In the history of ancient Chinese thought, Lao Tzu was the only thinker who could keep pace with Confucius. But in the "Chronicle of History", the biographies of the two are not the same as each other-
"Confucius Family" is more than 8,000 words, from the birth of Confucius to the death of Confucius, the deeds are rich and informative, even detailed enough to compile the chronology. At the same time, there is also a 6,000-word "Biography of Zhongni Disciples" in the "Records of History", and there are more than 70 disciples with names and surnames.
The biography of Lao Tzu is really thin. He was not only compiled in the combined biography of Lao Tzu Han Fei Lie, but also was actually a joint biography of Lao Tzu and Zhuang Zhou, Shen BuXi, and Han Fei, so some versions are also called "Lao Zhuang Shen Han Lie Biography".
This biography of four people is only more than 2,000 words in total, and the part of Lao Tzu is only 500 words. Among them, it also contains a paragraph of nearly 200 words of "Confucius Shi Zhou" to Lao Tzu to "greet". If this story is removed and placed in the Confucius Family, then the pure biography of Lao Tzu is only 300 words left.
Many people will ask: Why is Lao Tzu called "Lao Tzu"? Sima Qian did not say that posterity has a variety of explanations. Representative are the following three types:
The first is that Li'er's mother was 81 years pregnant before giving birth to him. Li Er was born with white hair, so he was called "Lao Tzu".
The second theory is that Zhang Shoujie of the Tang Dynasty quoted the Tang Dynasty Taoist priest Zhang Junxiang as saying that "Lao Tzu" was a number, not a name. Old, Kaoya; Son, Ziye. To examine the principles of the teachings and attain the attainment of the Divine Providence is to give birth to all reasons and to make good use of all things.
Previous generations have different views on this view. Although old can be trained as "examination", this "examination" is still the meaning of old age and old age, not "examination". That is to say, the old man can be trained as the "examination" of the "shou examination", but he cannot be trained as the "examination" of "examination" and "examination evidence".
The third is Jiang Boqian's point of view, which is generally credible. Because Lao Tzu was originally a hermit gentleman, "self-concealed and unnamed", many people did not know his name, and saw that he was an elderly scholar, so he was generally called "Lao Tzu". The "son" is Yuyun "Mr." also, and the "Lao Tzu" cloud is now called "Old Mr."
Judging from LaoZi's name, "聃" should be Lao Tzu's word, not a posthumous nickname. Because the name ear is closely related to the word, it conforms to the general law of taking words. Moreover, Lao Tzu was the "history of the shouzang room" in the Zhou Dynasty, and there may not be any nickname.
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In addition, it has been suggested that the Tao Te Ching, whether in terms of chapter structure or overall conception, is not a work of one person, but is more like a collection of excerpts and compilations. In other words, the Tao Te Ching is a collection of famous Taoist sayings from all generations, and Laozi's remarks occupy a pivotal position. In this regard, the believers have faith, and the doubters have doubts, which can be further explored.
Source: Magazine of All Walks of Life, Issue 4, 2022
Author: Zhang Lihua