T’ai-i Chin. , lit. “the Supreme One,” also called Ta-i, “the Great One”; a Taoist concept that has undergone many changes of meaning in the course of its development. In philosophical Taoism (tao-chia) T’ai-i denotes the original cause of all appearances and thus is synonymous with Tao.
The Inner Deity Hygiene School considered the Supreme One to be the most important deity within the human body. As abstract concepts became personified, T’ai-i became san-i, the highest deity of religious Taoism (tao-chiao). Frequently, T’ai-i is synonymous with t’ai-chi.
The origin of the notion of a Supreme One goes back to a time when shamanism was practiced in China. In the Nine Songs (Chiu-ko), which contain shamanistic ideas of the 4th and 3d century B.C.E., sacrifices to the Supreme One are already mentioned. In philosophical Taoism the idea of the “one” or “unique” can be traced back to the Tao-te ching, Chapter 42 of which states, “Out of Tao, One is born; Out of One, Two; Out of Two, Three; Out of Three, the created universe (the Ten Thousand Things)” (Lin 1949).
The Chuang-tzu, too, mentions the concept of T’ai-i or Ta-i. The following quote is from the Spring and Autumn Annals (Lü-shih ch’un-ch’iu): “T’ai-i produces the two forms; the two forms cause yin and yang (yin-yang) to arise.” In a philosophical sense, the concept ofT’ai-i constitutes an attempt at postulating a unity that forms a common ground of the multiplicity of appearances. At first the Supreme One was understood to be that which existed before the ten thousand things (wan-wu) came into being; later it was taken to be that in which the opposite qualities of yin and yang are united.
During the Han Dynasty the Supreme One was venerated as part of the triad of the three ones (san-i) and became a personalized deity. In the 2d century B.C.E. the Taoist magician Miu Chi introduced the T’ai-i cult to the ruler’s court. Sacrifices were made to the Supreme One in the Palace of Long Life. The followers of this cult believed that the Supreme One was assisted by Ssu-ming (Lord [or Ruler] of Fate). T’ai-i became the highest deity, and was said to dwell in the polar star, while the five legendary emperors as rulers of the five cardinal points-became subjects of T’ai-i. The followers of the later Inner Deity Hygiene School believed that the Supreme One resides in the brain specifically, in one of the nine compartments of the upper cinnabar field (tan-t’ien) and from there rules the triad of the three ones. An adept of this school would endeavor to visualize T’ai-i as the supreme deity within his body and make contact with it so as to prevent it from leaving the body, thereby removing the inevitability of death.
Other schools venerate T’ai-i together with the god of the sun.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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