Editing Laozi (section)

=== Tang dynasty ===
Due to his traditional name ''Li Er'', Laozi has been [[Chinese ancestral veneration|venerated]] as the ancestor of all subsequent [[Li (surname 李)|Li]]s, and many clans of the Li family trace their descent to Laozi,<ref name="Woolf2007 1">{{cite book|last= Woolf | first= Greg|title=Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94NuSg3tlsgC&q=Li+Er+Laozi|year=2007|publisher=Barnes & Noble|isbn=978-1435101210|pages=218–219}}</ref> including the [[List of rulers of China|emperors]] of the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref>{{Citation |access-date=8 February 2012|title=The Chinese: their history and culture, Volume 1|last=Latourette|first= Kenneth Scott|quote=T'ai Tsung's family professed descent from Lao Tzu (for the latter's reputed patronymic was likewise Li)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ultxAAAAMAAJ|edition=2|year=1934|publisher=Macmillan|page=191}}</ref><ref name="Woolf2007 1" /><ref name="Hargett2006">{{cite book|last= Hargett|first= James M.|title=Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m21KGsV8ihgC&pg=PA54|year=2006|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791466827|page=54 ff}}</ref> This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage ({{lang|zh|[[w:zh:隴西李氏|隴西李氏]]}}). According to the Simpkinses, while many (if not all) of these lineages are questionable, they provide a testament to Laozi's impact on Chinese culture.{{sfnp|Simpkins|Simpkins|1999|p=12}} Under the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], Laozi received a series of [[temple name]]s of increasing grandeur. In the year 666, [[Emperor Gaozong of Tang|Emperor Gaozong]] named Laozi the "Supremely Mysterious and Primordial Emperor" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|太上|玄|元|皇帝}}}},}} ''Tàishàng Xuán Yuán Huángdì'').<ref>{{cite book|author=Fu Qinjia (傅勤家) |script-title=zh:道教史概論 |trans-title= Outline of the History of Daoism |year=1996 |publisher=Commercial Printing House |location=[[Taipei]] |isbn=978-9570513240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goTcCDAOHh0C&pg=PA82 |page=82 |language=zh}}</ref> In 743, [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] declared him the "[[sage (philosophy)|Sage]] [[Chinese ancestral veneration|Ancestor]]" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|聖祖}}}},}} ''Shèngzǔ'') of the dynasty with the posthumous title of "Mysterious and Primordial Emperor" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|玄|元|皇帝}}}},}} ''Xuán Yuán Huángdì''). Emperor Xuanzong also elevated Laozi's parents to the ranks of "Innately Supreme Emperor" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|先天|太上|皇}}}},}} ''Xiāntiān Tàishàng Huáng'') and "Innate Empress" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|先天|太后}}}},}} ''Xiāntiān Tàihòu''). In 749, Laozi was further honored as the "Sage Ancestor and Mysterious and Primordial Emperor of the Great Way" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|聖祖|大道|玄|元|皇帝}}}},}} ''Shèngzǔ Dàdào Xuán Yuán Huángdì'') and then, in 754, as the "Great Sage Ancestor and Mysterious and Primordial Heavenly Emperor and Great Sovereign of the Golden Palace of the High and Supreme Great Way" {{nowrap|({{lang|zh|{{linktext|大|聖祖|高|上|大道|金闕|玄|元|天皇|大帝}}}},}} ''Dà Shèngzǔ Gāo Shǎng Dàdào Jīnquē Xuán Yuán Tiānhuáng Dàdì'').

A seventh-century work, the ''Sandong Zhunang'' ({{lang|zh|三洞珠囊}}; "Pearly Bag of the Three Caverns"), presents Laozi is the perfect Taoist master and a character named [[Yinxi]] as the ideal Taoist student. Yinxi follows a formal sequence of preparation, testing, training and attainment.{{sfnp|Kohn|Lafargue|1998|pp=55–56}}