The Daode Tianzun 道德天尊 Taishang Laojun

Daode Tianzun, also known as "Taiqing Daode Tianzun" or "Taishang Laojun", ranks third among the "Three Pure Ones" (Sanqing) and was the supreme deity worshipped in the early days of Taoism. Daode Tianzun was originally Laozi, a thinker in the Spring and Autumn Period and the founder of the Taoist school.

During the reigns of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty (58–88 CE), Wang Fu, the governor of Yizhou, wrote in The Stele of Laozi's Holy Mother: "Laozi is the Dao. He was born before the formless, arose before the Grand Beginning, walked in the primal chaos of the Grand Simplicity, wandered through the six voids, entered and exited the netherworld, observed the undifferentiated mixture, and glimpsed the unseparated turbidity and clarity." This deified Laozi as a divine being existing before heaven and earth, equating him with the "Dao".

During the reign of Emperor Shun (126–144 CE), Zhang Daoling founded the Five Pecks of Rice Taoism in Heming Mountain, Bashu, and revered Laozi as the religious leader, referring to him as Taishang Laojun for the first time. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the name Taishang Laojun became increasingly prominent. In May of the third year of Emperor Wu's Jiande reign in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (574 CE), "Buddhism and Taoism were initially banned: scriptures and statues were all destroyed, and monks and Taoists were dismissed and ordered to return to secular life." According to Taoist texts, Taishang Laojun sent envoys to manifest his spirit at that time. A month later, Emperor Wu issued another edict: "The supreme Dao is profound, blending into an boundless whole, embodying both emptiness and existence, with principles reaching the deepest mystery... Now, a Hall of the Dao can be established in the capital... All [teachings] should be propagated and integrated into one." This indicates that Taishang Laojun was already being used to intervene in state affairs at that time.

In the Tang Dynasty, the divine power of Taishang Laojun grew even stronger. He was not only revered as the ancestor of the Li Tang Dynasty, helping Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan pacify the country, but it was also said that when Wu Zetian usurped the Li Tang throne, Taishang Laojun manifested himself in the world, declaring that "Wu Hou cannot usurp the dynasty" and "must not establish a ruler of a different surname... Wu Hou ultimately feared these words and did not dare to appoint Wu Sansi [as her successor]." Therefore, during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong finally conferred on him the title "Great Sage Ancestor, Supreme Golden Tower, Mysterious Origin, Heavenly Emperor". In August of the sixth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era in the Song Dynasty (1013 CE), he was given the additional title "Taishang Laojun, the Primal Unity, Supreme Virtue Emperor".

In the Sanqing Hall of Taoist temples, the statue of Daode Tianzun is often depicted as an old man with white hair and a white beard, holding a feather fan, positioned to the right of Yuanshi Tianzun. In large-scale Taoist fasting and sacrificial rituals (zhaijiao), a divine seat for Daode Tianzun is also set up, also to the right of Yuanshi Tianzun. The birthday of Daode Tianzun is the 15th day of the second lunar month.