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The belief that Laozi, or Dao De Ching was the avatar of Laojun was not a commonly accepted concept in the Chinese religious or philosophical sphere, but merely a belief held by some devotees, as per the source cited. |
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'''Laozi''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|au|d|z|ə}}, {{lang-zh|{{linktext|老子}}}}), also romanized as '''Lao Tzu''' and [[#Name|various other ways]], was a [[Chinese legend|semi-legendary]] [[ancient China|ancient Chinese]] [[Chinese philosophy|philosopher]], author of the ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'', the foundational text of [[Taoism]] along with the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]''. Laozi is a [[Chinese honorific]], typically translated as "the Old Master". Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as invented, and his opus a collaboration. Traditional accounts say he was born as {{nowrap|'''Li Er'''}} in the [[ancient Chinese state|state]] of [[state of Chu|Chu]] in the 6th century{{nbsp}}BC during China's [[Spring and Autumn period]], served as the royal [[archives|archivist]] for the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] court at [[Wangcheng (Zhou dynasty)|Wangcheng]] (in modern [[Luoyang]]), met and impressed [[Confucius]] on one occasion, and composed the ''Tao Te Ching'' in a single session before retiring into the western wilderness.
A central figure in [[Chinese culture]], Laozi is generally considered the founder of Taoism. He was claimed and [[ancestor veneration in China|revered]] as the ancestor of the 7th{{ndash}}10th century [[Tang dynasty]] and is similarly honored in modern China as the progenitor of the popular [[Li (surname 李)|surname Li]]. In some sects of Taoism, [[Chinese Buddhism]], [[Confucianism]], and [[Chinese folk religion]], it is held that he then became an [[Taoist immortal|immortal]] [[hermit]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Desk Encyclopedia of World History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7394-7809-7 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=Edmund |location=New York |pages=365}}</ref> Certain Taoist devotees held that the ''Tao Te Ching'' was the avatar – embodied as a book – of the god [[Laojun]], one of the [[Three Pure Ones]] of the Taoist pantheon, though few philosophers believe this.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldin |first=Paul R. |title=The Art of Chinese Philosophy: Eight Classical Texts and How to Read Them |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691200811 |page=110 |doi=10.1515/9780691200811-008 |s2cid=242423709}}</ref> The ''Tao Te Ching'' had a profound influence on [[religion in China|Chinese religious movements]] and on subsequent Chinese philosophers, who annotated, commended, and criticized
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