It was discovered on 3 November 1975, by Harvard astronomers at the Oak Ridge Observatory in Massachusetts, United States.
The asteroid was named for the Chinese town of Luyi, birthplace of Laozi who founded Taoism.
[1] Luyi is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.
[4] This minor planet was named after a town in the eastern Henan province of China that was the birthplace of Laozi, founder of Taoism, because long-time participant in Harvard's minor-planet program, astronomer Cheng-yuan Shao (born 1927), came from that town (also see 1881 Shao).
[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 21 November 1991 (M.P.C.