Tags: god | Laozi | print

In the picture, Taishang Laojun sits solemnly in the center, holding the Tai Chi diagram in his hands. Two boys stand on his sides. On the top is a sign saying Taishang Laojun. Taishang Laojun’s original name is Li Er. According to legend, he was nurtured in his mother’s womb for eighty-one years during which his hair grew white, thus he is also called Laozi. He was born in the country of Chu. Records of the Grand Scribe says that Confucius, the Great Sage and Teacher, has once sought the wisdom of Laozi on “Li” (etiquette and ceremony). Laozi resided in the country of Zhou for a long time. After observing the decline of Zhou, he rode a green ox and passed through the Hangu Pass. The officer there saw purple clouds drifting in from the east and realized a great sage is coming. He welcomed Laozi, put him up in a hotel, and said to Laozi, “Before you become a hermit, please write your thoughts down.” So, Laozi wrote Tao Te Ching, which has more than 5000 words, and crossed the western quicksand. He never returned and was revered as the founder of Taoism.

Printmaking
30.5x20.5 cm

National Museum of History