Thinkers Timeline

Laozi is the name given to the author of the Daodejing, one of the most important books in Chinese thought. The name means 'Old Master'. We do not know if Laozi was a real person. The traditional story says he lived in the 6th century BCE, in the same period as Confucius. He is said to have worked as a keeper of royal records in the Zhou court. When the Zhou kingdom began to fall apart, he decided to leave. At the western gate, a guard asked him to write down his wisdom before he left. The result was the Daodejing, a short book of about 5,000 Chinese characters. Then Laozi rode away on a water buffalo and was never seen again. Most modern scholars think this story is a legend. The book was probably written by several people over time, and the oldest parts may come from the 4th century BCE, not the 6th. The name 'Laozi' may have been a title for a group of teachers rather than one person. But the book itself is real, and it has shaped Chinese culture for more than two thousand years. The Daodejing is the founding text of Daoism (also spelled Taoism). Daoism became one of the three main traditions of Chinese thought, alongside Confucianism and Buddhism. These three shaped China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam for centuries. Daoism is both a philosophy and, later, a religion with temples, priests, and rituals. Laozi himself, real or not, became a god in the religious tradition. Statues of him stand in temples across China and East Asia today.