Do saints follow the Gregorian calendar?

Laozi was a famous saint in the Spring and Autumn Period. He is the founder of Taoism and a famous figure with a hundred schools of thought contending. Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism in later generations, also ratified him as the ancestor of Taoism. After he went out to Hangu Pass in the west, there was no news. Some people speculate that he has gone to seclusion to cultivate immortality, some people speculate that he turned Hu into a Buddha, and some people speculate that he was harmed by robbers ... but all this is speculation. What is the truth? Nobody knows.

0 1, the theory of cultivating immortals in seclusion

Lao Zi's original name is Li Er. It is said that he was born with a white beard, just like a wise man, and he was gifted and extremely clever since he was a child. While other children were still urinating and mud, he began to look up at the stars, observe the trajectory of celestial bodies, explore nature and think about the space-time concept of the universe. His life is destined to be extraordinary. Laozi's thought advocates doing nothing, teaching without words and conforming to nature. This simple dialectical philosophy was hundreds of years ahead of the world at that time, and even Confucius of Confucianism worshipped him as a teacher.

Unfortunately, his "inaction" had a great conflict with the chaotic background in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Therefore, the ruler at that time could not adopt his thought of governing the country, so he decided to retire to the mountains and study in Hanguguan in the west, leaving only one copy of Tao Te Ching for future generations to study. Such a saint becomes an immortal in the mountains and an old gentleman in the sky, which is in line with the ending in most people's minds.

02. Hu Yinfo said.

There is another version of the story about Laozi's whereabouts after he left Hangu Pass in the west. It is said by word of mouth that it is "turning Hu into Buddha": Laozi rode a green cow out of Hangu Pass and went west to India, where he met Sakyamuni, so Laozi passed on his knowledge to him, and Sakyamuni started Buddhism and became a master of Buddhism.

However, it was recorded in Lao Zi's Hu Jing, which was born in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Its purpose is more to suppress the Buddhism that rose in the society at that time, and to arrange a "master" for the Buddhist master at the source, so that Taoism can stabilize Buddhism in the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism.

Therefore, the content of this book is utilitarian, and the credibility of turning Hu into Buddha is also very low.

03, the robber said.

Outside the ancient customs, there will be a large number of bandits and robbers. As a thinker, Lao Tzu has no choice but to ride a green ox. Such a person is a mobile ATM in the eyes of robbers. If I meet robbers on the road, I will probably be robbed and killed by them.

However, I prefer to believe that after he left Hanguguan in the west, he found a mountain forest to live in seclusion, lived a happy life like a wild crane, and then died happily.