Résumé

Laozi, la figure centrale du taoïsme, est décrit, dès la période des Royaumes combattants chinois (476-221 av. J.-C.), de manière différente – maître à penser, immortel ou divinité (suprême) – par ses divers partisans selon leurs nécessités contextuelles, intra- et/ou extra-communautaires, conjointement avec leur élaboration doctrinale et pratique.

Mots-clés : Laozi, divinisation, Taishang Laozun, immortel, tao(ïsme), dao, le Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian houji.

 

Abstract

The central figure in Taoism, Laozi, has been described in different ways, since the Chinese Warring States period (476-221 BCE) – for example, as a philosopher, as an immortal master, or as a (or the supreme) divinity. Descriptions may have varied between his various followers, certainly according to their contextual community needs, together with their doctrinal and practical development.

Keywords: Laozi, deification, Taishang Laozun, immortal, Tao(ism), dao, Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian houji.