RP174 A Chinese Legend

 RP174 A Chinese Legend

Laozi is something of a legendary figure in Chinese culture. He is known as the father of Daoism and the author of the philosophy's central text, the Dao De Jing.

Some of the stories told about Laozi are pretty incredible. It's said that he remained in his mother's womb for 81 years. And when he was finally born, he came out a grown man with a full grey beard and long ears.

We can be fairly certain that this story is fanciful. But the facts about the real Laozi's life still remain a mystery.

The first biography of Laozi was written several centuries after he is thought to have lived. It is included in the Records of the Grand Historian, written in the first century BC. According to the Records, Laozi was a librarian at the royal court of Zhou and a contemporary of Confucius. As the state of Zhou began to break down, however, Laozi decided to leave. At the entrance to a mountain pass, he gave a guard a book that revealed the secrets of living a good life— the Dao De Jing. However, in addition to this story, two other conflicting accounts of Laozi's life are given in the Records. This has caused a lot of confusion, leaving people unsure which Laozi was the real one.

Many modern scholars doubt whether Laozi actually existed at all. The Dao De Jing, they suggest, may actually be a collection of the teachings and ideas of various ancient Chinese thinkers.

For many followers of Daoism, however, this is all beside the point. The truth of the teachings, they say, is what really matters, not the man said to be behind them.