It is the heavenly emperor and supreme god who sacrificed in the literature system of Nine Songs. The "Eastern Emperor Taiyi" is related to the supreme god Taiyi sacrificed by Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and the supreme god Ertai in ancient Chu mythology. "Taiyi", "Tai Huang" and "Taiyi's family" recorded in documents after the Han Dynasty are all related to Taiyi in the Eastern Emperor.
The East Emperor in the East Emperor Taiyi is an honorific title. It is said that Taiyi and Dijun are both three-legged suns, born in the sun star transformed by Pangu's left eye. Some people say that he is the leader of the demon race in the wild times.
The highest god, Dong Huang Tai Yi, is the highest god in the nine songs, and Dong Huang Tai Yi is Qu Yuan's ode to "Dong Huang Tai Yi". Because Taoism thinks Taiyi is invisible, it is difficult for Chu people to give it an image. Since immortals can be called immortals, they should be people.
Notes on "Nine Songs of Chu East Emperor Taiyi": "Taiyi, whose star name is the God of Heaven, is located in the east of Chu to match the East Emperor, so it is called the East Emperor. "Historical Records Zen" says: Emperor Taigong, Emperor Tiandi assisted the five emperors, and the ancient emperor worshipped the southeast suburb of Taiyi in the Spring and Autumn Period. "
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu people thought they were descendants of the sun god, so they sacrificed to the East Emperor Taiyi. Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs" is the earliest record of the word "East Emperor Taiyi", and it also regards East Emperor Taiyi as the supreme god.
By the end of the Han Dynasty, Taoism was gradually taking shape, while Taoists compiled the earliest Shenpu in China by using the ancient books of various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Eastern Emperor Taiyi was renamed as the first director of male immortals, and tied with the Western Queen Mother as one of the two gods. Dong lives in Mount Tai, Dongyue, and the Queen Mother of the West lives in Yaochi, Xitian. Later, Buddhism was introduced, Taoism was suppressed for a long time, and Taoist priests created a jade emperor.
(In the old saying, the meaning of "East" is the highest. The "East Emperor" is not the emperor who is in charge of the eastern gods, but the supreme emperor. This belief lasted until the end of the Song Dynasty, when people didn't even know what the Jade Emperor was, let alone worship him.
The Eastern Emperor Taiyi has nothing to do with the emperor (the emperor was added in the myth of the afterlife), is not a brother, has nothing to do with the Donghua Emperor, and is not a descendant, just like Zeus and God, with different time and space.