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What kind of person was Lao Tzu in ancient times?

Lao Zi, a great philosopher and thinker in ancient China, was the founder of Taoist school. Later, he was named "Mr. Lao" by Emperor Wu of Tang Dynasty, a world cultural celebrity and one of the world's top 100 historical celebrities. He has the classic Tao Te Ching (also known as Laozi), the essence of which is a simple dialectical method and advocates inaction. His theory has a far-reaching impact on the development of China's philosophy. In Taoism, Laozi is regarded as the ancestor of Taoism.

Chinese name: Li Er.

Alias: Lao Dan

Nationality: China (Chunqiu Chu)

Ethnic group: Huaxia ethnic group

Birthplace: Guxian (now Lu Yi, Henan, Yang Guo, Anhui)

Date of birth: about 57 1 year ago.

Date of death: 47 1 year ago.

Main achievements: founder of Taoist school

dialectical thinking

Representative works: Tao Te Ching

catalogue

outline

Laozi's works

Lao Tzu said that Lao Tzu was born.

Zhong Kui and Laozi

Laozi's philosophy

The anecdote of Laozi was born.

A clever boy

Go to school for a week

Confucius asked for gifts.

Talking about life and death

Hangu writes books.

Huadian Yangzi ju

On health-preserving classics

Re-awarded to Kong Qiu

I'm out of customs.

The death of a saint

Laozi's descendants

Laozi culture

Taoist Laozi

Introduction to publishing photo albums

Laozi's works

Lao Tzu said that Lao Tzu was born.

Zhong Kui and Laozi

Laozi's philosophy

The anecdote of Laozi was born.

A clever boy

Go to school for a week

Confucius asked for gifts.

Talking about life and death

Hangu writes books.

Huadian Yangzi ju

On health-preserving classics

Re-awarded to Kong Qiu

I'm out of customs.

The death of a saint

Laozi's descendants

Laozi culture

Taoist Laozi

Post a photo album and edit the introduction of this paragraph.

Li Er [1] (about 57 1 ~ 47 1), also known as (dān), was born in Qurenli, Kuxian County, Chu (Anhui, Henan). The greatest philosopher in ancient China and the standard image of Laozi.

One of homesickness, revered by Taoism as the ancestor and a world cultural celebrity. Later people called it "Laozi" (the pronunciation of the word "Lao" is the same as that of the word "Li" in ancient times). Historical Records Three Biographies of Lao Zi Han Fei: "Lao Zi was born in Qurenli, Li Xiang, Chuku County. Last name is Li, first name is Er, and the word is Bo Yang. Zhou Shoucang Shi also. " According to: ① Inscription in "Laozi" in Bianshao, Eastern Han Dynasty: "Laozi, surnamed Li, named Bo Yang, is also from Chuxiang County. ..... Xiang County is empty and barren, and now it is miserable, so the old city is still there. It is in the east of Lai Xiang, and the whirlpool is in the sun. " Notes on Water Classics (Volume XXIII): "Vortex water turns east again, so Jingxiang County is in the south of the city." ② In the first year of Yongxing, Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he ordered the inscription "I was born in a winding whirlpool" on the tablet in Changsha. Cao Pi mentioned the meandering vortex in Ode to the Vortex: "The shady trees are facing the meandering vortex, and the breeze raises water to increase waves." (3) Jin's Biography of Immortals contains "(Laozi) is pregnant with a big meteor." "Ming Yi Tongzhi" contains: "Meteor Garden, in the south of Tianjing Palace in Bozhou, is engraved with a cloud: a star suddenly flows in the garden, so I was born, that's all. There is Notre Dame de Yuan Dynasty, and the site is still there. Laozi lived in the Spring and Autumn Period and served as a Tibetan room in Luoyi, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. He is knowledgeable and versatile. Confucius asked Laozi when he traveled around the world. In his later years, Lao Zi took a journey to the west by a young ox and wrote a 5,000-word Tao Te Ching (also known as the True Classic of Morality or Lao Zi or Lao Zi's 5,000 Articles) in Hanguguan. According to legend, Lao Tzu transferred Yin, the company commander of Hanguguan. After crossing the first road, I went west to Kunwo, where I saw the mountains and rivers (Zhong Nanshan Tianyu River) and the ups and downs of the peaks, and stopped here to build grass for the building to practice and chant Buddhist scriptures. Spread to this day, it is called Louguantai. It is the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, national AAAA-level tourist scenic spots, and contains more than 300 inkstones of scholars and poets in past dynasties. History is called the birthplace of Taoism. Lao Tzu was buried in Xilouguan, eight kilometers away from here, and the existing Lao Tzu's tomb. Some dialectical materialists believe that Tao Te Ching contains rich dialectical thoughts. Laozi's philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy together constitute the two sources of human philosophy, and Laozi is honored as "the father of China's philosophy" because of his profound philosophical thoughts. Laozi's thought was passed down by Zhuangzi, and together with Confucianism and later Buddhism, it formed the core of China's traditional thought and culture. After the appearance of Taoism, Laozi was honored as "the old gentleman on the throne", and Taoism called him the eighteenth incarnation of the old gentleman on the throne; From the biography of the immortal, Lao Tzu has been honored as a fairy. Tao Te Ching has more than 1000 foreign language versions, which is the most translated book in China. Laozi's ideological proposition is "inaction", and his ideal political realm is "neighboring countries are facing each other, and the voices of chickens and dogs are heard, and the people are not in contact with each other until they die." "I use Tao to explain the evolution of everything in the universe, which is an objective natural law and has the characteristics of' being independent and unchanging'.

The eternal meaning of "walking around without danger" The book Laozi contains many simple dialectical views, such as that everything has two sides, and the "movement of Tao" can be transformed from opposition, "what is right is strange, what is good is evil" and "what is bad is good, and what is bad is hidden". He also believes that everything in the world is the unity of "being" and "nothing", and "being and nothing" are the foundation, and "everything in the world is born of something and born of nothing". "The way of heaven, the loss is more than enough, but the way of man is not, and the loss is not enough"; "People's hunger is as much as food tax"; "People die lightly, but they live on it"; "People are not afraid of death. Why are you afraid of death?" . His theory has a far-reaching influence on the development of China's philosophy, and its contents are mainly found in the book Laozi. His philosophical thoughts and the Taoist school he founded not only made important contributions to the development of China's ancient ideology and culture, but also had a far-reaching impact on the development of China's ideology and culture for more than two thousand years. Some people think that Lao Laizi is also a Chu. At the same time as Confucius, he wrote 15 books to promote Taoism. Some people think it is Zhou Taishi (dān), who lived 100 years after the death of Confucius. Sima Qian, a famous historian, explained in Historical Records of Laozi's Biography of Han Fei that there were two kinds of speculations about Laozi at that time. "Or: Lao Laizi is also Lao Laizi, who wrote fifteen books for the use of Taoism and was contemporary with Confucius." At that time, Sima Qian also suspected that Laozi was an old laizi. Nowadays, many scholars have adopted the first view that Laozi was born in Li Er at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Editing this passage from Lao Tzu's works

Dou Zhongliang in Laozi's Tao Te Ching

Laozi wrote a book of Laozi with 5,000 words in front of Hangu Pass, also known as Tao Te Ching or Moral Truth Ching. Tao Te Ching, The Book of Changes and The Analects of Confucius are considered to be the three most influential masterpieces in China. Tao Te Ching is divided into two volumes, ***8 1. The first 37 chapters are the first, and the last 38 chapters are the next. The ideological structure of the book is: Tao is the "body" of virtue, and virtue is the "use" of Tao. Up and down * * * about five thousand words. Tao Te Ching was later named. At first, Lao Zi's book was called Lao Zi, but there was no such name as Tao Te Ching. Its completion date was controversial in the past, but it is still uncertain. However, according to the date of "Laozi" on Guodian bamboo slips unearthed in 1993, it was written at least in the middle and early Warring States period. Laozi used Tao to explain the evolution of all things in the universe, thinking that "Tao gives birth to one, two, two, three and three things" and "Tao" is "the fate of a husband is natural", so "man should be in the earth, the earth should be in the sky, the sky should be in the Tao, and the Tao should be natural". "Tao" is an objective natural law, and at the same time it has the eternal significance of "being independent and unchanging, walking without danger" The book Laozi contains many simple dialectical views, such as that everything has two sides, and the "movement of Tao" can be transformed from opposition, "the right is strange, the good is evil" and "the disaster is a blessing, and the disaster is hidden". I also think that everything in the world is "there" and "nothing".

The unity of "being and nothing" is based on "nothing", and "everything in the world is born with something, and nothing is born". In addition, there are a lot of people-oriented ideas in the book: "Heaven has more than enough to make up for it, humanity is insufficient, and loss is not enough to support it"; "People's hunger is as much as food tax"; "People die lightly, but they live on it"; "People are not afraid of death. Why are you afraid of death?" . His theory had a far-reaching impact on the development of China's philosophy. There are many translations of Laozi since ancient times, and there are many versions of the original text, so it is difficult to study it. For comments on various annotations of Laozi, please refer to one of the data arrangement schemes of Laozi's Tao Te Ching-I hope Yanzi can write a comprehensive and informative reading for some beginners [2].

Edit this legend of Laozi

Laozi was born.

Legend of Laozi's Birth According to legend, Laozi, who is revered by Taoism as a grand old gentleman, is a descendant of Peng Zu. During the Yangjia period of Shang Dynasty, Laozi was deified and was conceived in the belly of Li, the daughter of the mysterious king. One day, Li was washing clothes by the river at the head of the village, and suddenly he saw a new plum floating to the upper reaches of the river. Richard was busy picking up the fist-sized yellow with branches. At noon, Richard was hot and thirsty, so he ate plums. Ricky has been pregnant ever since. Li was pregnant for 8 1 year and gave birth to a boy. The boy was born with white eyebrows, white hair and a white beard. Therefore, Li gave him a name "Lao Zi". I can speak when I was born. He pointed to a plum tree in the yard and said, "My surname is Li".

Zhong Kui and Laozi

Xi An Zhong Kui Institute of Culture and an Zhong Kui's hometown Happy Valley Resort organized experts to collect Lao Tzu's portrait at the foot of Zhong Nanshan Mountain in Qinling Mountains.

Collection, Huxian County, Shaanxi Province, Zhong Kui's hometown, the legend of Laozi and Zhong Kui spread for thousands of years. Legend has it that Yin, the company commander of Hanguguan, saw the purple gas coming from the east, and Lao Tzu came riding a green cow, worshiped Lao Tzu as a teacher, resigned, and followed Lao Tzu westward along Shenxian Road in Qinling. A few days later, he came to the foot of General Mountain. I saw auspicious clouds here, with spring-like seasons, flowing streams, shallow fish and water, birds contending, dragons and phoenixes dancing, peonies competing and springs tinkling. This is really a paradise. Hard-faced, with one sword and one fan, five bats came, upright and noble, unable to stop sighing: "Tao is Tao, extraordinary Tao, the creation of the universe, the beginning of heaven and earth, the mother of all things, and there are often people who want to see its wonders." Zhong Wei Fulin Town House won the first place in the list, and the true god also ... "Five thousand words, recorded by Yin, are also called Tao Te Ching. Later, Lao Zi and Yi Xi worked in Afuquan, and the stable was in Nanshan. The old cow woman herded cattle, and Nanshan never let go. After discovering the shortcut to the south, he gave lectures in Liangshan, made an alchemy in Louguantai, and enjoyed the longevity of Nanshan. He is known as the ancestral home of Taoism, the hometown of Zhong Kui, and the best place in the world.

Edit this passage of Laozi's philosophy

Laozi tried to establish a theory that included everything in the universe. Laozi believes that everything follows this law (Tao): the interior of the thing itself is not single and static, but relatively complex and changing. Things themselves are the unity of yin and yang. Opposing things will transform into each other, that is, yin and yang transformation. Laozi's Textbook (Part)

[3] Law (morality) comes from the law of things (Tao). Laozi's "inaction" is not aimed at "inaction", but at "doing something" Because according to the "Tao" mentioned above, "inaction" will be transformed into "promising". The genius of this idea is that although it is not aimed at obtaining benefits subjectively, it can achieve benefits better objectively. From "heaven and earth have no push, the sun and the moon are self-evident, the stars are self-ordered, and the animals are self-made." This is natural, why bother? " (See the fourth paragraph of Confucius' question in Laozi's story below) It can be seen that the "nature" mentioned by Laozi is not similar to the concept of God, and the law of all things (Tao) is stipulated by nature, that is, "Tao is nature". Some people misunderstand the meaning of nature here. It should be noted that. In fact, human life is like the existence of the universe, and no one can rationally point out its purpose. Therefore, the irrational choice of a certain goal (s) becomes the only choice. Laozi looked at the problem from the infinite standpoint of Tao. So Lao Tzu only said "method" and didn't point out "purpose". This gives us a revelation: why do people suffer because they deliberately achieve their goals? Being idle and carefree is also a way to treat people. As for Laozi's world outlook, according to the previous Tao, "nothing" and "being" (the existence of everything is "being") will be transformed into each other. Therefore, Lao Tzu believes that everything in the universe comes from nothingness and moves towards nothingness. For example, the life and death of human beings (see the following story about the death of a saint told by Lao Zi: "Once upon a time, Lao Dan was born out of nothing" and "Today, Lao Dan died out of nothing"). Dialectics belongs to methodology, including Taoism. Those contents in Laozi's Daoism that are very similar to dialectics are always praised by people. Compared with the above-mentioned view that Laozi's thought tries to be all-inclusive, there is another view that Laozi's Taoism belongs to the category of pure methodology. According to Guangxi Normal University's introduction to Laozi's impressions, its argument is roughly as follows: 1. As far as its original meaning in Greek is concerned, "methodology" is also "Daoism", the root meta is Tao in Greek, hodos is Tao, and "method" is the way people follow. Methodology or Daoism is an overall exposition of the goal and its realization, and it is an inquiry into how a person or a team should choose the path to achieve the goal. Secondly, the original meaning of "Tao" refers to the "road" that people follow in order to achieve a certain goal, and it is "followed by operation", which is extended to the code of conduct, code of conduct, methods of doing things, systematic organizational paradigm, operational procedural rules, and the movement laws of various sentient beings. Talking about Tao means talking about "how to go" in the process of achieving our goals. Third, the original meaning of "virtue" is "what the heart wants, and what it does" (the zigzag of virtue is composed of mind, action and straightness, and goes straight to Mingdao Palace.

Value (value) is a judgment about where the actor's mentality and behavior reach or stand in an evaluation space. On virtue is to evaluate and compare people's "walking level". Fourthly, Taoism is a discussion about Taoism and morality, and it is a behavioral comment around the ideal paradigm. Among them, the choice of Tao refers to the actor's choice of his own behavior, not the delineation of the line outside the body; It is the choice of "walking mode" or "standard on the way", not the grasp of environmental road conditions or external laws. Its focus is to investigate the relationship between behavior mode, behavior modality and behavior result, and then establish an ideal paradigm for ordinary actors to follow, rather than discussing the empirical problems of how the world or objective existence works. Five, a person can "go" from naive to mature, and a country can "go" from autocracy to * * *. "Walking" has a very abstract and extensive metaphorical meaning. The essence of Laozi's Taoist theory is to compare walking in ordinary three-dimensional space with walking in description space or generalized value space. In the ordinary three-dimensional space, going to a certain place is manifested as becoming a certain name in the "description space" and achieving a certain virtue in the "value space". Therefore, the problem of methodology is also a problem of "going"; What kind of road to take, what kind of existence to become and what kind of goal to pursue are the basic problems of Laozi's Taoist theory.

Edit this anecdote of Laozi

Laozi was born.