11 Laozi

Founder of Taoism School

Laozi’s life was full of mystery. People knew some of his life story from an essay in a book Shi Ji (meant History Record) in which, a story described Confucius once had paid a visit to Laozi asking advice for propriety, so people made sure they lived in same time. Laozi had been a library functionary in Chu State in the mid and lower reaches of Yangtze, and later determined to go to the west to seclude himself in high mountains. When he went through Han Gu Pass bordering Chu and Qin states by riding a buffalo, he was stopped by a guard official who asked him to write a book before seclusion. Laozi agreed to stay and write his book Laozi or Taoist Canon, a history-honored Taoism classics.

At the beginning of the book, Laozi described “Tao” was a thing that couldn’t be explained by words. It filled all over the universe and neither be seen nor be touched. Tao had a “gate of reproduction” from which all the living things in the world were emerged and propagated.

Laozi’s main political concept was “emperor’s kindness likening water”, emphasizing emperor’s administration should something liken water naturally nourishing all of living things. Then he further brought forward a policy of “rule by noninterference” (government should do nothing). He explained the more law erected, the more crimes convicted, the more wisdom people had, the more troubles could happen. Laozi wanted people to return to the primitive lifestyle.

But, Laozi wisely raised his philosophic theory “things always oppose and interlink with each other”, explaining how “beauty and ugly”, “good and ill”, “high and low”, “have and haven’t”, “fortune and harm” could interlink and mutually transfer. Strong things could easily break, and soft things could always live long. Water seemed the utmost soft, but it was the utmost strong. So, Laozi suggested people should “keep a low profile lifestyle”, behave modest and play safe, be always comfortable to one’s skin, rather than show off one’s ability and superiority. Man should know where he should stop.

Laozi’s thought had imposed a great impact to Chinese intellectuals for thousands of years. Usually intellectuals believed Confucius doctrine when young, while turned to believe Tao when reached elderly, believed Confucius doctrine when on the right way ascending official rank, while believed Tao when suffered upset. Laozi’s teachings had rooted deeply and popularly in people’s mind, and Taoism had actually become part of the character of Chinese nationality.