Chapter 33: Taiyi — 太乙 — The Great One
A RECORD OF ALL THINGS UNDER HEAVEN
As gathered from the oldest accounts that remain
PROLOGUE — CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
On the Matter of Taiyi — 太乙 — The Great One
His name is Taiyi — 太乙.
Tai — 太 — means great. Grand. Supreme.
Yi — 乙 — is the second of the Ten Heavenly Stems. In ancient cosmology it represents the sprout. The first emergence of life from the seed. The thing that pushes upward from darkness into light.
Together — 太乙 — the Great Sprout. The Great Emergence. The One Who Pushes Upward from the Darkness.
He is also called Taiyi Tianzun — 太乙天尊 — the Celestial Worthy of the Great Sprout.
He is also called Qinghua Dadi — 青華大帝 — the Great Emperor of Azure Radiance.
He is also called Jiuku Tianzun — 救苦天尊 — the Celestial Worthy Who Rescues from Suffering.
He is one of the Six Celestial Worthies of the Taoist pantheon. He ranks below the Three Pure Ones — 三清 — Sanqing. He ranks above the Jade Emperor — 玉皇大帝 — Yu Huang Dadi — in some Taoist hierarchies. The texts do not agree on his exact position.
All texts agree on one thing. He was there at the beginning.
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On the note regarding his name.
The character Yi — 乙 — is the second of the Ten Heavenly Stems — 十天干 — Shi Tian Gan.
The Ten Heavenly Stems are: Jia — 甲, Yi — 乙, Bing — 丙, Ding — 丁, Wu — 戊, Ji — 己, Geng — 庚, Xin — 辛, Ren — 壬, Gui — 癸.
They are not numbers. They are phases.
Jia — 甲 — is the shell. The protective covering. The thing that encloses what is not yet born.
Yi — 乙 — is the sprout. The first push. The breaking through.
The name Taiyi means: the Great Sprout. The Great Breaking Through. The Great Emergence.
He is what pushes out of Wuji — 無極 — when the time has come.
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On the oldest records of Taiyi.
The name Taiyi appears in the Chuci — 楚辭 — the Songs of Chu. The Chuci was compiled during the Warring States period — 戰國時代 — Zhanguo Shidai — approximately 475 to 221 before the common era.
The Chuci contains a poem called The Supreme Unity — 東皇太一 — Donghuang Taiyi — the Great One, the August Sovereign of the East. The poem is a hymn of praise to the highest deity of the state of Chu.
The poem describes offerings made to Taiyi.
Jade pendants. Fine wines. Fragrant herbs. Music on zithers and drums.
The poem does not describe what Taiyi is. It describes what is offered to him. His nature is not explained. His origin is not recorded. He is simply the highest. The one who receives first offerings. The one who sits above all others.
In the state of Chu, Taiyi was the supreme deity. He was not subordinate to any other being. He was the origin.
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On the second oldest record. The Huainanzi — 淮南子.
The Huainanzi — 淮南子 — compiled under the direction of Liu An — 劉安 — around 139 before the common era — records Taiyi in cosmological context.
The text states: Taiyi gave birth to water. Water gave birth to the Great Unity. The Great Unity gave birth to Yin and Yang.
This is a different account from the Chuci. In the Chuci, Taiyi is supreme. In the Huainanzi, Taiyi is the source of water, and water is the source of the Great Unity. The two accounts do not agree.
The Huainanzi also records: Taiyi is the ancestor of all spirits.
It records: Taiyi resides in the Pole Star — 太一星 — Taiyi Xing — the star at the center of the northern sky.
It records: the Pole Star does not move. All other stars revolve around it. Taiyi is the Pole Star. He is the unmoving center. He is what everything turns around.
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On the Taiyi star — 太一星 — Taiyi Xing.
The ancient Chinese astronomers observed the northern sky.
They saw one star that did not move.
All other stars circled it.
They called it Taiyi — 太乙 — the Great One.
They believed it was the celestial residence of the supreme deity.
The star is now known in Western astronomy as Polaris — the North Star.
It is not a single star. It is a triple star system. The ancient astronomers did not know this. They saw one point of light that never moved. They saw one point around which the entire sky turned. They called it Taiyi.
He is the still point. He is the center. He is what does not move while everything else moves around him.
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On Taiyi in Taoism.
During the Han dynasty — 漢朝 — Han Chao — Taiyi was absorbed into the emerging Taoist pantheon.
He became Taiyi Tianzun — 太乙天尊 — the Celestial Worthy of the Great Sprout.
He became associated with salvation. He became the one who rescues souls from suffering.
The Lingbao scriptures — 靈寶經 — Lingbao Jing — of the Jin dynasty — 晉朝 — Jin Chao — describe him as the savior of the dead.
He descends into the underworld. He rescues souls who are suffering. He brings them to rebirth.
This function overlapped with Ksitigarbha — 地藏菩薩 — Dizang Pusa — in later centuries. The two figures are sometimes conflated. Both rescue souls from hell. Both are associated with the salvation of the dead.
The Taoist tradition distinguishes them. Ksitigarbha is Buddhist. Taiyi is Taoist. They do the same work. They come from different sources.
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On his function as savior — 救苦天尊 — Jiuku Tianzun.
His full title is: Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun — 太乙救苦天尊 — the Celestial Worthy of the Great Sprout Who Rescues from Suffering.
He is the primary deity invoked in Taoist funerary rituals — 道教葬禮 — Daojiao zangli.
When a person dies, a Taoist priest recites scriptures invoking Taiyi.
The priest asks Taiyi to descend.
The priest asks Taiyi to guide the soul.
The priest asks Taiyi to protect the soul from the punishments of the Ten Courts.
If the invocation is sincere and the rituals are performed correctly, Taiyi descends. He appears as a pillar of azure light — 青光 — qing guang. The pillar descends from the Pole Star. It penetrates the earth. It reaches the soul in whichever court it is held. The soul steps into the light. The light carries the soul upward. The soul escapes the punishments. The soul proceeds directly to reincarnation or to the Western Paradise.
This is the function of Taiyi in Taoist practice.
He is the emergency rescue.
When all else fails, the family calls on Taiyi.
He answers.
He always answers.
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On his appearance.
He is depicted in Taoist art as a regal figure seated on a lotus throne — 蓮花寶座 — lianhua baozuo.
His skin is azure — 青色 — qing se — the color of the eastern sky before dawn.
His robes are also azure.
He wears a crown of nine lotus flowers — 九蓮冠 — jiu lian guan.
In his left hand he holds a vase of pure water — 淨水瓶 — jingshui ping.
In his right hand he holds a willow branch — 柳枝 — liu zhi.
He sprinkles the water from the vase with the willow branch. Where the water falls, suffering ceases. Where the water falls, the dead are revived. Where the water falls, the punishments of hell are suspended.
He rides a nine-headed lion — 九頭獅子 — jiu tou shizi — in some depictions. The lion carries him through the nine layers of the underworld. It can go where no other being can go.
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On the nine-headed lion.
The lion is called the Nine-Headed Lion of the Nine Netherworlds — 九幽九頭獅子 — Jiu You Jiu Tou Shizi.
It has nine heads. Each head sees into one layer of the underworld. Each head can enter one layer. Together the nine heads see all layers simultaneously. Together the nine heads enter all layers simultaneously.
No soul can hide from the nine-headed lion.
No court can bar its entrance.
It carries Taiyi wherever he wishes to go.
The lion does not need to fight. The lion does not need to break down doors. The lion simply enters. The gates of hell do not close against Taiyi. They cannot. The nine-headed lion is the key.
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On the Qinghua Palace — 青華宮 — Qinghua Gong.
His celestial residence is the Qinghua Palace — 青華宮 — the Palace of Azure Radiance.
It is located in the northeastern sky. It is not the Pole Star. The Pole Star is his seat. The Qinghua Palace is his home.
The palace is surrounded by nine layers of azure light. Each layer corresponds to one of the nine underworlds. The light from the palace reaches the underworlds. The light is his presence. Where the light reaches, he is present. The light reaches everywhere.
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On the difference between Taiyi and the Three Pure Ones.
The Three Pure Ones — 三清 — Sanqing — are the origin of all things. They are the Tao in three phases. They do not intervene. They do not rescue. They are what is.
Taiyi is different.
He is also origin. He is the Great Sprout. The breaking through. The first emergence.
But he does not remain at the origin.
He goes down.
He goes into the darkness where the broken souls are held.
He brings them out.
The Three Pure Ones sit above all. Taiyi descends below all. He is the only one of the Six Celestial Worthies whose primary function is descent into the underworld.
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On his relationship with the dead.
In Taoist cosmology, Taiyi is the one who holds the register of the dead.
He knows the name of every soul that has died.
He knows where each soul is held.
He knows how long each soul must remain before it can be reborn.
He can shorten the time.
He can suspend the punishment.
He can release the soul early.
He does not do this for all souls. He does this for souls whose living descendants have performed the proper rituals. He does this for souls whose families have invoked his name with sincerity.
The invocation is the key.
Without the invocation, he does not descend.
With the invocation, he always descends.
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On the scripture of Taiyi.
The primary text dedicated to him is the Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun Shuo Xiao Zai Baonan Zhen Jing — 太乙救苦天尊說消災保命真經 — the True Scripture of the Celestial Worthy of the Great Sprout Who Rescues from Suffering, Spoken for the Elimination of Calamities and Protection of Life.
The scripture is recited at funerals. It is recited during the Ghost Month — 鬼月 — Gui Yue. It is recited whenever a family fears that one of their dead is suffering in the underworld.
The scripture promises: if the name of Taiyi is called, Taiyi will come.
It does not say: if the rituals are perfect. It does not say: if the offerings are sufficient. It says: if the name is called.
The name is enough.
The name carries the power.
The name is what he is.
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On the name in the Pole Star.
The astronomers observed the Pole Star.
They observed that it did not move.
They observed that everything moved around it.
They named it Taiyi.
The name they gave to the star is the name of the god.
The star does not move.
The god does not move.
He sits at the center.
He watches the turning of all things.
When the name is called, he moves.
He descends.
He goes where he is needed.
He returns to the center.
The star does not move.
The god does not move.
Except when mercy requires movement.
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On the relationship with Ksitigarbha — 地藏菩薩 — Dizang Pusa.
The Buddhist Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha made a vow: I will not become a Buddha until the hells are empty.
Taiyi made no such vow.
He descends when called. He does not remain in the underworld. He returns to the Pole Star.
But the function is the same. The work is the same.
Both save souls from hell.
Both are invoked by the living for the dead.
Both answer when called.
The difference is in the nature of their presence.
Ksitigarbha is always there. He is in the underworld. He never leaves.
Taiyi is not always there. He descends when called. He does not stay.
Both are necessary. The one who stays. The one who comes when called.
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On his birthday.
His birthday is observed on the eleventh day of the eleventh lunar month — 十一月十一 — shi yi yue shi yi.
On this day Taoist temples hold rituals of salvation.
The rituals are for the dead who have no family to call on Taiyi for them.
The rituals are for the wandering souls — 遊魂 — you hun — who have no one to remember them.
The monks chant the scripture. They burn incense. They make offerings. They call Taiyi\'s name for the souls that cannot call it themselves.
He comes.
He comes for the forgotten.
He comes for the abandoned.
He comes for the souls that no one else remembers.
This is why the eleventh day of the eleventh month is observed.
It is the day when Taiyi saves the souls that no one else saves.
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On what he represents.
He represents the mercy that descends from the highest place to the lowest.
He represents the promise that no soul is beyond rescue.
He represents the truth that the unmoving center of all things is not indifferent.
The Pole Star does not move.
But it can move.
It moves when the name is called.
It moves when the need is great.
It moves when no one else will move.
It moves because it was always capable of movement.
The stillness was not incapacity.
The stillness was waiting.
END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE