Laozi (579–500 BCE)
Born 579 BCE, died 500 BCE.
Laozi (variously spelled; , low-TSUH; Chinese: 老子; pinyin: Lǎozǐ) was a legendary Chinese philosopher considered to be the author of the Tao Te Ching (Pinyin: Dào Dé Jīng), one of the foundational texts of Taoism. Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as later inventions and his opus a collaboration of various writers, with the name Laozi, literally meaning 'Old Master', likely intended to portray an archaic anonymity that could converse with Confucianism. Traditional accounts addend him as Li Er, born in the 6th-century BC state of Chu during China's Spring and Autumn period (c. 770 – c. 481 BC). Serving as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng (modern Luoyang), he met and impressed Confucius (c. 551 – c. 479 BC). A central figure in Chinese culture, Laozi is generally considered the founder of Taoism. He was claimed and revered as the ancestor of the Tang dynasty (618–907) and is similarly honored in modern China as the progenitor of the popular surname Li. In some sects of Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religion, it is held that he then became an immortal hermit.
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