Three Great Emperor-Officials
Painting of the Three Great Emperor-Officials in the White Cloud Temple of Beijing
Chinese	三官大帝
Literal meaning	Three Great Emperor-Officials
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin sānguān dàdì

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The Three Great Emperor-Officials (Chinese: 三官大帝; pinyin: sānguān dàdì), Sanguan,^[1] or the Three Officials^[1] are three of the highest shen in some branches of religious Taoism, and subordinate only to the Jade Emperor (玉帝 yùdì). The Three Great Emperor-Officials are the Heavenly Official (天官 tiānguān), the Earthly Official (地官 dìguān) and the Water Official (水官 shuǐguān). They administer all phenomena in the three spheres,^{[citation needed]} and were thought to be able to take away sin.

Chinese playwrights popularized the worship of these gods by including a skit before plays with shared themes between each performance called The Official of Heaven Brings Happiness.^[1]

They have been worshipped since the second century CE.^[2][1]

Full titles

• The Heavenly Official, full title: the Heavenly Official of Higher Origin and First-Rank Who Bestows Blessings (上元一品賜福天官, shàngyuán yīpǐn cìfú tiānguān), also known as the Great Emperor of Middle Heaven North Star (紫微大帝, zǐwēi dàdì).
• The Earthly Official, full title: the Earthly Official of Middle Origin and Second-Rank Who Absolve Sins (中元二品赦罪地官, zhōngyuán èrpǐn shèzuì dìguān), also known as the Great Emperor of Pristine Emptiness (清虛大帝, qīnɡxū dàdì).
• The Water Official, full title: the Water Official of Lower Origin and Third-Rank Who Eliminate Misfortunes (下元三品解厄水官, xiàyuán sānpǐn jiě è shuǐguān), also known as the Great Emperor of Pervasive Yin (洞陰大帝, dòngyīn dàdì)^[3]

Tiānguān

Tiānguān was thought to have power over Tiān or heaven and grant happiness to believers.^[1]

Dìguān

Dìguān was the official of earth who took away sin in popular belief,^[1][4] although all the Sanguan were thought to be able to pardon sin to some extent, especially with their powers combined.^[1][2]

Shuǐguān

Shuǐguān was the ruler of the ocean in some Taoist belief systems,^[1][2] and in others, he shared the same position as the Dragon King^[2] or did not exist.^{[citation needed]} He was often held to "avert misfortune".^[1]

References

External links

• 道教文化资料库
• 神祇列傳-紫微大帝
• 神祇列傳-三官大帝

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