The name Laozi can be read as “Old Master.” Tradition associates him with the Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of Daoist thought.
A remembered figure
Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian relates traditions about Laozi, including his role as a keeper of records and his departure toward the west. These accounts belong to the history of the text’s reception; they do not settle every question about its authorship.
A text that took shape over time
Scholars debate the dating and composition of the Laozi. Early manuscript discoveries make it possible to compare arrangements and wordings, while also showing why the received 81-chapter form should not be treated as the only form the text has had.
Reading today
You can begin with a single chapter without resolving all of those historical questions. Keep the distinction between the received text, its commentators, and its translators in view as you read.
Further reading: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Laozi.