China is one of the countries across the globe that has had different philosophical systems in its history that helped shape its future. These philosophical systems were developed by different Chinese philosophers. Among these is Lao Tze, who is credited for authoring the text, Tao Te Ching, and developing the philosophical system of Taoism (Seddon 113). It is estimated that Lao Tze lived in the 6th century. Whereas most of his followers knows him as a Lao Tze, which could be translated as “Old Teacher” or “Old Man”, this is a honorific title (Seddon 22).
中国是全球历史上拥有不同哲学体系的之一，这些哲学体系塑造了中国的未来。这些哲学体系是由不同的中国哲学家发展起来的。其中包括老子，他被认为是《道德经》的作者，并发展了道教的哲学体系（塞登113）。据估计老子生活在6世纪。他的大多数追随者都知道他是老子，可以翻译成“老教师”或“老人”，但这是一个尊称（Seddon 22）。
Importantly, a section of scholars have argued that Lao Tze was not an individual but rather an amalgam of different philosophers. In this essay, I treat Lao Tze as an individual, and as such, I highlight the reasons why I would like to be his follower.
重要的是，一部分学者认为老子不是个人，而是不同哲学家的混合体。在这篇文章中，我将老子视为一个个体，因此，我强调了为什么我想成为他的追随者。
One of the reasons that motivate me to desire to become a follower of Lao Tze is embedded in his philosophy of simplicity. In the analysis of the philosophical arguments of Lao Tze, it is observed that for one to live a fulfilled life, he or she needs to pursue humility, simplicity and a form of life that is consistent with nature (Carus 17). Notably, as an individual, I think living a simple life that is full of humility is far much healthier as compared to living a life that consists only of pursuit of selfish ambitions. From my perspective, an environment that is characterised by pursuit of such ambitions is not a better place because of the fact that almost everyone is always pursing selfish ambitions and seeking to live a complicated life that violates different laws of nature. For instance, due to the rise of different social medial platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, most people across the globe have resorted to living a double life, that is, the social media life, which is characterised by a happy and successful life, and their actual life, which reflect the real experiences that the person goes through. Therefore, most of them engage in selfish ambitions and actions that are not only detrimental to their own lives but also to the lives of other people in society. However, as an individual I can avoid complicating my life with fake social media life by pursuing the philosophies and ideologies of Lao Tze, who encouraged his followers to lead a simple life full of humility. Importantly, through living such a life, I will be able to achieve inner wealth rather than seeking the insatiable material wealth. For instance, rather than engaging in a life that seeks to show off how much wealth I have amassed in life, being a follower of Lao Tze will help me to lead a life of contentment, which is a key ingredient in helping one lead a happy life. From Tze’s perspective, the key to living a contented life is embedded in cultivating a way of life that does not pay attention to elements such as honours, social status, power and material fortunes since such only promotes competition among individuals in society leading to conflicts and moral decay (You, Rud and Hu 68).
促使我渴望成为老子的追随者的原因之一是他的朴素哲学。在对老子哲学观点的分析中，人们注意到一个人要过上充实的生活，他或她需要追求谦逊、朴素和与自然相一致的生活方式（Carus 17）。值得注意的是，作为一个个体，我认为过一种充满谦卑的简单生活比过一种只追求自私野心的生活要健康得多。在我看来，一个以追求这些雄心壮志为特征的环境并不是一个更好的地方，因为几乎每个人都在追求自私的雄心壮志，寻求过一种违反不同自然法则的复杂生活。例如，由于Facebook和Instagram等不同的社交媒体平台的兴起，全球大多数人都过着双重生活，即以快乐和成功生活为特征的社交媒体生活和反映个人真实经历的真实生活。因此，他们中的大多数人从事自私的野心和行为，这些野心和行为不仅对他们自己的生活有害，而且对社会上其他人的生活有害。然而，作为一个个体，我可以通过追求老子的哲学和意识形态来避免让我的生活与虚假的社交媒体生活复杂化，老子鼓励他的追随者过一种充满谦卑的简单生活。重要的是，通过这样的生活，我将能够获得内心的财富，而不是追求永不满足的物质财富。例如，与其从事一种试图炫耀我在生活中积累了多少财富的生活，作为老子的追随者将帮助我过上知足的生活，这是帮助一个人过上幸福生活的关键因素。在Tze看来，满足生活的关键在于培养一种不关注荣誉、社会地位、权力和物质财富等因素的生活方式，因为这只会促进社会中个人之间的竞争，导致冲突和道德败坏（You、Rud和Hu 68）。
Similarly, I would like to be a follower of Lao Tze since he is one of the greatest philosophers with great insights on good governance and leadership. Notably, most philosophers perceive power as a privilege of the select few, and must be obtained through the use of both mental and physical might. For instance, Socrates noted that a perfect city had social classes that were governed by strict rules and regulations, and those who wield power in such societies are allowed to engage in manipulation to achieve their objectives (Crotty 60). Whereas this is the case, Lao Tze uses the analogy of large rivers and oceans, which were able to gather water of myriad creeks because of the fact that they were at the lowest position. Therefore, by being a follower of Lao Tze, I will be able to develop a character and way of life that appreciates humility not just as an individual but also as a leader. From Tze’s perceptive, humble leaders were better positioned to attract more power and support from the people they lead (You, Rud and Hu 69). With this in mind, rather than employing ruthless means and manipulations to attract power and garner people’s support, as a follower of Lao Tze, I will focus on mastering the ideologies of this philosopher as far as leadership is concerned, thus developing my capability as a better leader in society. In addition to approaching leadership from a humble perspective, as a follower of Lao Tze, I will be able to learn how to lead by doing rather than just issuing instructions and commands to my followers. According to Lao Tze, when leaders in a particular society conduct themselves in a moral way, their followers too are likely to easily emulate them and as such, behave in a moral way as compared to when such leaders use punishment and rewards as a way to cultivate and nurture good morals among the people they lead.
同样，我想成为老子的追随者，因为他是最伟大的哲学家之一，对善政和领导有着深刻的见解。值得注意的是，大多数哲学家认为权力是少数人的特权，必须通过使用精神和身体力量来获得。例如，苏格拉底指出，一个完美的城市有严格的规则和条例管理的社会阶层，在这些社会中掌权的人可以参与操纵以实现他们的目标（Crotty 60）。事实上，老子使用了大河大海的比喻，这些河流和海洋能够收集无数小溪的水，因为它们位于更低的位置。因此，作为一名老子的追随者，我将能够培养一种不仅作为个人而且作为都能欣赏谦逊的性格和生活方式。从Tze的洞察力来看，谦逊的更适合从他们领导的人（你、陆克文和胡69）那里吸引更多的权力和支持。有鉴于此，作为老子的追随者，我将专注于掌握这位哲学家在领导力方面的思想，而不是用无情的手段和操纵来吸引权力和获得人民的支持，从而培养我作为一个更好的社会的能力。作为一名老子的追随者，除了从谦虚的角度看待领导之外，我还将学会如何通过实践来领导，而不仅仅是向我的追随者发出指示和命令。根据老子的观点，当一个特定社会的领导人以道德方式行事时，他们的追随者也很容易效仿他们，因此，与这些领导人使用惩罚和奖励作为在他们领导的人中培养和培养良好道德的方式相比，他们的行为也很道德。