LAO-TZU

flourished 6th century BC, China Pinyin Laozi (Chinese: Master Lao, or Old Master), original name (Wade-Giles romanization) Li Erh, deified as Lao-chn, T'ai-shang Lao-chn, or T'ai-shang Hsan-yan Huang-ti, also called Lao Tun, or Lao Tan the first philosopher of Chinese Taoism and alleged author of the /a>Tao-te Ching (q.v.), a primary Taoist writing. Modern scholars discount the possibility that the Tao-te Ching was written by only one person but readily acknowledge the influence of Taoism on the development of Buddhism. Lao-tzu is venerated as a philosopher by Confucianists and as a saint or god by some of the common people and was worshiped as an imperial ancestor during the T'ang dynasty (618907). (See also Taoism.) Additional reading Holmes Welch, Taoism: The Parting of the Way, rev. ed. (1966); Max Kaltenmark, Lao Tzu and Taoism (1969).