Laozi Bianhua Jing Scripture of Laozi's Transformations 老子变化经

The author is unknown.

Its writing is archaic and simple, seemingly compiled in the late Han Dynasty.

It was not included in the Zhengtong Daozang (Orthodox Taoist Canon).

An existing incomplete Dunhuang manuscript (S2259) preserves 95 lines of the text. According to the colophon at the end of the scroll, this manuscript was transcribed by the scribe Wang Chou in the 8th year of Daye reign period of the Sui Dynasty (612). The scripture mainly narrates the stories of Laozi’s transformations. It proclaims that Laozi existed in ancient times, prior to the formation of heaven and earth; he transformed his divine form, entrusted his physical body to Mother Li, remained in her womb for seventy-two years, and was then born in the State of Chu. Laozi was born with extraordinary physical features: "His face bears the Three-Five cosmic principles, the corners of his forehead resemble the sun and moon hanging high, his nose has two protruding pillars, his ears have two openings, his feet tread on two rams, and his hands hold the celestial gate". 

It further asserts that Laozi "rises and falls with the trends of the times; in retirement, he nurtures his essence, and in office, he serves as the teacher of emperors". From the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors down to the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Chu, Qin and Han dynasties, Lord Lao transformed his titles and dharmakāya in each generation, descending into the mortal world to act as the teacher of emperors. Its doctrines are similar to those in Bian Shao’s Epigraph of Laozi and Laozi Bianhua Wuji Jing (Scripture of Laozi's Infinite Transformations) included in the Daozang, indicating that it was written by early Huang-Lao Taoist priests, whose ideological system is closely linked to the Taiji philosophy in the system of Taoism.