Thinker of the Week: Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu

Name: Li Er (given name), Boyang (courtesy name), Laozi (“old master”, honorific)

Born: 604 BCE (we think)

Died: during the Zhou Dynasty (give or take)

Hometown: Chu, China

Fave Subjects: Right and Wrong, Power, Getting Back to Nature, Freedom

Career Highlights:

  • founded Taoist philosophy, and wrote one of its most important books
  • worked as the keeper of archives for the royal court
  • never ran a school, but had many, many students

Big Question:

How do we live a balanced, happy life? Hmmmmmm…

Pretty cool, huh? Find out about more amazing thinkers in our ThinkAboutIt series!