Introduction to Laozi, the Ancestor of Taoism

Laozi (c. 580–500 BCE), styled Boyang and also known as Laodan, was a native of Ku County (present-day Luyi, Zhoukou, Henan). He was a great philosopher and thinker in ancient China and the founder of the Taoist school of thought.

According to legend, Laozi was born with white eyebrows and a white beard, hence he was called "Laozi" (Old Master). Living during the Spring and Autumn Period, he once served as the Curator of the Royal Library (equivalent to the director of a national library) in Luoyi, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. He was erudite and talented; when Confucius traveled around the various states, he went to Luoyi to consult Laozi on rituals.

In his later years, Laozi rode a blue ox westward and wrote the 5,000-character Tao Te Ching at Hangu Pass (located in present-day Lingbao, Henan). In Taoism, Laozi is regarded as the eighteenth incarnation of Taishang Laojun (the Supreme Old Lord).