inner gods
deity intermediate Taoist single tradition · 1
Inner gods are among the earliest images in Taoism. The body was transformed into the dwelling place of powerful internal spirits or gods. The first systematic description of inner gods is found in the Yellow Court Classic, where each organ is designated as a ministry and is managed by a god residing in a palace.
When
- First attested
- 100 BCE
- Attested period
- -100 – 500
- Historical notes
- Emerged during the decline of the Han dynasty.
Sources
wikipedia (1)
Source passages
“Inner gods are among the earliest images in Taoism, but literary sources predate any visual iconography. Body gods can be traced to the social and political upheaval of the declining Han dynasty, where a "process of deification" on the microcosmic level supplanted a notion of organs as impersonal storehouses of qi.”
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