Philosophy in life of lao tzu biography
About the life of lao tzu.
Lao Tzu
Born: Sixth century b.c.e.
China
Died: Sixth century b.c.e.
China
Chinese philosopher
Lao Tzu is believed to have been a Chinese philosopher (a person who seeks to answer questions about humans and their place in the universe) and the accepted author of the Tao te ching, the main text of Taoist thought.
Philosophy in life of lao tzu biography
He is considered the father of Chinese Taoism (a philosophy that advocates living a simple life).
Three Lao Tzus
The main source of information on Lao Tzu's life is a biography written by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145–86 b.c.e.) in his Records of the Historian. By this time a number of traditions or beliefs about the founder of Chinese Taoism were going around, and Ssu-ma Ch'ien himself was unsure of their authenticity.
The biography in fact contains an account of not one but three men called Lao Tzu.
The first Lao Tzu was a man named Li Erh or Li Tan, who came from the village of Ch'üjen in the southern Chinese state of Ch'u. Li Erh served as h