Laozi, a famous thinker in the Spring and Autumn Period, was highly regarded by later generations. The Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu in more than 5,000 words, has been handed down to this day and has become an important enlightenment for Taoist philosophical thoughts.
Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" expounds the laws of nature and discusses the relationship between Tao and virtue and people. Later, even Taoism founded by Zhang Ling and Zhang Tianshi respected Laozi as the originator. Even Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period had a very high opinion of Laozi.
In Sima Qian's "Historical Records", there is such a record: Laozi once served as a historian for the Zhou royal family to manage the book collection, but later he lived in seclusion and became an official. After riding a green ox out of Hangu Pass to the west, he never returned His tracks are known.
Why did I have to travel far away from home?
According to historical records, Laozi left Hangu Pass in the west and was forced to write a book by the passer Yin Xi, thus leaving behind the "Tao Te Ching" that has been passed down through the ages. After that, he continued to ride the green ox westward. Some people say that I left Dashan Pass in the west and went to India through the quicksand.
But at that time, I saw that the strength of the Zhou Dynasty was getting weaker and weaker after years of fighting. Of course, some people have also put forward Laozi's hypothesis about returning to the "Tao" in the West.
Some people say that in his later years, I settled near Lintao, Gansu Province, away from the wars and official career in the Central Plains. Here I began to practice Taoist inner elixirs and rest in health. After attaining enlightenment, he "ascended" at the Transcendental Platform in Lintao.
Another reason is that the ancients advocated ancient learning. During the Spring and Autumn Period, some people believed that cultural orthodoxy and morality should be outside the Guan Dynasty during the periods of King Wen and King Wu of Zhou Dynasty. Going to live in seclusion outside the customs is a kind of cultural conversion.
In Laozi’s philosophical thought, he tried to establish a theory that encompasses everything in the universe; Laozi believed that everything should follow such a theory.
From "The sky and the earth move on their own without being pushed, the sun and the moon shine by themselves without being burned, the stars sequence themselves without being arranged, the animals come into being by themselves without being made by man, this is what nature does, why bother with man?"