Misplaced Pages

Laozi: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 03:31, 28 April 2006 edit202.156.6.54 (talk) Rv← Previous edit Revision as of 09:14, 28 April 2006 edit undoMel Etitis (talk | contribs)60,375 editsm Reverted edits by 202.156.6.54 (talk) to last version by Mel EtitisNext edit →
Line 19: Line 19:
|} |}


'''Laozi''' (] 老子, also transliterated as '''Lao Tzu''', '''Lao Tse''', '''Laotze''', and in other ways) is a major figure in ] whose historical existence is debated. According to Chinese tradition, he lived in the ]. Laozi is credited with writing the seminal ] work, the '']'' (道德經), and he is recognized as the founding father of Taoism (道祖). '''Laozi''' (] 老子, also transliterated as '''Lao Tzu''', '''Lao Tse''', '''Laotze''', and in other ways) is a major figure in ] whose historical existence is debated. According to Chinese tradition, he lived in the ]. Many modern scholars would place his life in the ], during the ] and ]s. Laozi is credited with writing the seminal ] work, the '']'' (道德經), and he is recognized as the founding father of Taoism (道祖).


==His life== ==His life==

Revision as of 09:14, 28 April 2006

Laozi's names
Chinese name: 老子
Pinyin: Lǎozǐ
Wade-Giles: Lao Tzu
Other spellings: Lao Tse, Laotse,
Lao Tze, Laotze
Actual name: 李耳, Lǐ Ěr
Courtesy name: 伯陽, Bó Yáng
Posthumous name: 聃, Dān
File:Lao zi.PNG
Laozi leaves China on his water buffalo.

Laozi (Chinese 老子, also transliterated as Lao Tzu, Lao Tse, Laotze, and in other ways) is a major figure in Chinese philosophy whose historical existence is debated. According to Chinese tradition, he lived in the 6th century BCE. Many modern scholars would place his life in the 4th century BCE, during the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Periods. Laozi is credited with writing the seminal Taoist work, the Tao Te Ching (道德經), and he is recognized as the founding father of Taoism (道祖).

His life

Little is known about Laozi's life. His historical existence is strongly debated, as is his authorship of the Tao Te Ching. Laozi has become an important culture hero to subsequent generations of Chinese people. Tradition says he was born in Ku Prefecture (苦縣 Kǔ Xiàn) of the state of Chǔ (楚), which today is Lùyì County (鹿邑) of Henan province, in the later years of Spring and Autumn Period. Some legends say he was born with white hair, having spent eight or eighty years in his mother's womb, which is given as an explanation for his title, which can be both read as "the old master" and "the old child".

According to the tradition, and a biography included in Sima Qian's work, Laozi was an older contemporary of Confucius and worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou Dynasty court. Confucius intentionally or accidentally met him in Zhou, near the location of modern Luoyang, where Confucius was going to browse the library scrolls. According to these stories, Confucius, over the following months, discussed ritual and propriety, cornerstones of Confucianism, with Laozi. The latter strongly opposed what he felt to be hollow practices. Taoist legend claims that these discussions proved more educational for Confucius than the contents of the libraries.

Later, Laozi quit his work, perhaps because the authority of Zhou's court was disappearing. Some accounts claim he travelled west on his water buffalo through the state of Qin and from there disappeared into the vast desert. These accounts have a guard at the western-most gate of the Great Wall convincing Laozi to write down his wisdom before heading out into the desert. Until this time, Laozi had shared his philosophy in spoken words only, as was also the case with Jesus, the Buddha, and Confucius (whose Analects were most likely compiled by disciples). Laozi's response to the soldier's request was the Tao Te Ching. Several scrolls and paintings of Laozi's image exist today, usually depicting him as a balding elderly man with a black or white beard of varying length; he is often shown riding a water buffalo.

Some of the modern controversies concerning Laozi's life include:

  • The discussion with Confucius might have been fabricated by Taoists to make their school of philosophy sound superior to Confucianism.
  • The actual author(s) of the Tao Te Ching might have created a fictitious character so the origin of the text would look more mysterious, thus making it easier to popularize.
  • Arguments have been put forth that "Laozi" was a pseudonym of Dan, Prefect of the Grand Scribes (Tài Shǐ Dàn, 太史儋); or of an old man from Lai, a prefecture in the state of Qí (齊); or of some other historical person.
  • It is also believed that the Tao Te Ching was written also as a guideline for emperors as how they should rule the empire in a more natural way "Ruling by not ruling". This can be found in the numerous referings in the Tao Te Ching which state: "Not exalting men of worth prevents the people from competing" and "Not putting high value on rare goods prevents people from being bandits" and "Human hunger is the result of overtaxation. For this reason, There is hunger".
Laozi, from Myths and Legends of China, 1922 by E. T. C. Werner

Taoism

Laozi's work, the Tao Te Ching, is one of the most significant treatises in Chinese philosophy. It is Laozi's magnum opus, covering many areas of philosophy from individual spirituality and inter-personal dynamics to political techniques.

Laozi developed the concept of "Tao", often translated as "the Way", and widened its meaning to an inherent order or property of the universe: "The way Nature is". He highlighted the concept of wei-wu-wei, or "action through inaction". This does not mean that one should sit around and do nothing, but that one should avoid explicit intentions, strong will, and proactive action; one can reach real efficiency by following the way things spontaneously increase or decrease. Actions taken in accordance with Tao are easier and more productive than actively attempting to counter it. Laozi believed that violence should be avoided when possible, and that military victory was an occasion to mourn the necessity of using force against another living thing, rather than an occasion for triumphant celebrations.

Similar to the counter arguments put foward by Plato in the Republic on various form of government, the Laozi indicated that codified laws and rules result in society becoming more difficult to manage.

As with most other ancient Chinese thinkers, his way of explaining his ideas often uses paradox, analogy, appropriation of ancient sayings, repetition, symmetry, rhyme, and rhythm. The writings attributed to him are poetical and dense. They served as a starting point for cosmological or introspective meditations. Many of the aesthetic theories of Chinese art are widely grounded in his ideas and those of his most famous follower Zhuang Zi.

Some think that the closest parallel to Taoist philosophy in the west is the Traditionalist School, specifically the works of Ananda Coomaraswamy and Rene Guenon.

Influences

Laozi's most famous follower, Zhuang Zi, wrote a book that had a great deal of influence on Chinese Literati, through the ideas of individualism, freedom, carefreeness, and, even if the author never speaks about it, art, which may well be the cornerstone of Chinese aesthetic.

Names

The name "Laozi" is an honorific. Lao (老) means "venerable" or "old". Zi or Tsu (子) translates literally as "boy", but it was also a term for a rank of nobleman equivalent to viscount, as well as a term of respect attached to the names of revered masters. Thus, "Laozi" can be translated roughly as "the old master".

Laozi's personal name may have been Li Er (李耳, Lǐ Ěr or Li Ehr), his courtesy name may have been Boyang (伯陽), and his posthumous name was Dān, (聃) which means "Mysterious".

Laozi is also known as:

  • Elder Dan (老聃)
  • Senior Lord (老君)
    • Senior Lord Li (李老君)
    • Senior Lord Taishang (太上老君 Tàishàng Lǎojūn)
  • Taoist Lord Lao Zi (老子道君)

In the Li Tang Dynasty, in order to create a connection to Laozi as the ancestor of the imperial family, he was given a posthumous name of Emperor Xuanyuan (玄元皇帝), meaning "Profoundly Elementary;" and a temple name of Shengzu (聖祖), meaning "Saintly/Sagely Progenitor".

External links

The Tao Te Ching

Bibliography

Categories: