Mid-Táng 唐 Daoist master, hào Rén zhēn zǐ 任真子 (“Master of the Nature-Following Truth”). Originally from Sìchuān 四川. Active in the second half of the 7th century under Táng Gāozōng 高宗 (r. 649–683) and Wǔ Zétiān 武則天 (r. 684–705). One of the foundational figures of the Chóngxuán 重玄 (“Double Mystery”) school of Táng Daoism — the tradition of metaphysical-soteriological thought that synthesised Daoist cosmology with Mādhyamika Buddhist dialectic.
Principal work. The [[KR5c0111|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhù]] 道德真經註 (DZ 722, 4 juàn, incomplete — ending at ch. 36) is his major surviving commentary on the Dàodé jīng. This is one of the foundational documents of the Chóngxuán school, alongside the parallel Dàodé jīng and Zhuāngzǐ commentaries of Chéng Xuányīng 成玄英.
Philosophical signature. The Chóngxuán doctrinal moves for which Lǐ Róng’s commentary is a primary witness:
- The Dao as fēi yǒu fēi wú 非有非無 (“neither being nor non-being”).
- The unity-in-distinction of opposites — wú and yǒu “merged into one”.
- Mystery upon mystery, rejection upon rejection (xuán zhī yòu xuán, qì zhī yòu qì 玄之又玄，棄之又棄).
- Non-attachment to non-attachment (jiān wàng 兼忘, “double forgetfulness”).
These formulations became classical for subsequent Chinese Daoist philosophy through the Sòng, Yuán, and Míng.
Other works.
- Zhuāngzǐ zhù 莊子註 — commentary on the Zhuāngzǐ; now lost.
- Xī shēng jīng zhù 西昇經註 — commentary on the Xī shēng jīng 西昇經; partially preserved in DZ 726 Xī shēng jīng jí zhù 西昇經集註.
Court activity. Lǐ Róng was a prominent participant in the Buddhist-Daoist controversies of the mid-Táng court — a frequent Daoist disputant in the formal court debates of Gāozōng’s and Wǔ Zétiān’s reigns. His prestige both secured his doctrinal influence and exposed him to intense polemical pressure.
Disambiguation. Not to be confused with the Yuán figure mentioned in the catalog meta at KR5c0110 as a candidate for “Xī zhāi dào rén”; that Yuán Xī zhāi dào rén is more probably Lǐ Kàn 李衎 (fl. 1312).
Dating. Active c. 650–700. No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified (Táng Daoist masters rarely have CBDB entries).