The Three Pure Heavens (三清 - San Qing) are also called the Three Pure/Pristine Realms (三清境 - San Qing Jing), and are governed by the Supreme Venerable Sovereign (太上老君 - Tai Shang Lao Jun). The Great Overarching Heaven (大罗天 - Da Luo Heaven) is above all other Heavens and en-globes the entire universe. 8' China Taoism Brass Taoist priest God Tai ji Tai shang lao jun Lao tzu Statue. $110.00 previous price $110.00. Chinese myth refined Brass 'Tai Shang Lao Jun'Taoist Buddha Statue. Chinese buddhism mythology Bronze Copper Tai shang lao jun Taoist buddha Statue.

1. Laozi Biography
2. Laozi Beliefs
3. Chinese Philosophy Laozi
4. Laozi Written Works

As one of the most ancient and respected deities in Daoism, Tai Shang Lao Jun is unsurprisingly known by many names and holds many respected titles, including, but not limited to, Dao De Tian Zun (道德天尊 dào dé tiān zūn) - literally 'The Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue' - and Tai Qing (太清 tài qīng) - literally 'the Grand Pure One.' Even the name Tai Shang Lao Jun means 'the Supreme Venerable Sovereign.'

He is one of the Three Pure Ones (三清 sān qīng)¹ and is believed to be the founder of Daoism. In order to bring his teachings to earth, he is said to have been reincarnated many times across history, the most famous incarnation of which was Lao Zi (老子 lǎo zi).

¹ Often referred to as the Three Pristine Ones, or the Three Divine Teachers, the Three Pure Ones are the highest Gods in Daoism and are comprised of:

• Yuan Shi Tian Zun (元始天尊 yuán shǐ tiān zūn) - literally the 'Lord of Primordial Beginning'
• Ling Bao Tian Zun (灵宝天尊 líng bǎo tiān zūn) - literally the 'Lord of the Numinous Treasure'
• Dao De Tian Zun (道德天尊 dào dé tiān zūn) - literally the 'Heavenly Lord of Tao and Virtue'

Tai Shang Lao Jun Review & Rating. This is an easy-to-understand game that offers a nice maximum win in standard play of 1,000 coins. The bonus features, including wilds, scatters and a bonus scatter are a nice addition and add to the overall appeal of the slot. Tai Shang Lao Jun trademark / license is owned by EURASIAN Gaming. Tai Shang Lao Jun. Third Prince's Journey. Fish Hunter 2 EX - Newbie. Fish Hunter 2 EX - Novice. Fish Hunter 2 EX - Pro. Fish Hunter 2 EX - My Club. 太上老君诞 tai shang lao jun Lao Zi, the founder of the philosophy of Taoism was born in the year of 1301 BC, the 24th year of Wu Ting of Shang D.

Lao Zi

Lao Zi was born in 571 BCE and died in 471 BCE² He was a great thinker, philosopher, writer and historian, and the founder of Daoism. His philisophical work is still highly regarded to this day, on par with Confucious and Aristotle, regardless of any religious intent, which, at it's core, is centred around the belief that humans should live in harmony with the Dao (the way of nature and the Universe), be open-minded, modest, and rid ourselves of materialistic obsessions and the lust for 'things'.

² Though there is some disupte amongst historians as to whether or not Lao Zi really existed, the vast majority believe he did. And for those who do believe he existed, there is further disupte regarding when he was born, and when he died.

Some parts of his story may have been fabricated, especially those with relation to the divine, but then, all good stories deserve a little embellishment.

Tai Shang Lao Jun and the Monkey King

In the Journey to the West (西游记 xī yóu jì), Tai Shang Lao Jun and the Monkey King (孙悟空 sūn wù kōng) didn't exactly see eye to eye. In fact, before Tathāgata (如来佛 ruò lái fú) intervened, Tai Shang Lao Jun and the Jade Emperor (玉帝 yù dì) tried to execute the Monkey King for all the trouble he had caused in Heaven, on earth, and in Di Yu (地狱 dì yù). But after trying and failing miserably with conventional methods, Tai Shang Lao Jun suggested they use his Brazier of Eight Trigrams (八卦炉 bā guà lú) to separate the ellixir - which at this point had formed a single solid mass in his stomach - weaken his body, then execute him. And so they tried, but to no avail. TheMonkey King survived.

Weaponsmith and Alchemist

In the Journey to the West, Tai Shang Lao Jun was an expert weaponsmith. He forged many powerful magical weapons in his Brazier of Eight Trigrams, including the Monkey King'sMagic Wishing Staff (如意金箍棒 rú yì jīn gū bàng), Zhu Ba Jie's (猪八戒 zhū bā jiè) Nine-Tooth Spike-Rake (九齿钉耙 jiǔ chǐ dīng pá), Purple-Gold Bells (紫金铃 zǐ jīn líng), and many, many more.

He was also renowned for his alchemy skills and spent much of his time brewing the Ellixir of Immortality (仙丹 xiān dān).

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Lei Ting curse charms (traditional Chinese: 符咒錢; simplified Chinese: 符咒钱; pinyin: fú zhòu qián), or Lôi Đình curse charms,^[1] are a type of Chinese and Vietnamese numismatic charms,^[2] these charms can be described as a talismanic coin as they are often based on Chinese cash coins but can also have round holes instead of square ones and may also be shaped like gourd charms.

Lei Ting curse charms contain inscriptions that request the Taoist God of Thunder Leigong to expel evil spirits and maleficent bogies through a magical spell incantation which usually calls upon Leigong by claiming that the inscription is in fact an order from Laozi himself.^[3] In some cases these coin charms request that Leigong should act 'with the speed of the law' - “急急如律令.”

Overview[edit]

Laozi Biography

The name 'Lei Ting' (雷霆) comes from Lei (雷) which is an abbreviation for 'Leigong' (雷公) or 'Leishen' (雷神) who is the god of thunder and one the officials in the celestial Ministry of Thunder and Storm who could punish on behalf of Heaven,^[4][5] and Ting (霆) meaning 'thunderbolts' as these thunderbolts would be used for the destruction of malicious spirits as it is the noise of the thunder produced by the drums hold by Leigong that causes death of the wrong doers.^[6][4] It is not uncommon for the characters Lei (雷), Ling (令, 'to order'), Sha (杀, 'to kill'), and Gui (鬼, 'spirit' or 'ghost') on Lei Ting curse charms at both extremes of the inscription to be written in Taoist Fuwen as opposed to with Hanzi characters, and although the religious sects and orders of Taoism usually wish for the meaning of Fuwen characters to remain a secret the Fu characters used for these terms are actually well known.^[7][8]

Laozi Beliefs

The term 'Lei Ting curse charm' is a term used primarily by Chinese collectors for these coin charms.^[9]

Lei Ting curse charms are an evolution of the ancient Chinese belief that everything is controlled by spirits and evil spirits should be dealt with in the same manner as human adversaries should be treated, in Ancient China a large number of exorcists would roam the streets and throw spears into the air to scare evil spirits away, at the same time human prisoners would have their limbs dismembered and would be openly displayed outside the city gates to scare evil spirits away proclaiming that the same fate shall fall upon them if they dare go into the city.^[10] According to Chinese legends Hanzi characters were created by the Yellow Emperor and after 'the millet fell from the heavens and the spirits cried at night', this was because legends describe spirits of being afraid of being controlled by 'the magical properties of Chinese characters' as described in the Huainanzi. As Hanzi characters were used on amulets magical powers were prescribed to them by the superstitious, during the Han dynasty Chinese numismatic charms started to be worn as pendants to protect its wearers from the influence of bogies and evil spirits. Leigong became one of the most commonly requested Taoist Gods to request for protection.^[11]

The ancient Chinese people believed that decrees and mandates issued by the government had absolutely authoritative power over them which expanded their belief that Hanzi characters somehow had magical properties. Taoist exorcists and priests claimed that they could use Hanzi characters and Fu script to make decrees that influence the spiritual world, for this reason the inscriptions of Lei Ting curse charms resemble official decrees and documents issued by the government of imperial China but ordered by Laozi and the person being decreed was Leigong whose job it is to punish people guilty of moral crimes such as unfilial sons or daughter as well as evil entities using the Taoist magic to harm others.^[12] The reason why Laozi was selected to be the one decreeing the order was because he was a prestigious figure who had the power needed to enforce said decree. In some cases rather than Leigong Laozi himself was used to either scare away or kill bogies and malicious spirits. Laozi is often referred to as 'Tai Shang Lao Jun' (太上老君, tài shàng lǎo jūn) on Lei Ting curse charms, this title was posthumously given to him by the Emperor of the Song dynasty in the year 1013 AD. Like government decrees inscriptions on Lei Ting curse charms would carry phrases such as 'quickly, quickly, this is an order' or 'respect this command' to emulate them. Some curse charms contain the Chinese character for 'dead ghost' as living people are startled to see a ghost and fear seeing them as ghosts are once living people who have died, the ancient Chinese people believed that ghosts themselves feared 'dead ghosts' and would be equally startled in the same way humans feared regular ghosts and that charms and amulets that had the Chinese or Fuwen character for 'dead ghost' would scare ghosts away.

Lei Ting curses appear on a wide variety of Chinese and Vietnamese numismatic charms such as those containing Taoist 'magic' writing, a type of secret script used by Taoist priests which ancient Chinese people assigned magical properties to, charms containing images of various other Taoist deities such as Xuanwu, and other Lei Ting curse charms can have Taoist symbols on their reverse such as the Bagua (eight trigrams).^[13][14]

These amulets were traditionally bought from Taoist masters and because they were often written in an exotic style and using Taoist 'magic' writing, it was not uncommon for the inscriptions to be only readable by the Taoist masters who issued them.^[9]

List of magic incantations found on Lei Ting curse charms[edit]

The inscriptions of Lei Ting curse charms are read up to down and then right to left. Inscriptions can contain both Chinese characters and Taoist 'magic' writing. Usually these curse charms request Leigong to fight malicious spirits and bogies but Laozi may also be called upon for this task.^[15][16]

The following inscriptions are found on Lei Ting curse charms:

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

Chinese Philosophy Laozi

1. ^This Lei Ting curse charm resembles regular cash coins but has a four character obverse inscription and a four character reverse inscription, both of which the obverse is written in seal script, while the reverse is written in Taoist 'Magic' writing (or fuwen) and are read top-bottom-right-left.

Laozi Written Works

References[edit]

1. ^Greenbaum 2006, p. 15. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGreenbaum2006 (help)
2. ^Chinese Coinage Website (Charm.ru) – List of illustrations wanted for F.A. Turk’s - INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE COIN-LIKE CHARMS by Scott Semans, Vladimir Belyaev, and Steve Young. Retrieved: 02 August 2018.
3. ^'Amulette à invocation de Leiting - Leiting invocation charm'. François Thierry de Crussol (TransAsiart) (in French). 14 September 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
4. ^ ^abZheng 2004, p. 409. sfn error: no target: CITEREFZheng2004 (help)
5. ^'Chinese God of Thunder'. Feng Shui Trader (Chinese Mythology - A Blog on Chinese Mythology). November 23, 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
6. ^Edgar J.Mandel. Metal Charms and Amulets of China. Chapter: Magic spell incantations.
7. ^Kainz, C. Chinesischen Tempelmünzen. Published in 1895. Pages 8, 19, 21, and 25. (in German)
8. ^ChinaZeug.de alte und antike chinesische Amulette (charms) by Yi and Ralf Thomann. Retrieved: 04 August 2018. (in German)
9. ^ ^abCraig Greenbaum (2006). 'Amulets of Viet Nam (Bùa Việt-Nam - 越南符銭)'. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
10. ^Taoist Transcendence and Thunder Magic, As seen in the Great Rituals of Heavenly Ting of Metal and Fire in the Divine Empyrean (神霄金火天丁大法) by Florian C. Reiter. (Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft Vol. 161, No. 2 (2011), pp. 415-444) Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag.
11. ^Thierry, François Amulettes de Chine et du Viet-Nam. (in French)
12. ^'Taoist Deities / Gods § The Thunder God ( 雷 公, Lei Gong )'. Taoist Secret. 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
13. ^'Daoist (Taoist) Charms - 道教品壓生錢 - Introduction and History of Daoist Charms'. Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
14. ^''太上老君急急如律令'什么意思?__解释说道(…)'. Wuzhongzhan (in Chinese). 24 May 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
15. ^'Amulette à l'invocation de Taishang Laojun - 太上老君 - Taishang Laojun prayer charm'. François Thierry de Crussol (TransAsiart) (in French). 14 September 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
16. ^John Ferguson (www.sportstune.com), Vladimir Belyaev (www.charm.ru), Tan Kuan Yang Gilbert, and Sergey N. Shevtsov (1996). 'Magic Spell combined with Eight Trigram - Section 6.1: Round shape'. Sportstune.com - Chinese coin and charm images. Retrieved 7 August 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. ^Hartill 2005, p. 440. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHartill2005 (help)
18. ^Grundmann, Horst - Amulette Chinas und seiner Nachbarländer (2003). °382. (in German).

Sources[edit]

• Zheng Yiwei (editor) Classic Chinese Charms (花钱图典), China: Wen Hua Press, Published: 2004. (in Mandarin Chinese).