LAO
TZU
c. 6th century B.C.
Chinese
philosopher and father of Taoism, whose existence is steeped
in legend and still widely debated.
According to legend, Lao Tzu (roughly "Old Master"
or "Old Sage") worked as an archivist in the Imperial
Court of the Zhou Dynasty, where he met Confucius. When he
was an elderly man, Lao Tzu quit his work and traveled west,
toward what is now Tibet. At the border, a guard named Yin
Xi asked Lao Tzu to record his philosophies in writing before
entering the vast desert beyond. Lao Tzu complied, and the
resulting 5,000 character effort was the Tao Te Ching
(roughly translated, "The Way and Its Virtue").
|
