Lao Tse

Lao Tse is the name commonly used to refer to the author of the Tao Te Ching, an early philosophical work from Asia. He (or perhaps even she) may not have actually existed. Various reports have him living somewhere between the 2nd and 6th century BCE.

The name Lao Tse is an honorific title. Lao is often translated as "venerable" or "old." Tse can translate literally as "child" or "offspring", but it was also a term for a rank of nobleman equivalent to viscount, as well as a term of respect attached to the names of revered scholars. Thus, "Lao Tse" can be translated as "the old master”, or perhaps more elegantly, “the old boy.” Lao Tse is believed by some to have been a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BC), and by others to be a teacher of Confucius.

The exact circumstances surrounding Lao Tse's creation of the Tao Te Ching have been lost to the centuries, but one popular account goes something like this:

Lao Zi was the keeper of the archives (what we might today think of as 'the wise man') in one of the many kingdoms that are now part of China. When he saw that the kingdom was in decline, he decided to leave. Apon reaching the border, the official in charge of the border pass stopped him asking something to the effect of "if you go, how will we know the right way to follow?" And so, before leaving, Lao Zi wrote out the 5000 words of the Tao Te Ching for posterity.