The Three Officials, namely the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official, originated from the Primordial Supreme Being who, in the depths of the void, absorbed the Nine Qi of the Primordial Yang. In the Nine Lands, he drew in the Seven Qi of Pure Void and also took in the Five Qi of Morning Radiance from the Wind and Dew. All these were inhaled into his mouth and mixed with his Triple Burner before condensing into a spiritual fetus after eighty-one cycles.
On the fifteenth day of the first month during the Upper Yuan Festival, he expelled a radiant infant from his mouth. Additionally, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month during the Middle Yuan Festival and again on the fifteenth day of the tenth month during the Lower Yuan Festival, he expelled two more infants.
The Primordial Supreme Being is bestowed with the title: Upper Yuan First Rank Nine Qi Heavenly Official Purple Micro Emperor, residing in the Xuan Du Yuan Yang Seven Treasures Purple Micro Upper Palace. He presides over all heavenly deities and high true immortals as well as over San Luo Yong Zhen Tian Jun.
The Middle Yuan Second Rank Seven Qi Earthly Official Pure Void Emperor resides in the Palace of Pure Void within Nine Lands without Extremes. He oversees all Mountain Lords of Five Peaks along with Twenty-Four Governing Mountains and Rivers, as well as Nine Earths’ Soil Emperors and Four Dimensions Eight Extremes Deities.
The Lower Yuan Third Rank Five Qi Water Official Cave Yin Emperor resides in Jin Ling Chang Le Palace. He presides over Nine Rivers Water Emperors, Four Marsh Deities, Twelve Streams True Beings, and Three Rivers Four Plum Deities.
The residual energy of these Three Officials manifests in human realms as Yao, Shun, and Yu—three enlightened rulers. On each day of San Yuan (Three Origins), they traverse through all realms to assess celestial beings’ ascensions within this vast world and evaluate their merits along with matters concerning myriad life forms’ transformations. If sentient beings regularly honor and remember to conduct rituals for the Three Officials, they can receive blessings, absolution from sins, and relief from calamities—an immeasurable merit indeed.