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Abstract Li Rong was a master of the School of Double Mystery as famed as Cheng Xuanying in the early Tang Dynasty. His major work is a compilation of commentary on the Taoist book Tao Te Ching， called the Laozi Commentary. The exact time and place of Li Rong’s writing has not been verified， and the conclusion reached by a few scholars that has been carefully elaborated is debatable. According to the historical facts that Li Rong was a Taoist monk at Dongming Taoist Temple， and that the relevant contents of the “Preface” of Li Rong’s Laozi Commentary have not been thoroughly studied by the existing scholarship， this article shows that Li Rong’s Laozi Commentary should be written after the August of the fifth year of Xianqing reign when he was “ordered to return to Zizhou”， and before the first half of the third year of Longshuo reign when he had visited the capital for the second time. According to historical records， there were many Taoist temples named as Yuantian and Xuantian in the Shu area in history. After the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu reign in the Northern Song Dynasty， in order to avoid using the name of Zhao Xuanlang， the emperor Shengzu of Song Dynasty， “Yuan” is often used to replace “Xuan”. According to the analysis of the naming taboo of using any characters of emporors’ names， the original name of the Taoist Temple where Li Rong wrote the Laozi Commentary should be Yuantian Taoist Temple. Due to a lack of historical materials， the specific location and the construction age of this Taoist temple cannot be specified.
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Received: 21 November 2022
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2022, Vol. 61 
