Where did Laozi grow up and live?

📍Luyi, Henan, China

“I was born Li Er — known to the world as Laozi, meaning Old Master — in the state of Chu in what is now Henan province, China, traditionally dated to around 601 BC though my historicity is debated. I served as a keeper of the royal archives in the Zhou dynasty court at Luoyi. According to tradition I grew weary of the decline of Zhou society and decided to leave China. At the western border I was asked by the gatekeeper Yin Xi to record my wisdom before departing. I wrote the eighty-one short chapters of the Tao Te Ching and then disappeared into the west, never to be seen again. Whether I existed as a historical person matters less than what the Tao Te Ching contains — the most translated text in the world after the Bible, and the foundation of Taoist philosophy and religion.”

👍 LovedThe Zhou dynasty archive and its accumulated wisdom. The Tao Te Ching's eighty-one chapters written at a border crossing. The teaching that the way that can be spoken is not the eternal way.

👎 DislikedThe decline of Zhou society that prompted the departure. The border crossing that was the last known moment. The uncertainty about whether I existed as described.

Map showing where Laozi lived — Luyi, Henan, China

🗺️ Approximate location today

Satellite view of Laozi's home at Luyi, Henan, China

Sources: Lau, D.C. Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (1963, translation and introduction), Penguin; Hansen, C. A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought (1992), Oxford University Press