In a very short post Ann Althouse of Althouse says

Is he 107 because he stopped having sex when he was 30?

Chan Chi’s wife died in the Japanese invasion. Imagine going 77 years without sex. Few would do it on the hope it would make life last longer. And who even believes that it could? But it’s touching to think of a man who lost his wife and remained faithful to her.

Because it was so short I’ve excerpted the whole post. It originally appeared here.

According to various sources the idea that going without sex extends mens’ life or increases their vitality is widely accepted.

The sociologist’s term for it is “semen conservation” and if you Google for that term you’ll find all kinds of, um, helpful information. (Note: Since I have it at hand I’m relying mainly on Elizabeth Abbott’s A History of Celibacy but numerous other sources confirm the following tidbits.)

Semen conservation is allegedly a central (philosophical) principle in the Hindu tradition. Taoists and Buddhists believe in it too. It’s been documented in various shamanistic traditions in South, Central, and (I believe) North America as well.

Closer to home, late 19th-Century and early 20th Century movements including Muscular Christianity, the Boy Scouts, health food, infant circumcision, and opposition to “self-pollution” were based on the obviously-unfounded but widely held view among British and American doctors that the “loss” of semen during a single act of sex was equal to losing a pint of blood. It was generally believed that sex with one’s wife even twelve times a year was a one-way ticket to insanity and early death. Dr. Kellogg invented corn flakes, and Dr. Graham developed his crackers with the expressed belief that a sufficiently bland diet would preserve and extend men’s lives by curtailing their libidos. And finally, the Victorian euphemism “to spend” was based on the idea that men produced only so much semen in a lifetime and once it was gone so were you.

(It’s also worth pointing out that the stress of semen conservation on men, combined with a general belief that women could have sex with no ill effects, contributed to the upside-down-to-use idea that women were naturally sexually amoral and unchaste while men were the virtuous guardians of sexual restraint. Which is no less stupid than our current Purity-ball mentality that dumps all responsibility for restraint on women.)

The point being that while it seems daft to us (ok, it is daft), the idea that it’s not just moral but health-improving to abstain has been and remains a very popular belief.

Not that such belief takes anything away from Chan Chi’s faithfulness or devotion to his late wife. 77 years is a very long time, and 30 is very young. Dr. Kellogg notwithstanding, most traditions allow a “grace period” during one’s reproductive years. Abstinent or not he certainly could have remarried. That he chose not to is very touching.