Laozi, surnamed Li Minger and Mingdan, was the founder of Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period. Judging from the articles handed down now, Laozi is a "wise man" with extensive knowledge, sharp eyes, profound thoughts and outstanding eloquence. This may be related to his work as a "library historian" in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. He pointed out that the reason why ordinary people don't have enough to eat is because the rulers exploit them too much. Laozi has a famous saying, "People are not afraid of death, why should you be afraid of death?" Often quoted by later generations. Confucius once compared Laozi to a dragon swimming in the fog, which made people unpredictable and inscrutable.

Laozi's greatest achievement is to write the Tao Te Ching. It is said that after I finished writing this book, I went out to Hangu Pass and disappeared. Tao Te Ching, a philosophical poem written in verse, has only 5,000 words in total. It is divided into Tao Te Ching, which is mainly philosophical, and Tao Te Ching, which is mainly political and military. Laozi believes that everything is interrelated and interdependent. Being and not being, being difficult and easy, being long and short, being up and down are all unity of opposites. If one party does not exist, the other party will lose the conditions for existence. He also realized that opposites can be transformed.

Laozi was very dissatisfied with the social reality that the princes were fighting and the people were in poverty at that time. His ideal society is "a small country with few people", and the neighboring countries "hear the voice of chickens and dogs, and die of old age and death", which embodies Lao Zi's philosophical thought of "governing by doing nothing". He hoped that the ruling class could realize the profound truth that "I do nothing and the people are from the top, I am quiet and the people are from the bottom, I do nothing and the people are rich, and I have no desire and the people are simple", which had a great influence in ancient China. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the ruling class practiced the politics of Huang Lao (Huang refers to Huang Di and Lao Zi) characterized by the Taoist thought of "inaction", which quickly restored the economy in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty and led to a very famous prosperity of "the rule of culture and scenery".

As for Taoism, it is a local religion in China, which is gradually developed on the basis of folk witchcraft, magic and the five elements of Yin and Yang. It has nothing to do with Taoism founded by Laozi. However, when Zhang Daoling founded the primitive Taoism-"Five Mi Dou Daoism" in the Shun Di period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he took Laozi, who had been dead for more than 700 years, as the leader and the Tao Te Ching as the doctrine, which really wronged Mr. Laozi.

During the period of Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi in Tang Dynasty, Taoism developed rapidly. After the northern song dynasty, it was gradually divided into "orthodox school" and "quanzhen school" In the Ming Dynasty, Taoism continued to spread. After entering the Qing Dynasty, orthodox Taoism gradually declined. However, many Taoist gods, such as Guandi, God of Wealth, Kitchen God, Land God and Fu Lushou Samsung, are still widely worshipped among the people. This vividly reflects the "folk nature" of Taoism.