Lao Zi (570 - 490 BC)
Founder of
Daoism |
| Lao Zi birthday is on the 15th day of the Second
Moon of the lunar calendar |
| Lao Zi literally means
'Ancient Child', 'Old philosopher', 'The Old One', or
'Old Master' |
| His birth name was Li Er, surname is Li, 'Er' means
ear |
| His courtesy name was Bo Yang, |
| His posthumous name was Dan |
| The other spellings are: Lao Tzu, Lao Tse, Lao Tze.
|
| He was born in the state of Chu during the Zhou Dynasty |
| Today the area is called Luyi County of Henan
Province |
| He was the keeper of the archives in the Imperial Court |
| Later he was discouraged by the declining situation
within the Zhou Dynasty. He resigned and headed into
hermitage on a cow. at the gate, the keeper recognized
and requested him to write down his wisdom. He wrote the
'Dao De Jing' a philosophy book, consisted of 5000
words, in 81 brief poem form. He left and was never
heard of again. |
'Dao De jing' is literally, 'The Classic Way and
Virtue'. It is also called, 'Discourse of 5000
characters' and 'Laozi'.
|