During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the thought of Huang Lao prevailed, and Lao Zi was honored as the sage of the first king, with the same status as Yao Shun and Kong Zhou. Of course, because there were too many rumors about Laozi in the early Han Dynasty, the statements in Historical Records are for reference only. The only certainty is that since the rise of Huang, Laozi has been gradually rendered into a god by Taoism and become the object of emperor's sacrifice.
Under the influence of various legends of Laozi, Laozi was completely mythologized and became an old gentleman. There were differences in the development of Taoism between the North and the South during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The northern Taoist believes in the old gentleman, and the southern Taoist believes in the three caves, including the moral heaven.
Because the ruler of Li Tang shared the same surname as Lao Zi, Lao Zi was revered as the ancestor by the imperial clan of Li Tang. Since Tang Gaozong and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there have been more and more honorifics for the old gentleman. The imperial court built the "Taiqing Palace" to worship Laozi and regarded it as an ancestral temple.
"The Seven Signs of the Cloud" records that the deity of Taishang Laojun is not limited by time and space, so it cannot be described. "Avenue" also goes beyond the concept that most people understand, so it can't be named. The old gentleman is the embodiment of the avenue, the gathering of the avenue is the old gentleman, and the dispersion is the gas (one gasification and three cleanness). The reason why the old gentleman can manifest his spirit is to educate the world.