Who was Lao Tzu?
“Those who receive their happiness from others may be rich, but those whose contentment is self-willed have inexhaustible wealth.” Lao Tzu Lao Tzu (pronounced “Lao Suh”) lived about 400 B.C.E. and is probably the most widely known of all the Taoist sages. He is the author of the primary Taoist text called the “Tao Te Ching” (pronounced “Dao Deh Jing”). Tao Te Ching translates loosely into English as “the way to virtue book”. Other than the Bible, the Tao Te Ching is the most translated book in the world. In the English language alone there are more than 80 versions. It is commonly said that Lao Tzu was the founder of Taoism, but this isn’t the case. Taoism was a philosophy in ancient Chinese culture for possibly as much as two thousand years before Lao Tzu. Proof of this can be found in the book, “I Ching” (pronounced “e jing”). The I Ching is a system of divination believed to have been developed thousands of years before the Tao Te Ching. In their writings, Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu (pr
Lao-tzu lived twenty-five centuries ago in ancient China. Even though the details of his existence are shrouded in the mist of time, we know with a fair degree of certainty that his name was Li Er. Legend has it that King Wu of Zhou appointed him head librarian of the imperial archives at Luoyang. In this capacity Lao-tzu was able to immerse himself in the study of history, philosophy and literature, gaining wisdom and insights along the way. According to another well known legend, Confucius visited with Lao-tzu and came away in awe of Lao-tzu’s intellect. Confucius recognized in Lao-tzu a deep understanding about the world that was above his own, and went so far as to liken Lao-tzu to the mysterious dragon. Lao-tzu decided to leave civilization behind when the House of Zhao began its decline. He departed Luoyang and headed through the Hangu Pass to some destination beyond the Great Wall. Before leaving the gate at the Great Wall, a guard at the gate asked him to write down his thought
A Quick Introduction The name Lao Tzu (“Old Master”) is sometimes written as Lao-tse. In the more modern Pinyin system, it is written as Laozi. All are equally correct. The name Lao Tzu (“Old Master”) can also be written as Lao-tse, Lao Tsu, Lao-tze, and many other variations, depending on the romanization system used. In the modern Pinyin system, it is written as Laozi.
