Laozi
Tang dynasty

Due to his traditional name Li Er, Laozi has been venerated as the ancestor of all subsequent Lis, and many clans of the Li family trace their descent to Laozi, including the emperors of the Tang dynasty. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (隴西李氏). According to the Simpkinses, while many (if not all) of these lineages are questionable, they provide a testament to Laozi's impact on Chinese culture. Under the Tang, Laozi received a series of temple names of increasing grandeur. In the year 666, Emperor Gaozong named Laozi the "Supremely Mysterious and Primordial Emperor" (太上 玄 元 皇帝, Tàishàng Xuán Yuán Huángdì). In 743, Emperor Xuanzong declared him the " Sage Ancestor " (聖祖, Shèngzǔ) of the dynasty with the posthumous title of "Mysterious and Primordial Emperor" (玄 元 皇帝, Xuán Yuán Huángdì). Emperor Xuanzong also elevated Laozi's parents to the ranks of "Innately Supreme Emperor" (先天 太上 皇, Xiāntiān Tàishàng Huáng) and "Innate Empress" (先天 太后, Xiāntiān Tàihòu). In 749, Laozi was further honored as the "Sage Ancestor and Mysterious and Primordial Emperor of the Great Way" (聖祖 大道 玄 元 皇帝, Shèngzǔ Dàdào Xuán Yuán Huángdì) and then, in 754, as the "Great Sage Ancestor and Mysterious and Primordial Heavenly Emperor and Great Sovereign of the Golden Palace of the High and Supreme Great Way" (大 聖祖 高 上 大道 金闕 玄 元 天皇 大帝, Dà Shèngzǔ Gāo Shǎng Dàdào Jīnquē Xuán Yuán Tiānhuáng Dàdì).

A seventh-century work, the Sandong Zhunang (三洞珠囊; "Pearly Bag of the Three Caverns"), presents Laozi is the perfect Taoist master and a character named Yinxi as the ideal Taoist student. Yinxi follows a formal sequence of preparation, testing, training and attainment.
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