Where Do the Taoist Immortals “Live”?

Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism

In everyday life we often call certain famous scenic places “grotto-heavens and blessed lands” (dongtian fudi), meaning that they are places where immortals live. A “grotto-heaven” is a cave chamber in a mountain that leads straight up to heaven. It refers to the immortal realms of Taoism, believed to be the dwelling places of immortals, and Taoist priests live in seclusion and pursue spiritual practice in such places, hoping to realize the Tao and become perfected.

But according to Taoist scriptures and the elaborations of mythological literature, most immortals live far from the mortal world above the ninefold heavens. Where exactly? This article briefly introduces the dwelling places of several of the most important Taoist deities.

The Taoist cosmos is divided into thirty-six heavens. These are the spaces Taoism conceives as the dwelling places of the immortals, and most immortals live in them.

Let us begin with the dwelling places of the highest deities of Taoism, the Three Pure Ones: the Primordial Heavenly Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun), the Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure (Lingbao Tianzun), and the Heavenly Worthy of the Tao and Its Virtue (Daode Tianzun). Collectively they are called the “Heavenly Worthies of the Three Treasures, of the Three Realms of the Three Pure Ones, of the Great Veil, of Emptiness and Nothingness and of What Is So of Itself,” and they dwell in the immortal realms of the Three Pure Ones.

According to Taoist scriptures, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy dwells in the sacred realm of Jade Clarity in the Qingwei Heaven, the thirty-fifth heaven; the Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure dwells in the true realm of Highest Clarity in the Upper Yuyu Heaven, the thirty-fourth heaven; and the Heavenly Worthy of the Tao and Its Virtue dwells in the immortal realm of Grand Clarity in the Upper Dachi Heaven, the thirty-third heaven. Put simply, these are the realms of Jade Clarity, Highest Clarity, and Grand Clarity. In Journey to the West, Lord Lao the Most High (Taishang Laojun) lives in the Tushita Palace in the Lihen Heaven, and the Tushita Palace is located in the thirty-third heaven, which matches the location of the immortal realm of Grand Clarity recorded in Taoist sources.

The Jade Emperor is the deity second only to the Three Pure Ones in Taoism. His full title is “Supreme and Most Honored Jade Emperor of the Golden Palace of the Vast Heaven, Wondrously Existing as What Is So of Itself, Most True of the Mile Heaven.” Taoism holds that the Jade Emperor governs all the fortunes and misfortunes, yin and yang, of the Three Realms and ten directions, the four modes of birth and six paths of rebirth. In Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor receives the gods and buddhas in the Hall of Divine Mists, but this is only fiction. Taoist scriptures record that the Jade Emperor dwells in the Palace of Jade Clarity of Grand Tenuity. The Collected Commentaries on the Jade Emperor Scripture says: “The Palace of Jade Clarity of the Most High Mysterious Tenuity is the palace where the Jade Emperor dwells, with mysterious auspicious purple qi. Its golden light extends four billion li; lofty and unchanging, it never decays or sinks, utterly free of dust, beyond the reach of all the heavens. Therefore it is called the Palace of Jade Clarity of Grand Tenuity.”

Having discussed the Three Pure Ones and the Jade Emperor, let us now introduce the dwellings of the Four Sovereigns. The Four Sovereigns are the four deities among the Taoist gods who assist the Three Pure Ones and the Jade Emperor, and so they are also called the “Four Assistants.” They are: the Great Emperor of the North Pole of Purple Tenuity of the Central Heaven, the Great Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole, the Great Emperor of the Upper Palace of the Curved Array, and Empress Earth (Houtu), Sovereign Earth Spirit Who Receives Heaven and Follows Its Law.

The Great Emperor of the North Pole of Purple Tenuity is a stellar deity, the manifestation of the Purple Tenuity Star. The Book of the Later Han records: “Heaven has the Palace of Purple Tenuity, the dwelling of the Lord on High.” So the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity (Ziwei Dadi) dwells in the Palace of Purple Tenuity, and since ancient times emperors have honored Purple Tenuity above all.

The Great Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole, also called the True King of Jade Clarity, whose full title is “Most High True King of Jade Clarity of the Divine Empyrean, Great Emperor of Longevity, Heavenly Worthy and Primordial Sage Who Governs Heaven,” dwells in the Most High Jade Clarity Mansion of the Divine Empyrean, known for short as the Jade Mansion of the Divine Empyrean. The Divine Empyrean is one of the nine empyreans of Taoism; chapter 8 of the Taoist text Jade Register of Grand Clarity (Taiqing Yuce) names the nine empyreans as the Divine Empyrean, the Blue Empyrean, the Jasper Empyrean, the Cinnabar Empyrean, the Radiant Empyrean, the Jade Empyrean, the Langgan Empyrean, the Purple Empyrean, and the Grand Empyrean.

Like the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity, the Great Emperor of the Curved Array (Gouchen Tianhuang Dadi) is a stellar deity, and he dwells in the Upper Palace of Purple Tenuity, that is, the Palace of the Curved Array. His duties are to assist the Jade Emperor in governing the north and south poles and the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity, to command the stars, and to preside over warfare in the human world.

Empress Earth is called the Mother of the Earth, the earth goddess of popular belief, ruling over the land, its mountains and rivers. According to the Taoist scriptures, Empress Earth dwells in “the Jade Gate Tower of Nine Splendors, the Imperial Chamber of Seven Treasures.”

Having introduced the dwellings of several of Taoism’s “great gods,” we can see that most immortals live in heaven. Some immortals, however, choose to live in earthly paradises: the Queen Mother of the West, first among the female immortals, lives by the Jasper Pool on Mount Kunlun, and many immortals live on the three divine mountains of Penglai, that is, the three isles of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.