Laozi Legend
01 · Historical Records
Laozi was a great thinker, philosopher and man of letters of the Spring and Autumn period and the founder of Daoism; his thought is a cultural treasure of the Chinese nation, and Daoism deified him and revered him as its patriarch. After resigning office Laozi came to Hangu Pass, where he wrote the Daodejing and lived day by day among the local people, leaving behind many moving legends. The Laozi legends connected with Hangu Pass originated at Hangu Pass in Lingbao city, Sanmenxia, Henan, and are current mainly in Diantou, Wangduo, Liwanyuan, Xizhai, Meng and Chousang villages of Hanguan town.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
These legends involve a great deal of material connected with Lingbao folk custom and the life of the common people: because the people saw the purple air and welcomed Laozi, they wrote “purple air comes from the east” on their door lintels as an auspicious sign; because Laozi saw the farmers' toil in reaping wheat, he invented the mulberry fork; and because Laozi learned of a plague among the people, he cured it with the bezoar of the green ox he rode, so that on the twenty-third day of the first lunar month every household pastes a golden ox on its door.
Purple Air Comes from the East
The legend in which the villagers see the purple air and welcome Laozi, and so write “purple air comes from the east” on their lintels as a favourable sign.
Laozi Invents the Mulberry Fork
The legend that Laozi, seeing the farmers' hardship in reaping wheat, invented the mulberry fork.
Curing the Plague with the Green Ox's Bezoar
The legend that Laozi cured the people's plague with the bezoar of the green ox he rode.
The Custom of Pasting a Golden Ox on the 23rd of the First Month
The folk custom of pasting a golden ox on the door of every household on the twenty-third day of the first lunar month in the Lingbao area.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Lingbao city preserves a great many cultural sites, place names, natural features and buildings connected with Laozi; among them Hangu Pass, Laojun Plateau, the Three Purities Hall, the Green Ox Temple, Laojun's divine well and the numinous stone—names that appear in the Laozi legends—are still in use today, and give the legends a striking local colour. The Lingbao Laozi legends are markedly regional and fused with the surrounding geography; closely tied to local custom and culture, they reflect the thinking of the common class and its aspiration towards simplicity, nature and harmony, and embody the dialectical philosophy of Daoism.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Laozi Legend.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Lingbao Laozi legends have become an important resource for Laozi studies. Deeply rooted in the Lingbao populace and transmitted for more than 2,500 years, they spread mainly by word of mouth, their bearers concentrated in Liang village of Hanguan town. Refined and distilled by generation after generation of Lingbao people, the legends are at once literary and thoughtful—fine works of oral literature with a certain artistic value; they are both the crystallization of local wisdom and a vehicle of Daoist cultural transmission, and the philosophy they convey—governing by non-action, following nature, fortune and misfortune leaning on one another, and benefiting the ten thousand things without contending—still plays a positive role in promoting social harmony and achieving sustainable economic, social and environmental development.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Hu Zhi 05-2025
- Huang Qinghua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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