postgres Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, also called the Great Emperor of Green Splendor of the Eastern Pole, is a Daoist deity who lives in the Miaoyan palace of the Qinghua Changle realm and delivers suffering souls. He is pictured riding a nine-headed lion with a willow branch and purifying water, and appears in Journey to the West. /en/people/taiyi-zhenren/relation.html person_cn_q10825805 person taiyi-zhenren 太乙救苦天尊

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, also called the Great Emperor of Green Splendor of the Eastern Pole, is a Daoist deity who lives in the Miaoyan palace of the Qinghua Changle realm and delivers suffering souls. He is pictured riding a nine-headed lion with a willow branch and purifying water, and appears in Journey to the West.

published category-literature category-people category-fictional-characters tag-fictional-character tag-classics tag-four-great-classics wikidata https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10825805 zhwiki https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%AA%E4%B9%99%E6%95%91%E8%8B%A6%E5%A4%A9%E5%B0%8A 2026-10-25T00:00:00+08:00 2026-10-29T17:21:22+08:00 user:admin 7 Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun is a major Daoist deity. The name is a divine title and not a person's name. Wikidata's Chinese label for this item is Taiyi Zhenren, described there as a character of Investiture of the Gods, which does not match the Chinese Wikipedia article title, so there is no single verifiable personal name and the heading stays as it was. The rest of this entry follows the Chinese Wikipedia article.[^wikidata][^zhwiki] ## Titles and dwelling According to the Chinese Wikipedia article, he is also called the Great Emperor of Green Splendor of the Eastern Pole, the Heavenly Venerable Who Answers Cries to Relieve Suffering, the Supreme Emperor of the Nine Yang of Green Mystery, and the Heavenly Venerable Who Relieves Suffering in the Ten Directions. Daoist scriptures say he lives in the Miaoyan palace in the Qinghua Changle realm and leads suffering souls to rebirth, and that for those who have stored up merit, understood the Dao and perfected their practice he rides a chariot of nine lions and scatters the light of a hundred treasures to receive them as immortals in heaven. Because he is as merciful as a father and lives in the Miaoyan palace of the east, Daoism honors him as Supreme Emperor of Green Splendor of the Eastern Pole or Merciful Father of the Eastern Palace. The Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing says that in heaven he is called the Blessed God Taiyi, in the world the Great Merciful One, in hell the Emperor of the Sun, among the heterodox the Lion Bright King, and in the water palace the Emperor of Deep Pool. In danger on mountain or sea, one need only devoutly recite his name to be freed from sorrow and turn ill luck to good, hence he is the one who hears the voice and relieves suffering.[^zhwiki] ## Origins The article says the cult is related to the worship of the Eastern Sovereign Taiyi and the Eastern King Father popular in the state of Chu before the Qin, that it is hard to say when it took shape, but that it certainly existed in the Six Dynasties and perhaps as early as the Eastern Han. From the Tang to the early Song it also influenced Buddhism, for instance the practice of rites on the seventh and hundredth days for the dead in the Ten Kings Sutra copied by Zang Chuan in the early Tang, which comes from a Daoist scripture.[^zhwiki] ## Images The article describes several types of image. In the Daoist lord type he stands on lotuses in a halo of light, holding a willow branch and purifying water, with nine-headed lions at his sides spitting flame. The Shangqing Lingbao Dafa says he rides a nine-headed lion and takes the form of the Ten-Direction Relief Heavenly Venerable to deliver ghosts, and that the lion's roar can open the gates of hell. The willow branch and water are the healing potion of the world. The article says the earliest surviving stone image of the Relieving Suffering Venerable is niche 62 at the Xuanmiao temple in Anyue, Sichuan, cut in 730. There is also an imperial type in robes and crown, holding a jade tablet on a dragon throne, called the Great Emperor of Green Splendor. According to the Miaojing he has transformations as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, sometimes dwelling in heaven, descending among people or living in hell, as a youth or maiden, an emperor or sage, answering the need of each being.[^zhwiki] ## Festivals and rites The article records that his birthday is the eleventh day of the eleventh month, that the day he attained the Dao is the eighth day of the eighth month, and that he descends the next day to relieve suffering. Under Emperor Zhenzong of the Song, the ninth day of the eighth month became his official birthday, called Yuancheng Festival. Large Daoist temples generally honor him, and ordinary people offer his image, tablet or incense at ancestor rites such as Qingming, Zhongyuan and Chongyang, or at rites of offering and deliverance. Rites for deliverance such as the Treasure Repentance for Crossing the Blood Lake, Lingbao Refining and the Nine Dark Lamp Rite take him as the chief deity. The article adds that, according to the Complete Collection of Ten Kings' Memorials, the Ten-Direction Relief Venerable also takes the form of the Ten Kings of the underworld so as to govern the spirits of the nine dark realms.[^zhwiki] ## In literature The article says that in Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West the Venerable is portrayed as dignified and splendid. His mount, the lion Jiuling Yuansheng, came down to cause trouble for Tang Sanzang's journey, and Sun Wukong went to find the Venerable, who was seated high on a nine-colored lotus seat in a hundred million auspicious rays and came down to greet him.[^zhwiki] ## Basic facts - Divine title: Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, also called the Great Emperor of Green Splendor of the Eastern Pole and others[^zhwiki] - Category: Daoist deity[^zhwiki] - Dwelling: Miaoyan palace in the Qinghua Changle realm[^zhwiki] - Wikidata's Chinese label: Taiyi Zhenren (differs from the article title)[^wikidata] /people/taiyi-zhenren.html en zh zh en Character in Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West true literary character relation_cnworks_depicts_q1336310_q10825805 work_cn_q1336310 depicts person_cn_q10825805 work_cn_q1336310 wikidata Related works work_cn_q1336310 Investiture of the Gods /en/works/investiture-gods.html true relation_cnworks_depicts_q70784_q10825805 work_cn_q70784 depicts person_cn_q10825805 work_cn_q70784 zhwiki-characters Related works work_cn_q70784 Journey to the West /en/works/journey-to-west.html true work_cn_q1336310 Investiture of the Gods /en/works/investiture-gods.html work depicts Related works relation_cnworks_depicts_q1336310_q10825805 work_cn_q1336310 depicts person_cn_q10825805 work_cn_q1336310 wikidata Related works work_cn_q1336310 Investiture of the Gods /en/works/investiture-gods.html true relation_cnworks_depicts_q70784_q10825805 work_cn_q70784 depicts person_cn_q10825805 work_cn_q70784 zhwiki-characters Related works work_cn_q70784 Journey to the West /en/works/journey-to-west.html true en zh en is_fictional Fictional yes person_category Person category literary character disambiguation Disambiguation Character in Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West 1 50 2 1 2 1