Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning
Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun Chin., lit. “Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning”; one of the highest deities of religious Taoism (tao-chiao). Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun is one of the three pure ones (san-ch’ing) and resides in the Heaven of Jade Purity. He is believed to have come into being at the beginning of the universe as a result of the merging of the pure breaths. He then created Heaven and Earth.
At the beginning of each age or aeon he transmits the Scriptures of the Magic Jewel (Ling-pao ching) to subordinate deities, who in tum instruct mankind in the teachings of the Tao. He rescues souls caught in the various hells and sets them free. Originally, the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning headed the administration of Heaven but -like a wise ruler- entrusted that task to his assistant, the Jade Emperor (Yü-huang), whose importance later came to exceed that of Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun.
The earliest mention of Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun occursin the writings of the alchemist Ko Hung. Gradually, he came to take the place of – Huang-lao-chün, the most important deity of early Taoism, who now occupies a subordinate place in the celestial hierarchy. Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun is said to be without beginning and the most supreme of all beings, in fact, representative of the principle of all being. From him all things arose. He is eternal, invisible, and limitless. He is the source of all truths contained in the Scriptures of the Magic Jewel. An alternative description of the celestial hierarchy states that the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning resides in the ta-luo-t’ien (t ‘ien) above the heavens of the three pure ones.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on Yüan-shih t’ien-tsun
External links