Lao Zi

Lao-tseu (transcription EFEO) or Lǎo Zi (Pinyin) 老子 (“old child” or “main Lao”) is a philosophical Chinese who would have lived at sixth century BC. It is occasionally called Laojun, “Mr Lao”.

The Book of the Way and the Virtue or CAD De Jing that one allots to him initiated (a posteriori) the Taoïsme and is regarded by other currents also as an important philosophical text. About his life, one knows only little thing. Certain historians even estimate that it existed forever.

He is regarded by the Taoïsme religious as a god and the ancestor of all the schools.

Myth or real character?

Sources

The first mentions of Lao Zi are in the Zhuangzi (eighteen passages) where it generally appears under the name of Lao daN. There exists an occurrence isolated from Lao Laizi a passage describes it as archivist of the king of the Zhou. One generally sees it criticizing the efforts of Confucius to apply the virtues confucéennes, according to him ineffective and against nature. Lao Zi calls it by its family name, Qiu, as elder would do it, but it could be that it is an initiative of Zhuang Zhou to highlight the superiority of Lao Zi.

A passage of the Book of the rites , traditional confucéen, mentions that Confucius questioned one day Lao daN on the rites of mourning.

The Hanfeizi and the Huainanzi are the first to allot CAD to him De Jing .

In IIe front century J.C Sima Qian writes its biography: according to him, it names Li er, social name Boyang, still called daN. It was born with the country from Chu in the county from Ku. He was archivist of Zhou. He practiced the CAD and the virtue and was held hidden. It would have met Confucius with Luoyang whereas this last came to consult the library. They would have had a series of discussions during which Lao Zi would have exposed to Confucius the uselessness of its practices. With the ripe age, wearied men, it would have left his country by the West, overlapping a buffalo, and would have dictated to the guard of the master key Yin Xi who it requested of them the five thousand characters (approximately) of the famous Livre of the Way and of the Virtue who is with the Livre of the Changes to the sources of the Chinese esotericism.

A theory affirms that he would not have written that the first ten articles of the Livre of the Way and the Virtue and that the others would have been added later. This assumption is related to the doubts concerning the identity of Lao Laizi, one of the names under which is mentioned the critic of the Confucianism of the Zhuangzi . One finds indeed in texts going back to before the empire, like the Zhanguoce , mention of Lao Laizi de Chu, living at the time of the Printemps and the Falls, born under king Kang and died under king Hui, practitioner of the CAD which would have lived 160 or 200 years. It would have been withdrawn in the mountains towards 479 front J.C to live there as a hermit with his wife, refusing the station offered by the king. He would be the author of a Laolaizi in 15 or 16 articles, lost as of the end of Han. The folklore of the area of Jingmen to the Hubei preserved its memory; it became at the 14th century the hero of one of the Twenty-four stories of filial devotion of Guo Jujing.

Discusses

Nothing thus makes it possible to close the debate. Is Lao daN of the Zhuangzi inspired by a real character? Could it be Lao Laizi of Hubei? Even if it is about a historical character, is he really the author of CAD De Jing ? From where the historian Sima Qian draw does the name from Li er and the place of origin mentioned in its biography? As many questions always without answer. Besides there exist two candidates possible for the county of Ku: the current county of Luyi in the Henan and the town of Guoyang in the Anhui. The direction of the name Lao itself is discussed: the literal interpretation of “old man” or “old”, evoking wisdom, is tempting; some take the suffix zi in the literal sense of “child” and make of it “the old child”, mystical name or symbolic system. Nevertheless, others point out that family name Lao is attested at the time of the Kingdoms combatants. Various historical identifications were proposed by the Chinese scholars. Some, pointing out that Mencius, large continuator of Confucius with Xun Zi, does not mention Lao Zi in its diatribes against excesses of the mohists and the taoists, deduce from it that Lao Zi is undoubtedly not a historical character, but perhaps quite simply fruit of the imagination of Zhuang Zi and other thinkers of the same current as Lie Zi, author of the traditional Vrai of the perfect vacuum . One of them would have had the brilliant idea to sign its book of the name of the wise recluse auprès whose Confucius, the first Master of the China according to Feng Youlan, would have gone to require council and would have some, we says the legend, lost three days during the use of the word.

Lao Zi in the taoism

Lao Zi and the mythical civilizing sovereign Huangdi is the central figures of the current Huanglao, whose name comes from the combination of their two names. This current, very widespread of the end of the Kingdoms combatants at the beginning of the Han, would be in the philosophical beginning and policy then would have taken a more religious turn when it was évincé by the Confucianism. One finds testimonys of the deification of Lao Zi as of Han Eastern: the emperor Huandi (R. 146-168), for example, returns a worship to him. Under his reign in 153, Wang Fu, prefect of the area of Changsha, makes draw up a stele dedicated to Lao Zi on which this one is identified with original CAD beginning of the things. At the same time, the well-read man Bian Shao declares that Lao Zi is an immortal and the Master of the wise ones. He is one of the four large gods of the sect of the five bushels of rice which requires its followers the regular récitaton CAD De Jing and will become under the names of celestial Vénérable of the CAD and the Virtue or Pur of the supreme ridge one of the Pure Three, principal divinities of the modern universities taoists. In this role, it appears in various forms with the wire of the centuries to guide the faithful ones. Thus the Taoism religious, confronted with the 3rd century on arrival of the Buddhism in China, tried a daring bringing together between this character left in barbarian country and the Bouddha which would be its incarnation or its pupil. A member of the School of the celestial Maitres exposed this opinion in the conversion of the Barbarians by Lao Zi , work which will be regularly taken again and enriched until XIVe century when the claims to see Lao Zi in the Buddha will be definitively rejected.

In the temples its effigy is with the right-hand side of the trio of the Three Pure ones; it with the beard and the grey hair and holds in hand a range.

The emperors of the Dynastie Tang, whose name of clan was Li, readily accepted to regard themselves as its descendants when they made taoism their religion official and to honor it like Shengzu “Holy ancestor”. The emperor Gaozong (R. 649-683) granted to him the title of “Supreme celestial emperor of the original mystery”.

Lao-Tseu: precursor of anarchism?

Lao-Tseu is regarded by much as a precursor of anarchism, indeed, certain quotations (see low) correspond to a certain idea of anarchism. Nevertheless this question remains prone to debate because of many interpretations of the writings of Lao-Tseu.

Legendary aspects

Its deification accentuated its aspect out of the commun run: his/her mother would have carried it during eight or eighty years. Ge Hong describes it as follows: yellow skin clearly, long ears, large eyes, drawn aside teeth, stops square with the thick lips, fifteen wrinkles on a broad face which carries to the corners the shape of the moon and the sun. It has two edges of nose and three openings with each ear, and the ten lines of the beings of elite mark its palms.

When it was born, a comet appeared in the sky and nine dragons left ground to bathe it. It is the latter detail, joint with the fact that according to Bian Shao, its birthplace was at the confluence of the rivers Guo and Gu and on the bank yáng of Guo, which encouraged the town of Guoyang to postulate the place of birthplace of the wise one. It exists there indeed a site called “Well of the nine dragons” which would date from Springs and the Falls.

The characters which compose its name, Lao {old), Li (plum) and er (ear) inspired imagination. Some estimate that the nickname of “old man” comes to him owing to the fact that it was born with grey hair, others prefer to imagine that his/her mother had it on late. “Plum” would come owing to the fact that his/her mother would have conceived it by seeing a comet or a flying dragon whereas she had sat under a plum tree, or by consuming a magic fruit. As for “ear”, he is in general explained by their size particulèrement developed, especially the lobes, characteristic often lent to the wise ones.

Quotations

  • None us knows what we all know, together.
  • If somebody offended you, does not seek to avenge you. Sit down at the edge of the river and soon you will see passing his corpse.
  • the men are different in the life, similar in death.
  • To know to be satisfied with what one has, it is to be rich.
  • the failure is the base of the success.
  • Mieux is worth to light a candle than to curse darkness.
  • the man who knows does not speak. The man who speaks does not know.
  • Plus there are laws more there are robbers.
  • If you abolished the love of the profit, the robbers and the gangsters will disappear.
  • When the saint man controls, it empties its heart, it fills its belly (its interior), it weakens its will, and it strengthens its bones. (see translation: http://taoteking.free.fr/interieur.php3?chapitre=3)
  • the combat has nothing to do with the quarrel
  • Donne a fish to a man, you it nourished for one day. Learn how him to fish, it will nourish all its life.
  • That which invented the boat also invented the shipwreck.
  • That which knows the others is perspicacious; that which knows itself is intelligent.

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