Laozi is a famous thinker and philosopher in the history of our country. He is also the founder of Taoism. He has always been revered as the ancestor of Taoism in Taoism. As for Lao Tzu, his real name is Li Er, and Lao Tzu is just his self-proclaimed name. It is said that he calls himself Lao Tzu for two reasons. The first one is that when Lao Tzu was born, his beard and hair were all white. Later, people gave him a nickname called Lao Tzu, and it has been passed down since then. The second reason is that his achievements are very high. And there is also a legend about Lao Tzu’s teacher. The first theory is that his teacher was Taoist Hongjun, and the second theory is that his teacher was Chang Zong.
There was a legend about why Li Er was called Lao Tzu. At that time, Li Er's mother was pregnant for eighty-one years and finally gave birth to Li Er. The reason was that Li Er's mother ate a plum. Li Er had very big ears when he was born, so he was named Li Er. Then why is Li Er called Lao Tzu? It is also said that when Li Er was born, his beard and hair were all white, so others thought he was a weirdo. Later, people gave him a nickname called Lao Tzu, and in the end this nickname stuck. Of course this is just a legend, or a fantasy story told by people. Another reason why Li Er calls him Lao Tzu is because of his very high achievements. The word "Zi" was a respectful name for people in ancient times. At that time, Lao Tzu was a famous thinker and the founder of the Taoist school, so he was respectfully called Lao Tzu.
There are also two opinions about Lao Tzu’s teacher. There is a saying that Lao Tzu's teacher was Taoist Hongjun. Because some people think that Lao Tzu is the incarnation of Taishang Laojun, so he is different from other people when he is born. In the mythical story Fengshen Yanyi, Taoist Hongjun is Taishang Laojun’s master. Since I am the incarnation of Taishang Laojun, Taoist Hongjun is also Laozi’s master. But looking at this statement, we should also know that this is just a fairy tale.
Another theory is that Chang Zong was Laozi’s teacher. However, there is almost no relevant record of this man named Chang Zong in history books. There is no information including his original name, years of birth and death, and other introductions about him. However, we live in a commonly used idiom "the tongue remains and the teeth perish". Rumor has it that it comes from Chang Zong. It can be seen that in fact, there is no particularly clear statement about Lao Tzu's teacher in history, and some are just some rumors.