Laozi is the semi-legendary Chinese philosopher traditionally credited as the author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of Taoism, and considered by tradition to have lived in the 6th century BCE during China's Spring and Autumn period. Traditional accounts describe him as a royal archivist for the Zhou court who is said to have met Confucius before withdrawing westward into obscurity, composing his classic text along the way. Modern scholarship regards much of his biography as later invention and the Tao Te Ching itself as likely a composite work by several hands, but the figure of Laozi remains foundational to Chinese religious and philosophical tradition.
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