Chapter 22 Section 4: The Evolution of Taoism’s Belief in Respecting Gods

Taoism is a polytheistic religion, and it worships many gods, including heaven, earth, humans and ghosts.The highest gods enshrined in Taoism in later generations are Sanqing, namely Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun and Taiqing Daode Tianzun, which were gradually formed and fixed in the long-term historical development and change process. Taoism was born in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Taoism of the three five buckets of rice enshrined the three gods of heaven, earth and water.Believers have to "kowtow to think about their mistakes" when they are sick; the clergy can communicate with the sick and pray to the three gods to plead guilty.This belief in the three sense gods has a strong primitive nature worship color.

After entering the Wei and Jin Dynasties, all sects of Taoism wrote scriptures in the name of gods, and the gods they worshiped seemed very confused.Ge Hong in the south does not take the worship of Lao Tzu as a matter of course. He combines the myths and worship customs of Pan Gu in the Jingchu area, and proposes a god who combines the ancestor of all things in the world and the ancestor of Taoism—Yuanshi Tianwang: In the past...the world, the sun and the moon were not yet formed, and they were shaped like chicken eggs, chaotic and dark yellow.There is already a real person named Pangu, the essence of heaven and earth, who calls himself the Heavenly King of Yuanshi and roams among them. (Ge Hong's "Book in the Pillow")

And the three emperors and five emperors in the legends of ancient Chinese history are also included in this Taoist creation myth. Kou Qianzhi in the north reformed the old way of heavenly masters, but he used his belief in Laozi to achieve his goal under the banner of Laozi.The worship of Lao Tzu has begun at least since the Han Dynasty.Bian Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in "Lao Zi Ming": "Lao Tzu's parting and reunion is in the spirit of chaos, and the beginning and end of Sanguang", "The Tao becomes the body, and the cicada sloughs out of the world."He also said that since Fuxi Shennong, Lao Tzu had to change his appearance in each dynasty, and came to this world to "be a teacher for the saints".Although the five buckets of rice road did not leave a clear record of Lao Tzu as the leader, "Lao Tzu Xiang Er Zhu" said: "The scattered form is Qi, and the gathered form is the Taishang Laojun", and "Lao Zi" is regarded as the teaching practice. Its main classics, it can be seen that its status is high.In the time of Kou Qianzhi, at least in the north, Lao Tzu was regarded as the patriarch of Taoism without a doubt. "Wei Shu Shi Laozhi" says that Taoism comes from Lao Tzu.Lao Tzu was born from the heavens and the earth, and then everything in the world was formed.Lao Tzu is not only the suzerain of the heavenly emperors, but also the leader of all gods.Regarding the image of Laozi, there is a widely circulated saying in the Wei and Jin Dynasties:

Nine feet long, yellow, bird beak [huihui], nose augmentation, beautiful eyebrows five inches long, ears seven inches long, forehead with three lines up and down, full of gossip.With the tortoise as the bed, living in the golden building and jade hall, silver as the steps, five-color clouds as the clothes, overlapping crowns, and the sword of the front collar [tingting], there are a hundred and twenty people from Huangtong.There are twelve blue dragons on the left, twenty-six white tigers on the right, twenty-four red birds in the front, and seventy-two basalts in the back. (Ge Hong's "Baopuzi Inner Chapter Miscellaneous Ying")

Here is a vivid picture of the majestic appearance of a patriarch. In Liang Taohongjing, the immortals of various schools of Taoism began to be integrated into a system with hierarchical order. The gods in the middle of the first four classes of "True Spirit Position and Industry Map" are "Yuqingxu Huangdaojun, who should be named Yuanshi Tianzun"; Lingbao Tianzun; "Taiji Jinque Emperor, surnamed Li" and "Taiqing Taishang Laojun".Later, the sayings of Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun and Taiqing Daode Tianzun gradually became fixed.The title of Sanqing first appeared in the Six Dynasties, probably shortly after Lu Xiujing.

Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty believed that the Taoist Sanqing "followed Shi Shi's 'three bodies' and served as ears" ("Zhu Zi Yu Lei·On Taoism").In Buddhism, there is a saying that the Buddha manifests the three bodies. In Taoism, there is the saying that Lao Tzu transforms the three qings into one qi, and it is said that the three qings are all the incarnations of Yuanshi Tianzun.The formation of the worship of the three pure gods in Taoism, which has the influence of Buddhism, is also related to the old saying of the so-called "Xuan, Yuan, and Shi" that the three qi are transformed into the Sanqingtian.

The emperors of the Tang Dynasty regarded Laozi as their ancestor, and Taoism flourished because of Laozi.This one-in-three, three-in-one view of the Three Purities has become very popular.Since then, the Sanqing God has been fixed and has become the supreme god of Taoism. The Jade Emperor, who was especially worshiped in the Song Dynasty, originally belonged to one of the four heavenly emperors (also called the Four Emperors) under the Sanqing.The full name of the Jade Emperor is "Haotian Jinque Supreme Supreme Nature Miaoyou Miluo Zhizhen Jade Emperor", also known as "Xuanqiong Gaoshang Jade Emperor".According to the "Jade Emperor's Collection of Sutras", he is the prince of the Guangyan Miaoyue Kingdom. He abandoned the throne and learned Taoism in Puming Xiangyan Mountain Middle School. , known as the Tathagata King of Qingjing Natural Jue, and after going through hundreds of millions of catastrophes, he became the Jade Emperor.There are mixed Buddhist sayings here, which shows that the construction of the Taoist fairy world is indeed related to the influence of Buddhism.The other three of the four emperors are: Zhongtian Ziwei North Pole Emperor, who is said to be the god who assists the Jade Emperor in controlling the longitude, earth, latitude, sun, moon, stars, and four seasons of climate; The three talents of heaven, earth and man, the god who governs the stars and is in charge of war in the world; inheriting the sky and following the example of the earth emperor and the earth, is the god who controls the beauty of yin and yang and the beauty of all things and the beauty of the mountains and rivers of the earth.

The emperor of the Song Dynasty said that his ancestor was Zhao Xuanlang, who was the leader of Taoism, and the Jade Emperor was also treated with high standards.The reverence and universal sacrifice to the Jade Emperor have caused extensive and long-lasting social influence.The Taoist leader surnamed Zhao created by the rulers of the Song Dynasty did not maintain his status in Taoism with the demise of the Song Dynasty.But the Jade Emperor was regarded as the emperor of heaven.It describes that the Jade Emperor ruled the world of gods and immortals, and even the Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun had to listen to him, which represented the popular view that was still popular among the people after the Song Dynasty.

In later generations of Taoism, the position of Taishang Laojun is above the Jade Emperor.Reflected in the architectural configuration of Taoist temples, the Sanqing Palace must be above the Four Imperial Palaces.In addition, Taoist temples enshrine the statues of the Sanqing gods, usually Yuanshi Tianzun is in the center, and there is a ball between the fingers. It is said that it symbolizes the chaotic state of the world when the world has not yet opened, and the beginning of all things.Yongle Palace in Ruicheng, Shanxi retains many murals from the Yuan Dynasty. Among them, the "Chaoyuan Picture" in the Sanqing Palace depicts the scene of immortals worshiping Yuanshi Tianzun.

Taoism also absorbed the ancient belief and worship of the sun, moon, five stars, twenty-eight constellations and the Big Dipper, and regarded them as gods.In Taoist belief, the sun is the god of Ming, and the moon is the god of night.They are god and goddess respectively.The five stars are Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn. In ancient times, they were also called Sui Xing, Zhen Xing, Taibai Xing, Chen Xing, and Yinghuo Xing.Together with the sun and the moon, they are called Qiyao [yao medicine].The stars of the twenty-eight mansions and the Big Dipper are also important star gods of Taoism.Among them, the Dou Xing belief is very common in China.According to Taoism, the Big Dipper falls to death, and the South Dipper rises to life; the East Dou masters calculations, the West Dou records names, and the Zhongdou takes charge to supervise the creatures in the lower world.If people can worship them, they can eliminate disasters and prolong their lives.

The twenty-eight mansions are deeply related to the belief in the gods of the four directions.The so-called gods of the four directions are Qinglong, Suzaku, Xuanwu and Baihu.When talking about the image of Lao Tzu earlier, it was mentioned that he was the green dragon on the left, the white tiger on the right, the red bird in the front, and the Xuanwu in the back, who are the gods of the four directions.In ancient China, sitting in the north and facing the south was the most respected. There is a saying that the emperor's ruling power is called "the art of the king facing the south". This is how it came about.Qinglong is the god of the east, so it is on the left; Baihu is the god of the west, so it is on the right; Suzaku is the god of the south, so it is in the front; Xuanwu is the god of the north, so it is in the back.Because the seven constellations of Dongfangjiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Ji and Wei are arranged in the shape of a dragon in the twenty-eight constellations, according to the ancient saying that five directions match five elements and five colors, the east belongs to wood, and its color is blue.So Qinglong became the God of the East.In the south, the seven constellations of wells, ghosts, willows, stars, Zhang, wings, and zhu are arranged like birds. According to its saying, the south belongs to fire, and its color is red, so it is called Suzaku, the god of the south.In the west, Kui, Lou, Wei, Pleiades, Bi, Qi, and Sanqisu are arranged in the shape of a tiger. The west is gold and its color is white, so it is called the white tiger and is the god of the west.The northern dou, ox, female, virtual, dangerous, room, and wall seven constellations are arranged in the shape of a turtle, or a combination of a turtle and a snake. The north belongs to water, and its color is dark (black), so it is called Xuanwu, the god of the north.They often become guardian gods to show the majesty of the main god.