife 99 years old. They planned to apply for the Guinness World Records as "the longest-married couple still alive in the world." The grandchildren of Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen, along with the villagers, all expressed disagreement upon hearing this news. Tang Lujun said that both Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen are several years older than the foreign couple, and according to Mrs. Jin's account of her age at the time of her marriage, their marriage duration has approached 90 years, which is rare in the world.
The "carrying strap" relationship sealed a hundred-year vow.
"When we got married, he used a four-person sedan chair to bring me home. The dowry was just a few new clothes and two pairs of silver bracelets. My family provided two cabinets, a table, and four stools as my trousseau," Mrs. Jin Jifen recalled these past events with great interest. She said the bracelets were made of fake silver because after taking charge of the household, she had to work on the farm, and wearing bracelets was inconvenient, so she never wore them again. "Our family was poor and couldn't afford real ones, but I don't blame him." The old lady laughed heartily. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a period when there wasn't enough grain to eat, so the couple had to dig up wild vegetables and tree roots to fill their stomachs. Although life was hard when they were young, the whole family worked hard and never complained.
As twilight fell, Mr. Yang Shengzhong's family warmly invited the guests to stay for dinner. Yang Zailin served a steaming pot of homemade chicken stew on the hearth, filling the house with its aroma. Four generations gathered around the warm stove for an early reunion dinner. The two elders had excellent appetites; Mr. Yang Shengzhong quickly finished a bowl of rice while watching everyone else eat. His daughter-in-law had cooked the rice very soft, and Mrs. Jin Jifen leisurely ate two bowls of rice mixed with chili, followed by a bowl of chicken soup.
Written and photographed by Wang Manqi of the Yangcheng Evening News, with contributions from Jin Liming.
From their appearance, it's not easy to guess the actual ages of this elderly couple. According to their household registration booklets, Mr. Yang Shengzhong was born in December 1902, making him 109 years old this year, and Mrs. Jin Jifen was born in September 1905, making her 106 years old. Together, their combined age is 215 years. The couple, Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen, once had two sons and four daughters. Their eldest son passed away early, and their youngest son, Yang Xiuli, is 61 years old and lives with the elderly couple to take care of them. Their youngest daughter is married far away in Hebei Province. In total, this couple has 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
It was reported that not long ago, the Chinese Society of Gerontology officially recognized Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen as the oldest living centenarian couple in China.
On January 20, in drizzling spring rain, a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News set out from Duyun City in the Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou Province and drove over a hundred kilometers to visit the centenarian couple in Dangzhen Village, Tongzhou Town, Pingtang County. The journey involved winding mountain roads and steep muddy paths, taking over four hours to finally reach the home of the centenarian couple, Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen, where they enjoyed the New Year’s Eve dinner together.
Mr. Yang Shengzhong is well-tempered and famous in the village for it. Party Secretary Tang Lujun of Dangzhen Village said that other couples in the village argue or even fight, but this old couple has never been angry or quarreled. When asked if they still bicker now, Mrs. Jin Jifen laughed heartily again: "He can't hear clearly now and can't see well, how could we possibly argue?" As everyone chatted and laughed, Mr. Yang Shengzhong sat quietly aside, looking at his wife with a peaceful and loving gaze.
The centenarian couple deep in the mountains
Mr. Yang Shengzhong and Mrs. Jin Jifen's marriage can be said to have lasted a hundred years. According to Mrs. Jin Jifen's recollection, when they were both infants, their parents arranged their "carrying strap" marriage (local slang, also known as 'childhood betrothal') through a matchmaker. It wasn't until Mrs. Jin Jifen was 17 years old that she married Mr. Yang Shengzhong, who was three years older, as per the agreement. They had never interacted before their wedding. However, Mrs. Jin Jifen revealed a secret she had kept for decades: Before the wedding, Mr. Yang Shengzhong often helped her family with farm work to impress his future in-laws, while the young Miss Jin Jifen would shyly run away.
The "secret" to the longevity of Mr. Yang and Mrs. Jin lies more in their mindset: They have lived through various eras since the late Qing Dynasty but have spent their entire lives deep in the mountains, almost isolated from the world. Regardless of war or turmoil, they have remained unaffected, leading a simple, contented life without desires.
Mr. Yang Shengzhong is tall and has always been physically strong, never suffering from any serious illness. Occasionally catching a cold, he would take some cold medicine or drink a few sips of liquor to recover. Only in recent years have his eyesight and hearing begun to decline. On the other hand, Mrs. Jin Jifen is very talkative, with sharp hearing and clear thinking. When something amuses her, the old lady laughs heartily despite having no teeth left.
● Talking about the secret to longevity is simple: live to work, be content.
Many people ask the centenarian couple what their secret to longevity is, and they always answer in the plain language of rural folk, such as "work every day", "a harmonious family", "face difficulties with a broad mind", "be satisfied", etc. In recent years, Mr. Yang Shengzhong's mobility has become somewhat inconvenient, but he can still walk independently with a cane. Mrs. Jin Jifen gets up early in the morning to wash rice, cook, pick vegetables, feed pigs, and sweep the floor, keeping busy all day. "As long as you're alive, you must work; if you don't work, you can't survive," Mrs. Jin Jifen believes.
China's current longest-living centenarian couple
Living simply is happiness.