Laozi

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Laozi (; ), also romanized as Lao Tzu, was a legendary Chinese philosopher and sage traditionally credited with writing the ''Tao Te Ching'' (Pinyin: ''Dào Dé Jīng''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism. Traditional accounts identify him as , born in the 6th century BC in the state of Chu during China's Spring and Autumn period (). He is said to have served as the royal archivist for the Zhou court, to have met Confucius (), and to have composed the ''Dào Dé Jīng'' before withdrawing into the western wilderness. Modern scholarship, however, has questioned both Laozi’s historicity and the traditional attribution of the ''Dào Dé Jīng'' to a single author.

A central figure in Chinese culture, Laozi is traditionally considered the founder of Taoism. In religious Taoism, he is venerated as Taishang Laojun, one of the Three Pure Ones of the Taoist pantheon. In philosophical Taoism, the work attributed to Laozi influenced Zhuangzi, another figure of Taoism. He was also claimed as an ancestor by the Li clans, including the ruling Li family of the Tang dynasty.

Advocating harmony with nature and wu wei, the ''Dào Dé Jīng'' is an influential work of Chinese philosophy, though the identity of its author remains uncertain. Modern textual and historical scholarship commonly dates the received text to the Warring States period (221 BC) and regards it as a composite work rather than the product of a single historical author.

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