Ritual on the Day of Taiyi Tianzun

Taiyi Tianzun (太乙天尊), full name Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun (太乙救苦天尊) — the Heavenly Lord of Great Unity — represents the original cosmic principle of unity: this “unity” is the first perceptible oneness (Taiyi), which already contains the possibility of division and arises from an even deeper undifferentiated state (Wuji), where there is as yet neither unity nor diversity. It is the principle that makes the emergence of diversity possible, without which nothing else can exist. Taiyi is the field in which everything can still turn back into one.

The ritual is performed on the 11th day of the 11th lunar month, often close to the winter solstice — when yin energy reaches its peak and the seed of a new yang first awakens. This is a time of contemplative silence, stillness, inner gathering of energy, and return to the source.

On this day, rituals are performed in temples for the salvation of ancestral souls, incense is lit, and sacred texts are recited. Taiyi symbolizes the original unity from which all creation arises — the perfect point where yin and yang have not yet separated.