Lao Tzu, surnamed Li Minger, was called Bo Yang, or Shu Bo Yang. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the year of birth and death is unknown, and it was born in the county (ancient county name) of Chen (who later entered Chu) at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period in 57 BC/KLOC-0 BC. China was an ancient thinker, philosopher, writer and historian, the founder and main representative of Taoist school. ?

Laozi is a world cultural celebrity, one of the world's 100 historical celebrities, and is also called Laozi and Zhuangzi with Zhuangzi. In Taoism, Laozi is regarded as the ancestor of Taoism and called "the old gentleman on the throne". In the Tang Dynasty, Laozi was regarded as the ancestor of Li. ?

Laozi's thought has a far-reaching influence on the development of China's philosophy, and its ideological core is simple dialectics. Politically, Laozi advocates the rule of inaction and the teaching of words. Politically, Lao Tzu pays attention to the truth that extremes meet.

In terms of self-cultivation, Laozi is the ancestor of Taoist double cultivation, paying attention to modest and upright practice and not competing with others. Laozi's masterpiece Tao Te Ching (also known as Laozi) is one of the most widely circulated works in the world.

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Laozi's works and thoughts have become the precious wealth of the world historical and cultural heritage. The influence of Laozi's thought is unparalleled not only in Taoism, but also far-reaching outside Taoism.

Its influence not only includes philosophy, religion, politics, economics, sociology, aesthetics, ethics, literature and art, psychology, education, logic and rhetoric, but also involves many fields such as medicine, health preservation, qigong, military affairs, management, architecture and gardening. According to the incomplete statistics of the Yuan Dynasty, since the pre-Qin period, there have been more than 3,000 kinds of research and annotation works in the Yuan Dynasty.

As early as18th century, some western countries had many versions of Laozi. According to the statistics of UNESCO, Laozi is the most published book except the Bible in the world, with more than 300 editions in Japan alone.

By the forties and fifties of the 20th century, there were more than 60 translations of Tao Te Ching in Europe. World-renowned scholars such as German philosophers Hegel, Nietzsche and Russian great writer Tolstoy all made in-depth research on Tao Te Ching, and all of them had monographs or monographs.

Laozi is one of the three great saints in the East in the eyes of westerners. The New York Times once listed Laozi as one of the top ten writers in the world. There are ten statues of the world's top thinkers in the square of the British Library in London, and Laozi is one of them. Laozi's thought has already broken through national boundaries and become the spiritual wealth of all mankind.

Baidu encyclopedia-Laozi