Taoist pantheon

From SourceryForge

The Taoist pantheon is complex,consisting of a handful of eternal gods and a larger number of exalted originally-mortal beings.

At the head of the pantheon are the trinity of Three Pure Ones,or San-ch'ing.

• Yuan Chih T'ien Tsun,the Jade Pure (Yu-ch'ing),the Heavenly Worthy of the Primordial Beginning,is the Creator-God,eternal,limitless and invisible.
• Ling Pai T'ien Tsun,the Upper Pure (Shang-ch'ing),the Heavenly Worthy of the Numinous Treasure (or Magical Jewel)
• Tao Teh T'ien Tsun,the Great Pure (T'ai-ch'ing),the Heavenly Worthy of the Way and its Virtue,the Exalted Supreme Lord Lao.(Said to be a deification of Lao-Tzu).

Each of these gods rules a heaven that is in some way superlative.

Next beneath them is Yu-Huang,the Great Jade Emperor,who is said to have begun as a mortal prince who was first granted immortality and then became Jade Emperor after hundreds of millions of years of trials,and then exalted as ruler of heaven with the Jade Pure after thousands of millions of years more,but who is also said to have been the creator of mankind.(Non-Taoist Chinese creation myths credit this to others).

The Jade Emperor was the patron deity of Chinese Emperors from the 9th century onward,and Taoist mythology provides for a legendary succession of emperors down to the first historical emperors,but the early historical dynasties in fact worshipped Shang Ti,god of an earlier religion (in the later stages of which the Emperor was seen as the only person worthy of worshipping Shang Ti,whose worship ended with the fall of the dynasty).

Various gods accompany the Jade Emperor.Also of note are:

• Kuan Yin,goddess of mercy,also venerated by other Eastern religions
• The Eight Immortals of Taoism