It is said that Lao Zi was born into a noble family in Xia Dynasty and his father was a senior official in Zhou Dynasty. He has shown extraordinary talent and wisdom since he was a child, and he has performed very well in morality, politics, literature and music. It is said that when he was 14 years old, he was already a teacher in the state of Qi, which had a far-reaching impact on his later political and philosophical development.
Laozi founded the Taoist school. His main idea is "Tao", that is, the origin of all things and the laws of nature. He believes that human beings and nature are a whole and should live in harmony with nature. He did not pursue personal interests or power, but adopted the concept of "inaction" and let the forces of nature and the universe play a natural role. He emphasized the harmony between man and nature, and believed that people should abide by the laws of nature and should not interfere excessively with the process of nature.
World influence
Laozi's works and thoughts have become the precious wealth of the world's historical and cultural heritage. The influence of Laozi's thoughts 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. 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 philosopher Hegel, Nietzsche and Russian writer Tolstoy had made in-depth research on Tao Te Ching, and all of them had monographs or monographs.