Part 8 (1/2)
In this moment of intense agony Mo-li Shou fell an easy prey to Huang T'ien Hua, the magical spike pierced his heart, and he fell bathed in his blood. Thus perished the last of the _Chin-kang_.
The Three Pure Ones
Turning to the G.o.ds of Taoism, we find that the triad or trinity, already noted as forming the head of that hierarchy, consists of three Supreme G.o.ds, each in his own Heaven. These three Heavens, the _San Ch'ing_, 'Three Pure Ones' (this name being also applied to the sovereigns ruling in them), were formed from the three airs, which are subdivisions of the one primordial air.
The first Heaven is Yu Ch'ing. In it reigns the first member of the Taoist triad. He inhabits the Jade Mountain. The entrance to his palace is named the Golden Door. He is the source of all truth, as the sun is the source of all light.
Various authorities give his name differently--Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun, or Lo Ching Hsin, and call him T'ien Pao, 'the Treasure of Heaven,'
Some state that the name of the ruler of this first Heaven is Yu Huang, and in the popular mind he it is who occupies this supreme position. The Three Pure Ones are above him in rank, but to him, the Pearly Emperor, is entrusted the superintendence of the world. He has all the power of Heaven and earth in his hands. He is the correlative of Heaven, or rather Heaven itself.
The second Heaven, Shang Ch'ing, is ruled by the second person of the triad, named Ling-pao T'ien-tsun, or Tao Chun. No information is given as to his origin. He is the custodian of the sacred books. He has existed from the beginning of the world. He calculates time, dividing it into different epochs. He occupies the upper pole of the world, and determines the movements and interaction, or regulates the relations of the _yin_ and the _yang_, the two great principles of nature.
In the third Heaven, T'ai Ch'ing, the Taoists place Lao Tzu, the promulgator of the true doctrine drawn up by Ling-pao T'ien-tsun. He is alternatively called Shen Pao, 'the Treasure of the Spirits,'
and T'ai-shang Lao-chn, 'the Most Eminent Aged Ruler.' Under various a.s.sumed names he has appeared as the teacher of kings and emperors, the reformer of successive generations.
This three-storied Taoist Heaven, or three Heavens, is the result of the wish of the Taoists not to be out-rivalled by the Buddhists. For Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood they subst.i.tute the _Tao_, or Reason, the Cla.s.sics, and the Priesthood.
As regards the organization of the Taoist Heavens, Yu Huang has on his register the name of eight hundred Taoist divinities and a mult.i.tude of Immortals. These are all divided into three categories: Saints (_Sheng-jen_), Heroes (_Chen-jen_), and Immortals (_Hsien-jen_), occupying the three Heavens respectively in that order.
The Three Causes
Connected with Taoism, but not exclusively a.s.sociated with that religion, is the wors.h.i.+p of the Three Causes, the deities presiding over three departments of physical nature, Heaven, earth, and water. They are known by various designations: _San Kuan_, 'the Three Agents'; _San Yuan_, 'the Three Origins'; _San Kuan Ta Ti_, 'the Three Great Emperor Agents'; and _T'ai Shang San Kuan_, 'the Three Supreme Agents.' This wors.h.i.+p has pa.s.sed through four chief phases, as follows:
The first comprises Heaven, earth, and water, _T'ien, Ti, Shui_, the sources of happiness, forgiveness of sins, and deliverance from evil respectively. Each of these is called King-emperor. Their names, written on labels and offered to Heaven (on a mountain), earth (by burial), and water (by immersion), are supposed to cure sickness. This idea dates from the Han dynasty, being first noted about A.D. 172.
The second, _San Yuan_ dating from A.D. 407 under the Wei dynasty, identified the Three Agents with three dates of which they were respectively made the patrons. The year was divided into three unequal parts: the first to the seventh moon; the seventh to the tenth; and the tenth to the twelfth. Of these, the fifteenth day of the first, seventh, and tenth moons respectively became the three princ.i.p.al dates of these periods. Thus the Agent of Heaven became the princ.i.p.al patron of the first division, honoured on the fifteenth day of the first moon, and so on.
The third phase, _San Kuan_, resulted from the first two being found too complicated for popular favour. The _San Kuan_ were the three sons of a man, Ch'en Tzu-ch'un, who was so handsome and intelligent that the three daughters of Lung w.a.n.g, the Dragon-king, fell in love with him and went to live with him. The eldest girl was the mother of the Superior Cause, the second of the Medium Cause, and the third of the Inferior Cause. All these were gifted with supernatural powers. Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun canonized them as the Three Great Emperor Agents of Heaven, earth, and water, governors of all beings, devils or G.o.ds, in the three regions of the universe. As in the first phase, the _T'ien Kuan_ confers happiness, the _Ti Kuan_ grants remission of sins, and the _Shui Kuan_ delivers from evil or misfortune.
The fourth phase consisted simply in the subst.i.tution by the priests for the abstract or time-principles of the three great sovereigns of ancient times, Yao, Shun, and Yu. The _literati_, proud of the apotheosis of their ancient rulers, hastened to offer incense to them, and temples, _San Yuan Kung_, arose in very many parts of the Empire.
A variation of this phase is the canonization, with the t.i.tle of _San Yuan_ or Three Causes, of _Wu-k'o San Chen Chun_, 'the Three True Sovereigns, Guests of the Kingdom of Wu.' They were three Censors who lived in the reign of King Li (Li w.a.n.g, 878-841 B.C.) of the Chou dynasty. Leaving the service of the Chou on account of Li's dissolute living, they went to live in Wu, and brought victory to that state in its war with the Ch'u State, then returned to their own country, and became pillars of the Chou State under Li's successor. They appeared to protect the Emperor Chen Tsung when he was offering the _Feng-shan_ sacrifices on T'ai Shan in A.D. 1008, on which occasion they were canonized with the t.i.tles of Superior, Medium, and Inferior Causes, as before, conferring upon them the regencies of Heaven, earth, and water respectively.
Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun
Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun, or the First Cause, the Highest in Heaven, generally placed at the head of the Taoist triad, is said never to have existed but in the fertile imagination of the Lao Tzuist sectarians. According to them Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun had neither origin nor master, but is himself the cause of all beings, which is why he is called the First Cause.
As first member of the triad, and sovereign ruler of the First Heaven, Yu Ch'ing, where reign the saints, he is raised in rank above all the other G.o.ds. The name a.s.signed to him is Lo Ching Hsin. He was born before all beginnings; his substance is imperishable; it is formed essentially of uncreated air, air _a se_, invisible and without perceptible limits. No one has been able to penetrate to the beginnings of his existence. The source of all truth, he at each renovation of the worlds--that is, at each new _kalpa_--gives out the mysterious doctrine which confers immortality. All who reach this knowledge attain by degrees to life eternal, become refined like the spirits, or instantly become Immortals, even while upon earth.
Originally, Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun was not a member of the Taoist triad. He resided above the Three Heavens, above the Three Pure Ones, surviving the destructions and renovations of the universe, as an immovable rock in the midst of a stormy sea. He set the stars in motion, and caused the planets to revolve. The chief of his secret police was Tsao Chun, the Kitchen-G.o.d, who rendered to him an account of the good and evil deeds of each family. His executive agent was Lei Tsu, the G.o.d of Thunder, and his subordinates. The seven stars of the North Pole were the palace of his ministers, whose offices were on the various sacred mountains. Nowadays, however, Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-tsun is generally neglected for Yu Huang.
An Avatar of P'an Ku
According to the tradition of Chin Hung, the G.o.d of T'ai Shan of the fifth generation from P'an Ku, this being, then called Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-w.a.n.g, was an avatar of P'an Ku. It came about in this wise. In remote ages there lived on the mountains an old man, Yuan-s.h.i.+h T'ien-w.a.n.g, who used to sit on a rock and preach to the mult.i.tude. He spoke of the highest antiquity as if from personal experience. When Chin Hung asked him where he lived, he just raised his hand toward Heaven, iridescent clouds enveloped his body, and he replied: ”Whoso wishes to know where I dwell must rise to impenetrable heights.” ”But how,” said Chin Hung, ”was he to be found in this immense emptiness?” Two genii, Ch'ih Ching-tzu and Huang Lao, then descended on the summit of T'ai Shan and said: ”Let us go and visit this Yuan-s.h.i.+h. To do so, we must cross the boundaries of the universe and pa.s.s beyond the farthest stars.” Chin Hung begged them to give him their instructions, to which he listened attentively. They then ascended the highest of the sacred peaks, and thence mounted into the heavens, calling to him from the misty heights: ”If you wish to know the origin of Yuan-s.h.i.+h, you must pa.s.s beyond the confines of Heaven and earth, because he lives beyond the limits of the worlds. You must ascend and ascend until you reach the sphere of nothingness and of being, in the plains of the luminous shadows.”