Lao tzu biography summary page

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  • When did lao tzu die
  • Lao tzu taoism

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    Lao Tzu

    Born: Sixth century b.c.e.
    China
    Died: Sixth century b.c.e.
    China
    Chinese philosopher

    Lao Tzu is believed to have been a Chinese philosopher (a person who seeks to answer questions about humans and their place in the universe) and the accepted author of the Tao te ching, the main text of Taoist thought. He is considered the father of Chinese Taoism (a philosophy that advocates living a simple life).

    Three Lao Tzus

    The main source of information on Lao Tzu's life is a biography written by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (&#x;86 b.c.e.) in his Records of the Historian. By this time a number of traditions or beliefs about the founder of Chinese Taoism were going around, and Ssu-ma Ch'ien himself was unsure of their authenticity. The biography in fact contains an account of not one but three men called Lao Tzu.

    The first Lao Tzu was a man named Li Erh or Li Tan, who came from the village of Ch'üjen in the southern Chinese state of Ch'u. Li Erh served as historia

  • lao tzu biography summary page

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    Laozi

    1. The Laozi Story

    The Shiji (Records of the Historian) by the Han dynasty ( B.C.E.– C.E.) court scribe and historian Sima Qian (ca. –86 B.C.E.) offers a “biography” of Laozi. Its reliability has been questioned, but it provides a point of departure for reconstructing the Laozi story.

    Laozi was a native of Chu, according to the Shiji, a southern state in the Zhou dynasty (see map and discussion in Loewe and Shaughnessy , and ). His surname was Li; his given name was Er, and he was also called Dan.

    Laozi served as a keeper of archival records at the court of Zhou. Confucius (– B.C.E.) had consulted him on certain ritual matters, we are told, and praised him lavishly afterward (Shiji 63). This establishes the traditional claim that Laozi was a senior contemporary of Confucius. A meeting, or meetings, between Confucius and Laozi, identified as “Lao Dan,” is reported also in the Zhuangzi and other early Chinese sources.

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    Laozi

    Semi-legendary Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism

    For the book also known as Laozi, see Tao bladte Ching.

    Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzuamong other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosopher and author of the Tao örtinfusion Ching (Laozi), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the Zhuangzi. The name, literally meaning 'Old Master', was likely intended to portray an archaic anonymity that could converse with Confucianism. Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as later inventions, and his opus a collaboration. Traditional accounts addend him as Li Er, born in the 6th-century&#;BC state of Chu during China's Spring and Autumn period (c.&#;&#;– c.&#;&#;BC). Serving as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng (modern Luoyang), he met and impressed Confucius (c.&#;&#;– c.&#;&#;BC) on one occasion, composing the Tao Te Ching in a single möte before retiring into the western wilderness.

    A huvud figure in Chinese