Scholars › Philosopher / Thinker
Lie Zi
Daoist master Lie Yukou, known from anecdotes in the Zhuangzi, whose name is attached to the Liezi, a book many scholars date in its present form to the Wei-Jin period
Mural of The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains, a work by this person.
Yu Gong works alone at the foot of Taihang and Wangwu, bent into the rocky soil with his hoe. His steady labor makes the seemingly impossible task of moving the mountains a measure of resolve.
Also known as Lie Yukou · Zi Kou
Liezi, personal name Yukou, is said to have come from the state of Zheng in the Warring States period, but his life is known only from scattered later texts, and even his existence is disputed. The *Zhuangzi* says he could ride the wind and refused grain from a Zheng minister, while the *Annals of Lu Buwei* (*Lushi chunqiu*) sums up his teaching as prizing emptiness. The bibliography of the *History of the Han* (*Hanshu*) lists a *Liezi* in eight chapters among the Daoist books, with Ban Gu's note that he came before Zhuangzi, who cited him. The received *Liezi*, with a commentary by Zhang Zhan of the Eastern Jin, contains the fable of the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains, but its date was questioned as early as Liu Zongyuan of the Tang, and most modern scholars think it was compiled or expanded in the Wei-Jin period. In 742 Emperor Xuanzong of Tang gave Liezi a Daoist title and renamed the book the *Chongxu zhenjing*.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; traditionally of Zheng in the early Warring States