   laozi (also lao-tzu "lao-tzu". random house webster's unabridged dictionary. or lao-tze) was a philosopher and poet of ancient china. he is best known as the reputed author of the tao te ching and the founder of philosophical taoism, but he is also revered as a deity in religious taoism and traditional chinese religions. although a legendary figure, he is usually dated to around the 6th century&nbsp;bc and reckoned a contemporary of confucius, but some historians contend that he actually lived during the warring states period of the 5th or 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;bc. a central figure in chinese culture, laozi is claimed by both the emperors of the tang dynasty and modern people of the li surname as a founder of their lineage. throughout history, laozi's work has been embraced by various anti-authoritarian movements.http://ztopics.com/lao-tse/ ==names== in traditional accounts, laozi's personal name is usually given as li&nbsp;er  old&nbsp;*rÉÊ&nbsp;nÉÊ,baxter, william & al. "baxterâsagart old chinese reconstruction". 20&nbsp;feb&nbsp;2011. accessed 17&nbsp;jan&nbsp;2014. mod.&nbsp;lÇ&nbsp;Är) and his courtesy name as boyang   old&nbsp;*pË¤rak-lang, mod.&nbsp;bÃ³yÃ¡ng). a prominent posthumous name was li&nbsp;dan  lÇ&nbsp;dÄn).bryce link laozi itself is an honorific title:  (old&nbsp;*rË¤uÊ, "old, venerable") and  (old&nbsp;[
6th-century_BC_deaths 6th-century_BC_philosophers 7th-century_BC_births Chinese_gods Deified_people People_whose_existence_is_disputed Taoism Zhou_dynasty_Taoists Zhou_dynasty_philosophers