author
active 6th century B.C. Xi Yin
A legendary figure from early Daoist tradition, he is best known as the border warden who, according to the story, recognized Laozi and asked him to write down his teachings before leaving China. He is also traditionally linked to the text Guanyinzi, though the work that survives today was shaped much later.
1 Audiobook
關尹子
by active 6th century B.C. Xi Yin
About the author
Remembered in Chinese tradition as Yinxi, or Xi Yin, he appears as a semi-legendary figure from the Zhou period rather than a firmly documented historical author. Later accounts describe him as the keeper of a western pass who sensed the arrival of an extraordinary sage and persuaded Laozi to leave behind his teachings, a story closely tied to the origin of the Daodejing.
He is also associated with the Guanyinzi (Master Yin of the Pass), a Daoist text traditionally attributed to him. Modern reference sources usually treat that attribution with caution, since the surviving version of the book seems to have taken shape long after the 6th century B.C., even though it preserves an ancient name and reputation.
That mix of legend, philosophy, and later textual history is part of what makes him interesting. For listeners, he stands at the meeting point of myth and thought: less a biographical personality in the modern sense than a symbolic early voice in the Daoist imagination.