It is really worth thinking about, these old stories... I doubt the leaving part of the Laozi story as much as anything written about him. It is also said he had a family; his son is mentioned. But never mentioned in the stories. I have some misgivings when individual's origin stories that become religious foundations focus so primarily on themselves and disregard their personal connections. It starts to show up often if we look for it.🙏 I really appreciate your work.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Paul. I'm with you on this. Personally, I think there are too many mysterious elements in Laozi as a person and the Tao Te Ching. I'm still not convinced whether Laozi was older than Confucius or someone later than Confucius. It seems to be the conventional view during the Han dynasty that Laozi was indeed a court historian familiar with the ritual system, and he had interactions with Confucius. But it's still difficult to verify these stories today.
It is really worth thinking about, these old stories... I doubt the leaving part of the Laozi story as much as anything written about him. It is also said he had a family; his son is mentioned. But never mentioned in the stories. I have some misgivings when individual's origin stories that become religious foundations focus so primarily on themselves and disregard their personal connections. It starts to show up often if we look for it.🙏 I really appreciate your work.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Paul. I'm with you on this. Personally, I think there are too many mysterious elements in Laozi as a person and the Tao Te Ching. I'm still not convinced whether Laozi was older than Confucius or someone later than Confucius. It seems to be the conventional view during the Han dynasty that Laozi was indeed a court historian familiar with the ritual system, and he had interactions with Confucius. But it's still difficult to verify these stories today.