Three Great Emperor-Officials

Painting of the Three Great Emperor-Officials in the White Cloud Temple of Beijing

三官大帝

Literal meaning

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	sānguān dàdì

Taoism
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The Three Great Emperor-Officials (Chinese: 三官大帝; pinyin: sānguān dàdì), Sanguan, or the Three Officials 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, 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.

They have been worshipped since the second century CE.