Three Great Emperor-Officials

Three Great Emperor-Officials
Painting of the Three Great Emperor-Officials in the White Cloud Temple of Beijing
Chinese	三官大帝
Literal meaning	Three Great Emperor-Officials
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin sānguān dàdì

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The Three Great Emperor-Officials (Chinese: 三官大帝; pinyin: sānguān dàdì), Sanguan,^[1] or the Three Officials^[1] are three of the highest shen in some branches of religious Taoism, and subordinate only to the Jade Emperor (玉帝 yùdì). The Three Great Emperor-Officials are the Heavenly Official (天官 tiānguān), the Earthly Official (地官 dìguān) and the Water Official (水官 shuǐguān). They administer all phenomena in the three spheres,^{[citation needed]} and were thought to be able to take away sin.

Chinese playwrights popularized the worship of these gods by including a skit before plays with shared themes between each performance called The Official of Heaven Brings Happiness.^[1]

They have been worshipped since the second century CE.^[2][1]