Editing Laozi (section)

== Identity ==
By the mid-twentieth century, consensus had emerged among Western scholars that the [[historicity]] of a person known as Laozi is doubtful and that the ''Tao Te Ching'' is "a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands",{{sfnp|Watson|1968|p=8}}<ref name=Kohn4>{{Harvp|Chan|2000|p=4}}</ref> with an author being invented afterwards.{{sfnp|Lewis|1999|p=61}} While multiple authorship over time is typical for early Chinese texts,{{sfnp|Zhang|2018|pp=26, 30}} the book's conspicuous absence of a central Master figure places it in marked contrast with nearly all other early Chinese philosophical works.{{sfnm|1a1=Denecke|1y=2011|1pp=208, 212–213|2a1=Lewis|2y=1999|2p=91}}

{{As of|2024}}, the oldest manuscript containing text from the ''Tao Te Ching'' dates to the late 4th century BC, written on [[bamboo slips]] excavated as part of the [[Guodian Chu Slips]]. These passages correspond with roughly one third of the received text,<ref>{{cite journal | last= Qiu | first= Xigui | author-mask= [[Qiu Xigui]] | title= Guodian ''Laozi'' jian chu tan | script-title = zh:郭店老子簡初談 | trans-title= An initial discussion of the Guodian ''Laozi'' slips | script-work=zh:道家文化研究 | volume= 17 | date=1999 | page= 26 n. 1}} Cited in {{harvp|Shaughnessy|2005|p=451}}</ref> and some are placed in the same order. These are mixed in with passages not carried by the transmitted ''Tao Te Ching'', indicating that its makeup was still undergoing revisions and modifications.{{sfnp|Shaughnessy|2005|p=445}} The oldest manuscripts of the ''Tao Te Ching'' in a complete form by itself were discovered at a tomb in [[Mawangdui]], and date to the early 2nd century BC.<ref name="stanford">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Laozi | last= Chan | first = Alan | orig-date= 2001 | editor1 =  Edward N. Zalta | editor2= Uri Nodelman | display-editors= etal |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/laozi/ |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Stanford University Department of Philosophy |year=2018 |quote=The discovery of two ''Laozi'' silk manuscripts at Mawangdui, near Changsha, Hunan province in 1973 marks an important milestone in modern ''Laozi'' research. The manuscripts, identified simply as 'A' (''[[sexagenary cycle|jia]]'') and 'B' (''yi''), were found in a tomb that was sealed in 168 B.C.E. The texts themselves can be dated earlier, the 'A' manuscript being the older of the two, copied in all likelihood before 195 B.C.E." [...]<br />"Until about two decades ago, the Mawangdui manuscripts have held the pride of place as the oldest extant manuscripts of the ''Laozi''. In late 1993, the excavation of a tomb (identified as M1) in Guodian, Jingmen city, [[Hubei]], has yielded among other things some 800 [[Guodian Chu slips|bamboo slips]], of which 730 are inscribed, containing over 13,000 Chinese characters. Some of these, amounting to about 2,000 characters, match the ''Laozi''. The tomb...is dated around 300 B.C.E.}}</ref> Analysis of early commentary on passages that appear in the received ''Tao Te Ching'' supports an accretionary evolution for the text rather than a singular authorship event.<ref>{{ cite book | last = Queen | publisher= Springer | editor= Paul R. Goldin | first= Sarah A. | chapter= <!-- Citation bot stet oblique --> ''Han Feizi'' and the Old Master: A Comparative Analysis and Translation of ''Han Feizi'' Chapter 20, "Jie Lao," and Chapter 21, "Yu Lao" | series= Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy |pages= 197–256 | date= 2013 | title= Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei | isbn =   978-94-007-4317-5 | doi = 10.1007/978-94-007-4318-2_10}}</ref>

=== Traditional accounts ===
The earliest biographical reference to Laozi is found in the 1st‑century&nbsp;BC ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' by [[Sima Qian]]. Multiple accounts of Laozi's biography are presented, with Sima Qian expressing various levels of doubt in his sources.{{sfnp|Kern|2015|pp=349–350}}

In one account, Sima Qian reports that Laozi was said to be a contemporary of Confucius during the 6th or 5th&nbsp;century{{nbsp}}BC. His personal name was Er or Dan. He was born in the village of Quren ({{lang|zh|曲仁里}}, ''Qūrén lǐ'') in the southern [[state of Chu]],<ref>{{Cite book| author1= Sima Qian | author1-link= Sima Qian| author2= Sima Tan| author2-link= Sima Tan| script-title=zh:史記| title = Records of the Grand Historian| orig-year= 90s BCE| year = 1959 | publisher= Zhonghua Shuju| chapter=[[:zh:s:史記/卷063#老子|Vol. 63: 老子韓非列傳]] | language= zh| ref={{sfnref|Shiji}}
}}</ref> within present-day [[Luyi]] in [[Henan]].{{sfnp|Morgan|2001}} He was said to be the son of the Censor-in-Chief of the [[Zhou dynasty]] and Lady Yishou ({{lang|zh|益壽氏}}), and was a scholar who worked as the Keeper of the Archives for the royal Zhou court. This reportedly allowed him broad access to the works of the [[Yellow Emperor]] and other classics of the time, and he wrote a book in two parts before departing to the west.

In another, Laozi was a different contemporary of Confucius called {{ill|Lao Laizi|zh|老莱子}} ({{lang|zh|老莱子}}), one of [[the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars]], and wrote a book in 15 parts. The story tells of Zong the Warrior who defeats an enemy and triumphs, and then abandons the corpses of the enemy soldiers to be eaten by vultures. By coincidence Laozi, traveling and teaching the way of the Tao, comes on the scene and is revealed to be the father of Zong, from whom he was separated in childhood. Laozi tells his son that it is better to treat respectfully a beaten enemy, and that the disrespect to their dead would cause his foes to seek revenge. Convinced, Zong orders his soldiers to bury the enemy dead. Funeral mourning is held for the dead of both parties and a lasting peace is made.

In a third, he was the court astrologer Lao Dan who lived during the 4th century{{nbsp}}BC reign of the [[Duke Xian of Qin (424–362 BC)|Duke Xian of Qin]]{{sfnp|Fowler|2005|p=96}}{{sfnp|Robinet|1997|p=26}} who grew weary of the moral decay of life in [[Chengzhou]] and noted the kingdom's decline. He ventured west to live as a hermit in the unsettled frontier at the age of 80. At the western gate of the city (or kingdom), he was recognized by the guard [[Yinxi]]. The sentry asked the old master to record his wisdom for the good of the country before he would be permitted to pass. The text Laozi wrote was said to be the ''Tao Te Ching'', although the present version of the text includes additions from later periods. In some versions of the tale, the sentry was so touched by the work that he became a disciple and left with Laozi, never to be seen again.{{sfnp|Kohn|Lafargue|1998|pp=14, 17, 54–55}} In some later interpretations, the "Old Master" journeyed all the way to India and was the teacher of Siddartha Gautama, [[the Buddha]]. Others say he was the Buddha himself.<ref name="Simpkins 1999 pp 12-13"/>{{sfnp|Morgan|2001|pp=224–225}}

The stories assert that Laozi never opened a formal school but nonetheless attracted a large number of students and loyal disciples. There are many variations of a story retelling his encounter with Confucius, most famously in the ''Zhuangzi''.<ref name="Simpkins 1999 pp 12-13">{{Harvp|Simpkins|Simpkins|1999|pp=12–13}}</ref>{{sfnp|Morgan|2001|pp=223–224}} [[A. C. Graham|A.C. Graham]] suggested that the Confucian version of the story presented in the ''[[Book of Rites]]'' was the original, which was borrowed and re-interpreted by the followers of [[Zhuang Zhou]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graham |first=Angus C. |author-link=A. C. Graham |url=https://archive.org/details/chuangtzuinnerch0000zhua |title=Chuang-tzŭ: the Inner Chapters |date=2001 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc |isbn=978-0-87220-582-6 |edition=Reprinted |location=Indianapolis Cambridge |pages=126–129 |chapter=The dialogues of Confucius and Old Tan |orig-date=1981}}</ref> His birthday is popularly held to be the 15th day of the second month of the [[Chinese calendar]].<ref name="Stepanchuk Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts Lao Tze">{{cite book |last1=Stepanchuk |first1=Carol |title=Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts: Festivals of China |date=1991 |publisher=China Books & Periodicals |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-8351-2481-9 |page=125}}</ref> In accounts where Laozi married, he was said to have had a son who became a celebrated soldier of [[Wei (state)|Wei]] during the [[Warring States period]].

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" mode="packed">
File:Konfuzius-laozi.jpg|''Confucius meets Laozi'', Shi Gang ({{lang|zh|史杠}}), [[Yuan dynasty]]
File:Lao Tzu - Project Gutenberg eText 15250.jpg|Depiction of Laozi in [[E. T. C. Werner]]'s ''Myths and Legends of China''
</gallery>