Figures of Taoism: Li Zhi 李至

Li Zhi (947~1001) was a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty. His courtesy name was Yanji, and he was from Zhengding (present-day Zhengding County, Hebei Province).

He lost his parents at a young age and was adopted by Li Zhishen, a court eunuch. He studied under Xu Xuan. During the Taiping Xingguo period, he passed the imperial examination and became an official, serving as Jiancheng of the Jiangzuo Supervisor, Tongpan (assistant magistrate) of Ezhou, later as a Hanlin Scholar, and then was appointed as Canzhi Zhengshi (Assistant Administrator of Political Affairs). He concurrently managed the Guozijian (Imperial College) and oversaw the collation and engraving of the annotations to the Seven Classics. He was skilled in writing poems and prose, with elegant and rich diction.

Philosophically, he leaned towards Laozi and Zhuangzi, advocating their ideas of maintaining tranquility, keeping gentleness, knowing when to stop, and seeking retreat. He said: "Action brings regret; how can it compare to being tranquil and not acting? Overly rigid things break; how can it compare to being gentle and not rigid? I have seen those who keep advancing without stopping meet failure, but I have never seen those who retreat and are self-sufficient suffer hardship" (Continued Motto).

He adhered to Laozi's thoughts of "not contending" and "excessive speech leads to exhaustion". He stated: "If you keep your wisdom hidden, no one in the world will contend with you for wisdom; if you are humble and yielding, no one in the world will contend with you for strength. Excessive speech is what Laozi warned against; desiring to be cautious in speech is what Confucius praised" (ibid.). He demanded strict self-discipline and a correct attitude towards one's shortcomings and strengths, saying: "Shortcomings cannot be covered up, for covering them up will make them remain forever; strengths cannot be boasted about, for boasting will make them fade away" (ibid.). He advocated doing good and refraining from evil, and took this as the criterion to distinguish gentlemen from villains: "Doing good puts you in the realm of gentlemen; doing evil plunges you into the territory of villains" (ibid.).