Three Pure Ones

The Three Pure (三 清sān qīng ) represent the highest triad of the Daoist pantheon; they are incarnations of the original Qi (元气Yuanqi ), the Dào, as well as the cosmic deity.

The Yuanqi is embodied by the Yuánshǐ Tianzun (元始 天尊), the sky Very worthy of the primeval, Dào by Língbǎo Tianzun (灵宝 天尊), the sky Very worthy of the supernatural treasure and the cosmic deity by the deified Lǎozǐ, Taishang Dàojūn (太 上 道 君 ), the highest of the venerable Dào, or daode Tianzun (道德 天尊), the sky Very worthy of the way and virtue, also Lǎojūn (老君), the venerable old man, named.

The three Pure also identify the three heavens, where these deities reside. The three heavens are Yuqing (玉清), assigned to the Jadereinheit, the Yuánshǐ Tianzun, Shàng qīng (上清), the highest purity, assigned to Língbǎo Tianzun and Tài qīng (太清), the high purity of the daode Tianzun.

During the Song Dynasty, the Yuánshǐ Tianzun by the Jade Emperor (玉帝Yù Dì or玉皇Yù Huang ) was replaced as supreme deity.

The iconography of the three Pure is multifaceted and has often been shown in particular for liturgical purposes. The three have cheerful faces and enthroned side by side surrounded by an ornate aureole. Their coats are decorated with clouds, constellations, pearls and trigrams. You wear the headgear Daoist priest and before any is the head of a monster.

The Yuánshǐ Tianzun sits in the middle, sometimes with the eight trigrams in his hand, to his right sits Lǎozǐ, with a fan in her hand and on his left the Língbǎo Tianzun, holding a scepter in the form of a magic mushroom.

Nowadays, most Daoist groups venerate the three pure. Some groups worship the deified Laozi as the supreme deity, as they assume that he is the Dao itself, has existed in various forms and appearing before the evolution of the cosmos. In any Daoist Temple there is a hall of the three pure.