Daode Tianzun
Chinese · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Laozi is an alias on this record rather than a record of his own, and that is the tradition's own arrangement rather than an editorial shortcut: in Daoist terms the man who wrote the Daodejing is a descent of the deity, one of many, and treating the deity as the deification of a historical philosopher inverts what the sources say. The historicity of Laozi as a person is separately disputed and this record takes no position on it — what it records is the deity, his office among the Three Pure Ones, and the one dated act attributed to him, which is 142 CE on Mount Heming.
Domains
- revelation
- divine teaching
Relations
- emanation of: Lingbao TianzunThe third stage.Reference treatment of the Sanqing as three stages of the Dao's unfolding. (secondary)
- guide of: Zhang DaolingThe revelation that begins organised Daoism is a conversation between these two.Reference treatment of the revelation of 142 CE on Mount Heming and the bestowal of the title of Celestial Master. (secondary)
Sources
- Daode Tianzun is the third of the Three Pure Ones, of whom Laozi is a manifestation, and who as Taishang Laojun revealed the Orthodox One covenant to Zhang Daoling on Mount Heming in 142 CE.: Reference treatments of the Sanqing, of Daode Tianzun and of the revelation to Zhang Daoling. (secondary)