Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
Extreme Daoist ascetic Jiao Xian lived alone by the Yellow River after Han fell. He stayed naked year-round, slept on bare ground, rarely ate and never spoke. He endured harsh snow unharmed after his hut burned, and lived past a hundred years old.
Kuang Zhang asked Mencius: “Isn’t Chen Zhongzi truly an honest and incorruptible man? He lived in Yuling and once went three days without food – so weak he couldn’t hear or see. There was a plum tree by a well; worms had eaten more than half the fruit. He crawled over, ate a few…