Laozi - Richardson, TX - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

"Lao-Tzu (c. 500 BCE, also known as Laozi or Lao-Tze) was a Chinese philosopher credited with founding the philosophical system of Taoism. He is best known as the author of the Laozi (later retitled the Tao-Te-Ching translated as “The Way of Virtue” or “The Classic of the Way and Virtue”) the work which exemplifies his thought.

The name by which he is known is not a personal name but an honorific title meaning 'Old Man' or 'Old Master' and the debate continues as to whether an individual by that name ever existed or whether Lao-Tzu is an amalgam of many different philosophers. The historian Will Durant comments: Lao-Tze, greatest of the pre-Confucian philosophers, was wiser than Teng Shih; he knew the wisdom of silence, and lived, we may be sure, to a ripe old age – though we are not sure that he lived at all.

Durant expresses the scholarly consensus on the historicity of Lao-Tzu in that he may be a fictitious character created to embody the concept of the sage. At the same time, according to Chinese tradition, he was an actual historical figure and, in religious Taoism, he is understood as a deity.

If he did exist, he is thought to have lived in the 6th century BCE. According to legend, Lao-Tzu tried his best to instruct people in the way of the Tao, the creative and binding force which runs through the universe, but no one would listen. His explanation that people could live happier, more fulfilling, lives by aligning themselves with the natural flow of the Tao, instead of placing themselves in opposition to it, went unheeded and, finally, he decided to leave humanity behind and retire into seclusion after writing the Tao-Te-Ching."

Statue depicts a man with a mustache and beard. His hair is pulled up into a topknot on the top of his head. He is wearing a flowing robe with large sleeves. In his right hand he is holding a scroll. With his left hand he is pointing skyward.