Is the Chinese mythological lord Taishang Laojun an incarnation of Laozi?

We all know that the old man is a character in the Journey to the West, when the monkey made a mess of the Palace of Heaven, the old man locked up the monkey in the alchemy furnace for seventy-seven forty-nine days, and finally not only did not subdue the monkey, on the contrary, he practiced the eyes of fire. In the myths and legends, Taishang Laojun is recognized as the ancestor of Taoist teachings, and his Bagua Formation is even more appalling, with many disciples under his door. Many people believe that Laozi is the originator of the Taoist school, so the Taoist godfather in the myth is also the incarnation of Laozi. Let's take a look at it together.

It is recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that Lord Laojun Taishang, Tianzun Yuanshi, and Godfather Tongtian are the three gods who created chaos in Pangu, and their status is naturally ancient. As an example, many of Lord Taishang Laojun's magic weapons are documented. In the Tang Monk on the way to the scriptures, encountered a lot of monsters are Tai Shang Laojun seat of the beasts, and in the end are Tai Shang Laojun personally or lending Sun Monkey treasure to resolve the disaster.

Tai Shang Lao Jun's elixir, alchemy furnace, bagua array are typical representatives of Taoism, however, Lao Zi lived in the Warring States period, everything is based on the doctrine of faith, which is diametrically opposed to the behavior to the point that it can not let others associate them together. "The typical proposition of Taoism is that Laozi and Taishang Laojun taught their disciples what they said and what they did. From this, we can see that both Taishang Laojun and Laozi are Taoist figures.

Myths are, after all, myths, and are subject to embellishment and virtualization, so it is possible that the Taishang Laojun, as we know him, was an incarnation of Laozi. Because in those times, the author favored the Taoist doctrine of Laozi, it was natural to portray the incarnation of Laozi.