Which Taoist philosopher is associated with the classic text Liezi?

The Taoist philosopher associated with the classic text Liezi is Lie Yukou.

Lie Yukou is presented in traditional sources as an early Taoist thinker, and the text bearing his name is commonly called the Liezi. The work contains parables, dialogues, cosmological ideas, and stories about spontaneity, perception, skill, and the limits of ordinary knowledge.

Modern scholarship treats the received Liezi as a layered compilation rather than a simple transcript written entirely by one historical author. It includes material that resembles passages from the Zhuangzi and may have reached its present form much later than the traditional date assigned to Lie Yukou.

This distinction explains why the name Liezi can refer both to the supposed author and to the book. The text remains important in the study of Taoist literature, even though its compilation history is more complex than traditional attribution suggests.