Short answers, pulled from the story.
Modern scholars consider the historicity of Laozi doubtful, viewing him as a semi-legendary figure. Accounts suggest he lived during the 6th or 5th century BC in the southern state of Chu, while other narratives place him in the 4th century BC under Duke Xian of Qin.
The Dào Dé Jīng is a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands rather than the work of a single author. The oldest manuscript containing text from this book dates to the late 4th century BC on bamboo slips excavated at Guodian Chu Slips.
Sima Qian wrote the Records of the Grand Historian in the 1st-century BC to preserve biographical references about Laozi. He presented multiple accounts including stories where Laozi met Confucius before composing the Dào Dé Jīng in a single session.
Laozi has been venerated as the ancestor of all subsequent Lis including the emperors of the Tang dynasty through the Longxi Li lineage. Emperor Gaozong named him the Supremely Mysterious and Primordial Emperor starting in the year 666, and Emperor Xuanzong declared him the Sage Ancestor of the dynasty in 743.
Many contemporary philosophers see Laozi as a proponent of limited government and anti-authoritarian movements. Peter Kropotkin noted in his 1910 article for the Encyclopædia Britannica that Laozi was among the earliest proponents of essentially anarchist concepts.