Lao-tzu Biography

Lao-tzu	Born: 0604-00-00 Died: 0531-00-00 Race: Asian Field: Philosopher, Religion Famous for: Tao Te Ching
Top 100 Influencial People #57 Field: Philosopher

Lao Zi (also spelled Lao Tzu, Lao Tse or Lao Tze in Wade-Giles) lived around the 4th century BC and was a famous philosopher in ancient China.

His life

Not much is known about his life. His name in full was Li Er and his posthumous name was Dan. Born in Ku Prefecture of the state of Chu (today Luyi County; of Henan Province) in the later years of Spring and Autumn Period. Legends said he was born with grey hair.

He was an older contemporary of Confucius and worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou's court. Legends said Confucius intentionally or accidentally met him in Zhou (approx. today Luoyang) where Confucius was going to browse the library scrolls and requested Lao Tse to discuss about rituals and propriety. During the following month of discussion, Confucius actually learns more from Lao zi than from the books.

Afterwards Lao zi resigned from his post as the authority of Zhou's court was diminishing. Nothing was known about him then. Legends said he travelled west into the state of Qin and dwelt far away from China.

Some of the modern standpoints of controversies about his life are:

1. Lao Tse literally means "an old man" so he probably was a fictitious character. Discussion requested by Confucius was probably fabricated by Taoists to make their school of philisophy sounded superior to Confucianism.

2. The actual author(s) of Dao de jing created such a fictitious character so origin of the text would look more mysterious, thus making it easier to popularize.

3. Lao Tse was probably a pseudonym of Dan, Prefect of the Grand Scribes (Tai Shi Dan 太史儋 tai4 shi3 dan4), an old man from Lai (Lao Lai Zi 老萊子 lao3 lai3 zi5) or some actual characters. Note: Lai was a prefecture of the state of Qi (齊 qi2)

His work

His famous work, Dao de jing, has great influences in China. He believed in "Tao" (in pinyin: Dao), which generally means nature. He believed that none of us shall agains the wills of "Tao". He believed that violence shall always be avoided, people shall not try to change this world. Laws are just going to make everything more difficult.

Although Lao Zi does not has the same influence as Confucius in China, he is still respected by the Chinese. He is the only philosopher besides Confucius in China that has been widely known by the Western world.