 With regard to Daoism per se, Huang-Lao dao (Way of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi) is the name under which one part of the tradition was known in the early Han period (2nd century BCE). The precise contours of this “Way” are unclear, but it may be equivalent to the early meaning of the term Daojia (“lineage(s) of the Dao”) as defined by Sima Tan (fl. ca. 135 BCE) in the Shiji (Records of the Historian; see Roth and Queen 2000). The Huang-Lao adepts saw Laozi as the master who set forth the principles of government in the Daode jing, and Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) as the ruler who applied them for the first time in human history. Huangdi continued to play the role of the perfect “Daoist” ruler in later times: having received teachings in various disciplines—medicine, alchemy, sexual practices, dietetics, etc.—from different gods, goddesses, and immortals, he would become the patron of some of them. In later times, Laozi and Huangdi were even associated with one another as a single deity under the name Huanglao jun, lit., Yellow Old Lord.