Laozi, born in the late Spring and Autumn Period, year of birth and death is unknown. Ancient Chinese thinkers, philosophers, writers and historians, founder and main representative of the Taoist school, and Zhuangzi are called "Lao Zhuang". He was later respected as the ancestor by Taoism, and he was called "Taishang Laojun". In the Tang Dynasty, he was regarded as the ancestor of the Li surname. Once listed as a world cultural celebrity, one of the world's one hundred historical celebrities. Lao Tzu used to serve as the history of the Zhou dynasty's custody room and is famous for his erudition. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the world was in chaos, and Laozi wanted to abandon the officialdom and retreat, so he rode a green cow westward. When he arrived at Lingbao Hangu Pass, the commander Yin Xizhi invited the "Tao De Jing". Laozi's thought has a profound influence on the development of Chinese philosophy, and the core of his thought is simple dialectics. In politics, it advocates the rule of doing nothing and teaching without words. In terms of power tactics, things must be the opposite. In terms of self-cultivation, it is the ancestor of Taoist dual cultivation of life and soul that emphasizes the practice of being modest and solid, not competing with others. Lao Zi's handed down work "Tao Te Jing" (also known as "Lao Zi") is one of the world's most widely published works.
Laozi was born in Kuxian County of Chen Guo about the first year of King Zhou Ling (571 BC). In the twenty-first year of King Zhou Ling (551 BC), Lao Zi entered the Zhou royal family as the official in charge of the collection of books. About the thirty-five years of King Zhou Jing (485 BC), Lao Tzu saw the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, so he left his homeland and prepared to leave Hangu Pass to travel around. Yin Xi, the officer who guarded Hangu Pass, admired Lao Tzu very much and was very happy to hear that he had come to Hangu Pass. But when he knew that Lao Tzu was going to travel around, he felt it was a pity, so he tried to keep Lao Tzu. So Yin Xi said to Lao Tzu: "It's okay for you to leave the customs, but you have to leave a book." After I heard this, I stayed in Hangu for a few days. A few days later, he gave Yin Xi a 5,000-character work. It is said that this work was the "Tao De Jing" handed down to the world. Then, I rode away on the big green bull. According to legend, Guiyin practiced in Jingshi Mountain. According to legend, Laozi lived a long life and died in Qin about the fifth year of King Zhou Yuan (471 BC) at the age of 101. In the first year of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (666 AD), Laozi was named Emperor Taishang Xuanyuan; in the sixth year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Zhenzong (1013 AD), he was named Emperor Hunyuan Shangde.
The main category of Laozi's thought is "Tao". The word "Tao" appears seventy-three times in the book "Lao Zi". Natural inaction is the main theme of the book "Lao Zi". Tao is a chaotic and undivided initial state. It is the beginning of heaven and earth, the mother of all things, and the root of all things. Tao is always nameless, doing nothing but doing nothing, it is like water, good and profitable. All things do not compete with all things. It is the highest good to win with the weak and strong. The Tao cannot be said, nor can the human senses directly perceive it. Tao is not only the body of the universe, but also the rule of all things, and the rule of life. Confucianism regards heaven, earth, and man as the "three オ", while Lao Tzu regards Tao, heaven, earth and man as the "big four". The "Big Four" adds Tao to the "Three オ", which opens up an extremely lofty and imaginative thinking space for the framework of Chinese cultural thought. Tao comes from the metaphysical, and penetrates the metaphysical; and in the penetration, it does not leave any room for the willful and purposeful creators such as the heaven and the emperor. Two thousand five hundred years ago, Lao Tzu's Tao was a great invention based on fundamentally transforming the original Taoism.
Tao, as the original and noumenon of the existence of heaven and earth, creates and accomplishes all things in heaven and earth. But Dao's accomplishment of heaven and earth is not an intentional act, but a completely unintentional act, which is completely natural. Lao Tzu said: "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, the sky follows the Tao, and the Tao follows the natural." "The Tao follows the natural", and the natural is self-sufficient. Nature is a description of the state and actions of Tao, and it is not a nature that is more substantial than Tao. "To be born and not to have, to not to rely on", everything is natural, everything is natural, this is the nature of Tao. The nature of Tao is natural inaction, but it is this kind of inaction that accomplishes action; it is precisely because of inaction that accomplishes everything. This phenomenon, highly summarized by Lao Tzu's philosophy, is "do nothing without doing nothing". "Doing nothing without doing nothing" is not only the great virtue and great use of Tao, but also the most fundamental law governing the world and everything. It is the fundamental law for individuals to settle down and stand for life, and it is the so-called "truth." "If you don't live by yourself, you can live forever." "If you don't become big in the end, you can become big." This is the principle of heaven and earth. "Husbands do not fight, so the world cannot fight with them", "behind the body before the first, outside the body to survive", "with his selflessness, so he can become his own private", this is the fundamental law of a person's life.