Back Sanguan German Trois gouverneurs French Sanguan NB ซำกัวไต่เต่ Thai Tam quan đại đế Vietnamese 三官大帝 Chinese 三官大帝 ZH-CLASSICAL 三官大帝 ZH-YUE
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| Chinese | 三官大帝 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | Three Great Emperor-Officials | ||||||
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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]
- ^ a b c d "Sanguan". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ Adler, Joseph A. "The Three Officials". Kenyon College. Retrieved 2023-04-30.