Laozi, surnamed Li Minger, also known as Bo Yang, or Shu Bo Yang, was born in Guxian County (now Lu Yi, Henan Province) at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. His date of birth and death is unknown, and he was born in 57 BC1at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Laozi is a great philosopher and thinker in China. His Taoist theory, with its simple dialectical philosophy, has had a far-reaching impact on the development of China and the world philosophy, involving more than ten disciplines and many fields, and is one of the foundations of China's traditional culture.
The historical record of Laozi's birth and death years is quite controversial. As far as his birthday is concerned, the folklore is the fifteenth day of the second lunar month. But it is a pity that no large-scale sacrificial ceremonies and festivals have been formed.
The Historical Position of Laozi's Philosophy
Laozi's philosophy is not only the source of Taoist philosophy, but also one of the sources of wisdom for the development and evolution of China's philosophy. It has a very important historical position in the history of China's philosophy.
First of all, Lao Tzu regards Tao as the origin of all things in the universe and constructs a philosophical system with Tao as the core category.
Secondly, Lao Zi put forward important categories such as Tao, virtue, emptiness, being, normality, inaction, weakness and emptiness, and endowed them with rich ideological connotations, and constructed a set of mysterious Tao as the highest philosophical category for observation and understanding under the framework of "Tao is omnipresent".
Finally, put the theory of life and social politics into practice. If Confucius inherited the tradition of ruling by courtesy since the Duke of Zhou, he founded the Confucian School. Laozi reflected and criticized the utilitarian and instrumental tendency of the society at that time, advocated the life style of returning to nature and the political thought of doing nothing, and founded the Taoist school.