Laozi, the author of the Dao De Jing
Laozi (老子, "the old master") is the traditional author of the Dao De Jing, but almost nothing about him can be established with certainty.
What the tradition says
The oldest account is the short biography in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (about 94 BC). It names him Li Er, an archivist at the Zhou court in the 6th century BC, and tells how, leaving the declining Zhou state, he was asked by the keeper of a border pass to write down his teaching, and left behind a book of some 5,000 characters in two parts, on the Way and on virtue. Sima Qian himself gives other candidates and admits the uncertainty.
What scholars think
Most historians today see the Dao De Jing as a text that grew over time, collected and shaped between roughly the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, rather than the work of one writer. Manuscripts found at Guodian (about 300 BC) and Mawangdui (2nd century BC) show earlier versions with different orders and wording.
The text on this site
This site follows the received text with the commentary of Wang Bi (226 to 249 AD), one of the most widely read versions for well over a thousand years, divided into 81 chapters.
| Chinese name | 老子 Laozi (Lao Tzu) |
| Book | 道德经 Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) |
| Length | About 5,000 characters, 81 chapters |
| Earliest manuscripts | Guodian (about 300 BC), Mawangdui (before 168 BC) |
| Received text | Wang Bi (3rd century AD) |