Religion Wiki
Register
Advertisement
See also:
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Chinese mythology
Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)
Four Benevolent Animals
Dragon King
Eight Immortals
Bagua

Laozi (also Lao-Tzu, Lao-Tsu, or Lao-tze) was a philosopher and poet of ancient China. He is best known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, but he is also revered as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. Although a legendary figure, he is usually dated to around the 6th century BC and reckoned a contemporary of Confucius

Laozi is regarded to be a manifestation of Daode Tianzun. Daode Tianzun (道德天尊) is the official title for Tàiqīng (太清): the Grand Pure One, which is one of the Three Pure Ones.
The third story in Sima Qian states that Laozi grew weary of the moral decay of life in Chengzhou and noted the kingdom's decline. He ventured west to live as a hermit in the unsettled frontier at the age of 160. In others, the "Old Master" journeyed all the way to India and was the teacher of Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. Others claim he was the Buddha himself.

Table[]

Each stripe in the table below is 30 years.

If the text is too small you can zoom in by pressing ctrl +



Notes[]

  1. There is the legend of the Four shi (四氏), who took part in creating the world. The four members are Youchao, Suiren, Fu Xi and Shennong
  2. Apart from legends, Shaohao is generally considered as the son of the Yellow Emperor Huang Di
  3. Zhuanxu was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and his wife Leizu by way of his father Changyi
  4. Ku's lineage is derived from descent from the legendary Yellow Emperor, then through the line of Shaohao (as opposed to the line through Changyi, which led to Zhuanxu).
    He was the son of Qiaoji (蟜極/蟜极), and thus grandson to Shaohao, and great-grandson to Yellow Emperor
  5. daughter of the Yellow Emperor
  6. It is recorded in Shu Jing (Book of History) compiled by Confucius that Emperor Shun sacrificed to Shang-Di:
    Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements [planets] had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and moon to shine. You, O Spiritual Sovereign first divided the grosser parts from the purer. {{Fontcolor||red|You made heaven. You made earth]]. You made man. All things with their reproducing power got their being (Legge, 1852, p. 28)
  7. second son to Emperor Ku and Qingdu
  8. Shun received the mantle of leadership from Emperor Yao at the age of 53, and then died at the age of 100 years. Before his death Shun is recorded as relinquishing his seat of power to Yu
Advertisement