Yang Sen (20 February 1884 – 15 May 1977) was a warlord and general of the Sichuan clique who had a long military career in China. Although he was a provincial warlord, he served Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang (KMT) government, especially during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He also served as governor of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. After the Communists defeated the KMT in the Chinese Civil War, he retreated with the KMT government to Taiwan. He was also known as a Taoist master and had numerous wives, concubines and children. He published a book about the supercentenarian Li Ching-yuen, who supposedly lived 197 or 256 years.

Biography

Meeting Master Li Ching Yuen

General Yang knew the Taoist Master Li Ching-yuen personally and became his disciple, practicing his teaching until the end of his life. In 1927 he invited him to his residence in Wanxian, Sichuan. After his master's death, General Yang wrote the report "A Factual Account of the 250 Year-Old Good-Luck Man.", where he described Li Ching Yuen's appearance: "He has good eyesight and a brisk stride; Li stands seven feet tall, has very long fingernails, and a ruddy complexion." The Tai Chi Chuan Master T. T. Liang (Liang Tung Tsai) learned from General Yang the practice of the "Eight Brocade Qigong". His student Stuart Alve Olson wrote in 2002 the book "Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-Yun", taking General Yang's report as reference.