"I" am "Laozi"

Roland, over at ESWN, reports on how the term "Laozi" 老子  is sometimes used colloquially to refer to "wuo" 我.  Laozi is, of course, the name of the legendary author of the Daodejing.  So, confusion can be created when the informal colloquialism is used, and Roland links to an amusing example of this.

I was not aware of this usage, perhaps because I hang around academic types who tend to use more formal language around me.  But it makes a certain sense.  "Lao" is often used to refer to an individual informally: Lao Li or Lao Yang or the like.  Turning it back on "I" or "me" - in the general sense of Laozi or "old one" - is a logical extension. 

But I am less interested in the linguistics here (however interesting that may be).  Philosophically there is something appropriate about Laozi meaning "me."  I am one of those who agrees with the notion that Laozi is not a real historical person:

Few scholars today would subscribe fully to the Shiji report. Indeed, according to William Boltz, it “contains virtually nothing that is demonstrably factual; we are left no choice but to acknowledge the likely fictional nature of the traditional Lao tzu [Laozi] figure” (1993, 270).

Laozi is certainly a legend, and a potent one at that.  And the beauty and wisdom of the Daodejing, and other Daoist texts, do not depend upon the actual historical existence of a man called "Laozi."  Indeed, I think that if we consider the Daodejing, and think about the possibility that the individual reader of the text is, simultaneously, the author of the text (i.e. "I" am "Laozi" when I read the text), that new interpretive possibilities arise.

The Daodejing is meant to inspire a certain self-reflection.  It causes the reader to think about his or her place in Way; and it encourages him or her to envision the most appropriate manner to move through Way.  These are highly personalized conceptions.  My place in Way is not yours; and your path through Way is not mine.  It's in that sense that each of us is the author of our own unique experience in and through Way.  "I" am "Laozi."

Comments

[Bill]

老子 also means "Father" when used colloquially, especially when used as replacement for or with wuo - like Nei Laozi Wuo.

[Chris]

I'm with you. Although I find the historical questions about Laozi (or Confucius, for that matter) interesting, for me they are puzzles that are separate from the main reason I like to engage with these texts: to reflect further about my own life, and about life in general. Most recently (at my place), I've been engaged in some "tao of parenting" reflections, and none of these turn on answers to the ways in which these texts (or these personages) have been constructed. Interesting questions for historians, I suppose, but less important for me personally.

[tuzi]

Interesting way of looking at it...
Tones are different though. 老子 as in "Laozi" is pronounced Láozǐ. 老子 as in "I" is pronounced Lǎozi.

[Casey Kochmer]

:)