Laozi

(604 BC–500 BC) Laozi was a legendary Chinese philosopher considered to be the author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of Taoism. Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as later inventions and his opus a collaboration of various writers, with the name Laozi, literally meaning 'Old Master', likely intended to portray an archaic anonymity that could converse with Confucianism. Traditional accounts addend him as Li Er, born in the 6th-century BC state of Chu during China's Spring and Autumn period. Serving as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng, he met and impressed Confucius on one occasion, composing the Dào Dé Jīng in a single session before retiring into the western wilderness.