Â鶹APP

Laozi 002.jpg Photo by Thanato –

Top 10 Facts about Laozi

He was a famous ancient Chinese Philosopher and writer of his time. He was also known as Lao Tzu, or Lao-Tze. His proper name was Li Er and his courtesy name was Boyang.  However, Laozi itself stands for a Chinese honorific title meaning old or venerable. The honorific title has been romanized in various ways, sometimes leading to confusion. Increasingly common in the 21st century is Laozi, which is based on the Hanyu Pinyin system. From around the 1920s to the 1990s, Lao Tzu was the most common romanization. In the 19th century, the title was usually romanized as Lao-tse. 

He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. He was a semi-legendary figure. In actual fact, he is usually portrayed as a 6th-century BCE contemporary of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn period. Some modern historians consider him to have lived during the Warring States period of the 4th century BCE. He was also a central figure in Chinese culture. He is however, claimed by both the emperors of the Tang dynasty and modern people of the Li surname as a founder of their lineage. Laozi’s work has been embraced by various anti-authoritarian movements, and has had a profound impact on subsequent Chinese philosophers, who have both commended and criticized his work extensively.

1. Interesting Discussion by Scholars about Laozi

Lao Tzu – Project Gutenberg eText 15250.jpg Photo by Unknown author –

In the mid-twentieth century, a consensus emerged among scholars that the historicity of the person known as Laozi is doubtful and that the Tao Te Ching was a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands. The earliest certain reference to the present figure of Laozi is found in the 1st‑century BCE Records of the Grand Historian collected by the historian Sima Qian from earlier accounts. In one account, Laozi was said to be a contemporary of Confucius during the 6th or 5th century BCE. His personal name was Er or Dan. He was an official in the imperial archives and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the west. In another, he was a different contemporary of Confucius titled Lao Laizi and wrote a book in 15 parts. However, it is said that he was the court astrologer Lao Dan who lived during the 4th century BCE reign of the Duke Xian of Qin. The oldest text of the Tao Te Ching so far recovered was part of the Guodian Chu Slips. It was written on bamboo slips, and dates back to the late 4th century BCE.

2. He was a Famous Scholar

Traditional accounts records that he was a scholar who worked as the Keeper of the Archives for the royal court of Zhou. This reportedly allowed him broad access to the works of the Yellow Emperor and other classics of the time. The stories assert that Laozi never opened a formal school but nonetheless attracted a large number of students and loyal disciples. There are many variations of a story retelling his encounter with Confucius, most famously in the Zhuangzi.

3. He was Against Zong’s Exposure of the Dead

The story tells of Zong the Warrior who defeats an enemy and triumphs, and then abandons the corpses of the enemy soldiers to be eaten by vultures. By coincidence Laozi, traveling and teaching the way of the Tao, comes on the scene and is revealed to be the father of Zong, from whom he was separated in childhood. Laozi tells his son that it is better to treat respectfully a beaten enemy, and that the disrespect to their dead would cause his foes to seek revenge. Convinced, Zong orders his soldiers to bury the enemy dead. Funeral mourning is held for the dead of both parties and a lasting peace is made. 

4. He is the Father of the Li Clan

Laozi (9849065883).jpg Photo by Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China –

Many clans of the Li family trace their descent to Laozi, including the emperors of the Tang dynasty. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage. According to the Simpkinses, while majority if not all of these lineages are questionable, they provide a testament to Laozi’s impact on Chinese culture.

5. He was Worshipped as a God

His historic origin has taken on strong religious overtones since the Han dynasty. As Taoism took root, he was worshipped as a god. Belief in the revelation of the Tao from the divine Laozi resulted in the formation of the Way of the Celestial Masters, the first organized religious Taoist sect. In later mature Taoist tradition, he came to be seen as a personification of the Tao. He is said to have undergone numerous transformations and taken on various guises in various incarnations throughout history to initiate the faithful in the Way. Religious Taoism often holds that the “Old Master” did not disappear after writing the Tao Te Ching but rather spent his life traveling and revealing the Tao.

Read more about the history of who God is apart from Laozi here.

6. Myths Around His Birth and Existence

Lao Tze statue, Louguantai Temple.jpg Photo by Jmhullot –

Taoist myths state that he was conceived when his mother gazed upon a falling star. He supposedly remained in her womb for 62 years before being born while his mother was leaning against a plum tree. The Chinese surname Li shares its character with plum. Therefore, he was said to have emerged as a grown man with a full grey beard and long earlobes, both symbols of wisdom and long life. Other myths state that he was reborn 13 times after his first life during the days of Fuxi. In his last incarnation as Laozi, he lived nine hundred and ninety years and spent his life traveling to reveal the Tao.

7. He used Paradox to Express his Ideas

Traditionally, he is regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching, though the identity of its authors or compilers has been debated throughout history. It is one of the most significant treatises in Chinese cosmogony. As with most other ancient Chinese philosophers, he often explains his ideas by way of paradox, analogy, appropriation of ancient sayings, repetition, symmetry, rhyme, and rhythm. In fact, the whole book can be read as an analogy – the ruler is the awareness, or self, in meditation and the myriad creatures or empire is the experience of the body, senses and desires.

Read about other famous people who expressed themselves using paradox or parables here.

8. His Philosophy on Return to Nature

Laozi PKU.JPG Photo by Deliberately –

An example is provided by Livia Kohn provides of how Laozi encouraged a change in approach, or return to nature, rather than action and that technology may bring about a false sense of progress. The answer he provided is not the rejection of technology, but instead seeking the calm state of wu wei, free from desires. This relates to many statements by Laozi encouraging rulers to keep their people in ignorance, or simple-minded. Some scholars insist this explanation ignores the religious context, and others question it as an apologetic of the philosophical coherence of the text. It would not be unusual political advice if he literally intended to tell rulers to keep their people ignorant. However, some terms in the text, such as valley spirit and soui, bear a metaphysical context and cannot be easily reconciled with a purely ethical reading of the work.

9. He is the Founder of Taoism

Laozi is traditionally regarded as the founder of Taoism, intimately connected with the Tao Te Ching and primordial or original Taoism. Popular religious Taoism typically presents the Jade Emperor as the official head deity. Intellectual elite Taoists, such as the Celestial Masters sect, usually present Laozi or Laojun, Lord Lao and the Three Pure Ones at the top of the pantheon of deities. As a religious figure, he is worshipped under the name Supreme Old Lord or Taishang Laojun and as one of the Three Pure Ones.

There is more about Philosopher here.

10. His Philosopy Impact to the Society

Potential officials throughout Chinese history drew on the authority of non-Confucian sages, especially Laozi and Zhuangzi, to deny serving any ruler at any time. Zhuangzi, Laozi’s most famous follower in traditional accounts, had a great deal of influence on Chinese literati and culture. Lao Tsu influenced millions of Chinese people by his psychological understanding. He persuaded people by his inaction and non-speaking. Political theorists influenced by Laozi have advocated humility in leadership and a restrained approach to statecraft, either for ethical and pacifist reasons, or for tactical ends. In a different context, various anti-authoritarian movements have embraced the Laozi teachings on the power of the weak.

He was a proponent of limited government. Left-libertarians in particular have been influenced by Laozi – in his 1937 book Nationalism and Culture, the anarcho-syndicalist writer and activist Rudolf Rocker praised Laozi’s “gentle wisdom” and understanding of the opposition between political power and the cultural activities of the people and community. In his 1910 article for the Encyclopædia Britannica, Peter Kropotkin also noted that Laozi was among the earliest proponents of essentially anarchist concepts. More recently, anarchists such as John P. Clark and Ursula K. Le Guin have written about the conjunction between anarchism and Taoism in various ways, highlighting the teachings of Laozi in particular. In her rendition of the Tao Te Ching, Le Guin writes that Laozi does not see political power as magic. He sees rightful power as earned and wrongful power as usurped. He sees sacrifice of self or others as a corruption of power, and power as available to anyone who follows the Way. No wonder anarchists and Taoists make good friends.

In addition, the right-libertarian economist Murray Rothbard suggested that he was the first libertarian, likening Laozi’s ideas on government to Friedrich Hayek’s theory of spontaneous order. In the same breath, the Cato Institute’s David Boaz includes passages from the Tao Te Ching’ in his 1997 book The Libertarian Reader and noted in an article for the Encyclopædia Britannica that Laozi advocated for rulers to do nothing because without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony. 

Read more about other great Philosophers here.