Lao Tse (China, 4th century BC). Chinese philosopher with a mythical aura, whose name means “old master”. He is the founder of Taoism . His main ideas were that people have to live in harmony and balance with nature. A famous thought from his book is: “He who knows, does not speak; he who speaks, does not know.”
Biographical summary
If he existed, he must have been born in the 4th century BCE. The confusion surrounding his birth date lies in the legend that he instructed Confucius; in fact, if Lao-tse existed, it was in the person of an anonymous philosopher of the 4th century BCE who attributed his work to this legendary sage. According to legend, Lao-tse was born in Henan Province and was a court librarian.
Philosophical work
He is believed to have written the Tao Te Ching (Book of the Way and Virtue), the great Chinese philosophical treatise, when he left China to live in an unknown part of the West . The Tao Te Ching is by far the most frequently translated work of literature from Chinese and had an enormous influence on Eastern thought and culture. Written around 300 BCE, the book, which is only 10,000 characters long, appears to be an anthology of ancient teachings, although its dense style suggests that it was the work of a single author.
The book is mostly composed of rhymes and can be read as one long philosophical poem. It teaches that “the way” (dao) of the world is most profitably realized by abandoning categories and values in favor of spontaneous perception. The wise man seeks to “do nothing” (wu wei) and let things take their natural course; thus, as was intended for a monarch, a king who aspires to be intelligent and fit is advised to keep his people simple and passive so that they may conform to nature, the true mind of man. Later stories and myths integrated Lao-tse into Chinese religion, making him a principal deity of the Taoist religion who revealed sacred texts to humanity; some legends hold that after leaving China he became Buddha.
His importance lies in having written the book Tao te ching (“On the Way and its Power”), from which Taoist philosophy begins. In this brief treatise he proposed an individual morality based on following the path of nature (the Tao ); consequently, he recommended virtues such as simplicity and naturalness, censured the ambition for power and wealth and prohibited the exercise of violence. Lao Tse’s thought also advised a liberal and pacifist political line, advising the authorities to intervene as little as possible in the life of the people and not to overwhelm them with taxes and regulations.
After his death, this secular philosophy was transformed into a religion, and later Taoism was filled with influences foreign to Lao Tse’s original work: it gave rise first to a contemplative mysticism based on inaction and identification through ecstasy with the absolute and impersonal energy of the world (the Tao); and later to a religion of magical practices governed by a high priest called the Master of Heaven (from the 1st century BCE to 1926 ).
The popular rebellion of the “Yellow Turbans” that took place in eastern China in the 2nd century and came to threaten imperial power was also of Taoist inspiration. In the long term, the most lasting influence of Lao Tse’s thought – given the decline of Taoist beliefs per se – has resulted from its influence on other philosophical or religious currents of Asia , such as Confucianism and Buddhism .
Death
He died in the 4th or 3rd century BC.