Hongjun Laozu

Part of a series on
Taoism
Outline History
Concepts Taoist philosophy Tao De Wuji Taiji Yin and yang Bagua Wuxing (five phases) Bianhua Fan (reversal) Wu wei (non-action) Ziran Xian (immortal) Zhenren True form Three Treasures Jing Qi Shen Hun and po
Practices Three Treasures (virtues) Five Precepts Ten Precepts Meditation Alchemy Neidan Waidan Bugang Chu Diet (Bigu) Sexual practices Art Fulu Priesthood
Texts I Ching Tao Te Ching Zhuangzi Huainanzi Taipingjing Xiang'er Liezi Sanhuangjing Huahujing Qingjing Jing Baopuzi Daozang
Theology Hongjun Laozu Three Pure Ones Yuanshi Tianzun Lingbao Tianzun Daode Tianzun Four heavenly ministers Jade Emperor Ziwei Emperor Tianhuang Emperor Houtu Queen Mother of the West King Father of the East Three Great Emperor-Officials Eight Immortals Chang'e Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors Yellow Emperor Guan Yu Li Hong Body god
People Laozi Zhuang Zhou Lie Yukou Heshang Gong Wei Boyang Zhang Daoling Gan Ji Zhang Jue Zhang Lu Ge Xuan He Yan Wang Bi Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove Guo Xiang Sun Hanhua Wei Huacun Ge Hong Bao Jingyan Kou Qianzhi Lu Xiujing Tao Hongjing Cheng Xuanying Chen Tuan Zhang Boduan Sun Bu'er Wang Chongyang Qiu Chuji Zhang Guoxiang Zhang Sanfeng Zhu Quan Fangshi
Schools Huang–Lao Way of the Taiping Xuanxue Shangqing School Way of the Li Family Lingbao School Chongxuan School Quanzhen School Dragon Gate) Wuliupai Way of the Celestial Masters Way of the Five Pecks of Rice Way of the Celestial Masters#The Southern Celestial Masters The Northern Celestial Masters Zhengyi Dao Chinese ritual mastery traditions Yao Taoism
Sacred places Grotto-heavens Sacred Mountains of China Wudang Mountains Mount Penglai Mount Kunlun Taoist temple White Cloud Temple Louguantai Cebu Taoist Temple Taoist Temple (Hanford, California)
Institutions and organizations Chinese Taoist Association Celestial Masters Taoist priests
v t e

Hongjun Laozu (simplified Chinese: 鸿钧老祖; traditional Chinese: 鴻鈞老祖; pinyin: Hóngjūn Lǎozǔ; Wade–Giles: Hung-chün Lao-tsu) lit. "Ancestor of the Great Balance" is a deity in Chinese folk religion and Taoism, teacher of the Three Pure Ones in Taoist mythology. Hongjun 鴻鈞 is a graphic variant of hungjun (洪钧; 洪鈞; hóngjūn; hung-chün) "primordial nature", as used in the Chinese idiom Xian you hongjun hou you tian 先有鸿钧后有天 "First there was Hongjun and then there was Heaven".

Daoists mythologize Hongjun Laozu as the ancestor of xian "trancendents; immortals"^[1] and use the honorific name Hongyuan Laozu (鸿元老祖; 鴻元老祖; Hóngyuán Lǎozǔ; Hung-yuan Lao-tsu) "Great Primal Ancestor". In Chinese creation myths, hongyuan 鸿元 or 洪元 is a cosmological term for "the universe before the separation of heaven and earth".

Some myths about the creator Pangu^[2] refer to Hongjun Laozu as Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人; Xuánxuán Shàngrén; Hsüan-hsüan Shang-jen) "Mystery of Mysteries Saint" (a reference to the Daodejing, "Mystery or mysteries, the gate of all wonders!"^[3]). Hongjun Laozu is also referred to as Hunyuan Laozu (混元老祖 - "Ancestor of Original Chaos").