WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -Laozi (Lao-tzu, fl. 6th cn. B.C.E.) Laozi is the name of a legendary Daoist philosopher, the alternate title of the early Chinese text better known in the West as the Daodejing, and the moniker of a deity in the pantheon of organized “religious Daoism” that arose during the later Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.).

Detailed explanation-2: -The Laozi-also called the Daodejing, or The Way and Its Power-has been understood as a set of instructions for virtuous rulership or for self-cultivation. It stresses the concept of nonaction or noninterference with the natural order of things.

Detailed explanation-3: -Laozi emphasized harmony with the Dao–a referent to something that cannot be named–in order to achieve balance in life. To assist this process, Laozi taught his followers the concepts of non-action (wuwei) and shade and light (yin/yang–primordial, dynamic balancing of opposites).

Detailed explanation-4: -Consensus suggests it was written around 400BC by one Laozi. Laozi translates simply as “old master” – a hint that the author’s (or authors’) true name has been lost for ever. Tao Te Ching translates very roughly as “the way of integrity".

Detailed explanation-5: -The Dao de jing is one of the two formative texts of the Chinese philosophy of Daoism. Supposedly by an author given the name “Laozi” (Old Master), the text is an anthology of sayings compounded over time, and organized into 81 brief chapters. It has had enormous influence in China, from the ancient period until today.