Lao Tzu

Laozi (also Lao-Tzu 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 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 century 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.
== Tossup Questions ==
# This person performed his most famous feat immediately after dismounting from a water buffalo. He was conceived by his mother as she gazed upon a pole star while leaning against a plum tree and stayed in her womb for 62 years. This man taught that "we join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move." This man, who formed a close relationship with a sentry in the frontier after escaping the moral decay of city life, came up with an idea known as "as-it-is-ness," or (*) ziran. His major work was commissioned by Yinxi, opens by saying "A name that can be named is not the Name," and teaches inaction, or wu wei. For 10 points, name this figure who wrote the Dao Dejing, the founder of Daoism.
# In one story, this figure was conceived when his mother saw a baby wrapped in the sun, moon, and clouds. When he was born, three suns rose and nine dragons gave him magic water to drink. Born with the name Li Erh, he learned to swallow the rays of the sun. He washes the ears of his donkey after receiving a political message. Near the end of his life, this man was said to have climbed Mount Kun Lun. He was told to write (*) five thousand characters after Yinxi stopped him at the Hangu pass. From those characters, he produced a work that includes the directive "He who knows does not speak" among its eighty-one chapters, popularizing the concept of wu-wei. For 10 points, name this mythical author of the Tao Te Ching.