They practise meditation, chant scriptures, and worship a variety of gods and goddesses in temples run by priests. Today there are at least twenty million Daoists, and perhaps even half a billion, living around the world, especially in China and Taiwan. Lao Tzu leaving the kingdom on his water buffalo But stories about Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching have passed down through different Chinese philosophical schools for over two thousand years and have become wondrously embellished in the process. In reality, the Tao Te Ching is likely to be the compilation of the works of many authors over time. After writing this, Lao Tzu is said to have crossed the border and disappeared from history, perhaps to become a hermit. According to this legend, what Lao Tzu wrote became the sacred text called the Tao Te Ching. Although he was dressed as a farmer, the border official recognised him and asked him to write down his wisdom.
So he left and rode on a water buffalo to the western border of the Chinese empire. Lao Tzu is said to have tired of life in the Zhou court as it grew increasingly morally corrupt. Lao Tzu as a deity, carving from the 7th or 8th century It is certainly very unlikely that (as some legends say) he was conceived when his mother saw a falling star, or was born an old man with very long earlobes – or lived 990 years.
This could be true, but he may also have been entirely mythical-much like Homer in Western culture. He is said to have been a record keeper in the court of the central Chinese Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century B.C., and an older contemporary of Confucius. Little is truly known about the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (sometimes also known as Laozi or Lao Tze), who is a guiding figure in Daoism (also translated as Taoism), a still popular spiritual practice.
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