Leading figures in Taoism

Lao Tzo - one man or many?

Lao Tzu (Laozi) is traditionally described as the founder of Taoism, but modern writers think he is a legendary figure, and that the book attributed to him - the Tao Te Ching - is actually a collection of writings by many different wise people. In that way it's like the Biblical Book of Proverbs.

The term Lao Tzu may not be the name of a person, but a reference to 'the old master', meaning the accumulated wisdom of the elders, the wise old men and women of the culture in which Taoism originated.

However, at the time the Tao Te Ching was written down there may have been sound political reasons to give it the prestige of being a philosophical treatise by a master philosopher, one who could give lessons to Confucius (as he appears to do at points in the text.)

Over the centuries the legend of Lao Tzu developed. The first biography appeared around the 1st century BCE. Later mythological developments cast Lao Tzu in three roles - the original pure manifestation of the Tao as a God, the human philosopher who wrote the Tao Te Ching, and the Buddha.

To suggest that Lao Tzu had no historical existence doesn't disparage him, or Taoism, in any way. Myths have great power and value, and things can be true without having ever actually happened.

Chuang Tzu

The other main figure of Taoism is Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi), 3rd century BCE. Chuang Tzu has a book attributed to him, called the Chuang-Tzu after the practice of referring to Chinese texts by the names of their authors.