6th century BCE (traditional) · China

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu is the half-legendary founder of Taoism, traditionally the keeper of the archives in the Zhou court. He is said to have written the Tao Te Ching, eighty-one short, paradoxical verses, before leaving civilisation behind. It teaches the Tao, the Way that underlies everything and cannot be put into words, and wu wei, action through non-forcing: like water, which yields to everything and yet wears down stone.

Core ideas