The book written at a border gate

Laozi, whose name means “Old Master”, was said to be a keeper of the royal archives of the Zhou dynasty. As the dynasty declined, he grew tired of its corruption and decided to leave, riding west on a water buffalo.

At the frontier pass, the gatekeeper, Yinxi, recognised him. Sensing that a great sage was about to disappear from the world, Yinxi asked him to write down his teachings before he went.

According to the historian Sima Qian, Laozi wrote a book in two parts, about five thousand characters long, on the Tao and its virtue. Then he rode on through the pass, and no one knows where he ended his days.

Historians doubt the story; the Tao Te Ching may be the work of several authors over generations. But the legend fits the book perfectly. A text that says “he who knows does not speak” exists only because someone asked a wise man not to leave in silence.