In the solemn Taoist Sanqing Hall, the three solemnly-dressed deities are usually worshipped, which are the supreme gods of Taoism, the “Three Primes”. The Three Primes are Yuzhen Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun and Taqing Dade Tianzun, and they are a symbol of the Taoist philosophical doctrine of “the Trinity”. Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching says: “The Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three, Three gave birth to all things. All things contain Yin and embrace Yang, and the rush of Qi is harmony.” From the nameless Dao comes the primordial chaos, from which the primordial chaos gives rise to the two energies of yin and yang. The harmony of yin and yang gives rise to all things in the world. Chapter 14 goes on to say: “What cannot be seen is called small, what cannot be heard is called remote, and what cannot be grasped is called subtle. These three cannot be questioned, so they become one. It is believed that one becomes three, and three become one. Later, Taoism used this to derive the three revered gods who reside in the Three Pure Ones paradise. Therefore, the Three Pristine Ones are the most revered gods in the Taoist pantheon. The Taoist Canon, Volume 7, quotes the Taizhen Code as saying: “The Great Ultimate is born of the three primordial energies of the mysterious primordial, and becomes the Three Pristine Ones: the first is the Celestial Realm of the Jade Clarity of the Qingwei Heaven, born of the primordial energy; the second is the Celestial Realm of the Upper Heavens of the Yu Yu, born of the primordial spirit; the third is the Celestial Realm of the Great Vermilion Heaven of the Supreme Ultimate, born of the primordial mystery. From this, the three primordial energies each gave birth to the world,” according to the Cloud Classic Seven? and other Taoist records, the Jade Realm of the Qingming Heaven, the Primordial Void of the Mixed Cave, its qi is initially green, the true Dao ascends to the realm of the saint, and it is ruled by the Heavenly Precious Treasure (Yuan Shi Tianzun); the Celestial Pure Realm of the Yu Yu Heaven, its qi is primordially yellow, the immortal Dao ascends to the realm of the true, and it is ruled by the Precious Spiritual Treasure; the Great Red Sky's Supreme Pure Realm, its qi is mysteriously white; the human Dao ascends to the realm of the fairy, and it is inhabited by the Dao Tianzun. The text says: “These four heavenly realms are above the three realms, beyond the reach of disasters. There are three pure realms in these four heavenly realms. Above the three pure realms is the great heavenly realm, where the primordial deity lives and spreads his teachings. The heavenly treasure lord rules in the jade pure realm, and the clear and subtle heavenly realm. The spiritual treasure lord rules in the upper pure realm, which is the remaining heavenly realm, and the divine treasure lord (the Taoist deity) rules in the supreme pure realm, which is the great red heavenly realm.” ("The Cloud Classic VII? Volume 3, ‘Taoism Origin Section’) According to ‘Collection of Commentaries on the True Meaning,’ citing ‘A Brief Account of the Number of Readings,’ it says: ‘The Three Pure Ones are the holy realm of the jade-pure, where the primordial began; the holy realm of the upper pure, where the Taoist Lord resides; and the heavenly realm of the great pure, where the Old Lord resides.’ At the same time, the Three Pure Ones of Taoism also reflect the deification of the ‘Three Cave Sutras’ of Taoism. The sixth volume of the “Clouds and Books Seven” says in the “San Dong Jingjiao Bu”: “The Daoist Great Treatise on the Three Holes speaks of the three holes, which are also the three realms. The three realms are interconnected and encompass the three realms of the first hole, the second hole and the third hole. It is the profound meaning of the three realms and the spiritual chapter of the eight meetings.” According to the record of the Qingwei God's position in the ‘Qingwei Dao Fa Zhuzhu’ in Volume 1 of the ‘Dao Fa Huiyuan’; the Qingwei Shengzu Yuqing Yuanshi Miaodao Shangdi represents the Dongzhen Jingbu, Taiyuan Fu, and passes on the Qingwei school of Taoism; the Qingwei Xuanzu Shangqing Lingfu represented the Dongxuan Jingbu, Taihe assisted, and passed on the Lingbao school; the Qingwei ancestor Taiqing Daode Wuling Xuanlaojun represented the Dongjing Jingbu, Taiqing assisted, and passed on the Daode school and Zhengyi school.
There is a historical process behind the image of the Three Pure Ones. During the reign of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty (126–144), Zhang Daoling founded the Wudoumi Dao on Heming Mountain (in the territory of present-day Dayi County, Sichuan Province) and revered “Taishang Laojun” as the supreme deity. Later, Kou Qianzhi reformed the Tianshi Dao, and also regarded “Taishang Laojun” as the supreme god. However, the name “Dao De Tianzun” already appeared. As far as we can see, the name “Sanqing” was first mentioned in the “Zhenling Weiye Tu” (Map of the Realms of the Gods) written by Tao Hongjing of the Southern Liang Dynasty. The book ranks the immortals in order, divided into seven levels, with one central position on each level. The first central position is occupied by the Supreme Lord of the Beginning, who is also known as the Lord of the Way. The second central position is occupied by the Supreme Lord of the Upper Pure, also known as the Supreme Lord of the Jade Morning. The third central position is occupied by the Supreme Lord of the Golden Palace of Taiji, whose surname is Li and who is the Lord of the Taiping (Peace under Heaven) under the teaching of the Year of the Water Snake. The fourth is the Supreme Lord Lao Zi of the Supreme Ultimate (the Lord of the Supreme Ultimate Tao, who comes down to the people). The Supreme Lord of the Supreme Ultimate. The names of the Three Pristine Ones are mentioned quite clearly, but the order of the Three Pristine Ones has not yet been determined. The third is the “Lord of the Golden Gate”, while Lao Zi is in the fourth position. The names of the Three Pristine Ones gradually evolved over time, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that they became fixed. The Taoist Canon: Taipingbu: Sandong Zhunang, Volume 7, citing Laojun Shengji, says: “This is the realm of the Jade Emperor, the position of the Supreme Being, above the 35th heaven. This is the realm of the Supreme Taoist Lord (Lingbao Tianzun), above the 34th heaven. The realm of the Supreme Ultimate, the eye of the Taiji, is the position of the Supreme Lord Lao Zi, above the 33rd heaven.” Thus, the Three Pure Ones became the supreme gods of Taoism.

在庄严肃穆的道教三清大殿中，通常供奉着神态端庄的三位尊神，这就是道教的最高神“三清”。三清即玉清元始天尊、上清灵宝天尊、太清道德天尊，三清为道家哲学“三一”学说的象征。《道德经》第四十二章曰：“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物，万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。”由无名大道化生混沌元气，由元气化生阴阳二气，阴阳之相和，生天下万物。第十四章又说：“视之不见名曰夷，听之不闻名曰希，搏之不得名曰微。此三者不可致诘，故混而为一，”认为一化为三，三合为一，“用则分三，本则常一”。后来道教以此衍化出居于三清胜境的三位尊神。因此“三清”尊神在道教神仙体系中位为最尊，《道教义枢》卷七引《太真科》说：“大罗生玄元始三气，化为三清天也：一曰清微天玉清境，始气所成；二日禹余天上清境，元气所成；三曰大赤天太清境，玄气所成。从此三气各生，”据《云笈七?》和《道法会元》等道书记载，清微天玉清境，混洞太无元，其气始青，真道升圣境，天宝尊(元始天尊)治之；禹余天上清境，其气元黄，仙道升真境，灵宝尊治之；大赤天太清境，其气玄白；人道升仙境，道 天尊居之。文曰：“此四种民天，即三界之上，灾所不及四种民天上有三清境。三清之上即是大罗天，元始天尊居其中，施化敷教。天宝君治在玉清境，清微天也。灵宝君治在上清境，即禹余天也，神宝尊(道德天尊)治在太清境，即大赤天也。”(《云笈七?》卷三《道教本始部》)又据《集说诠真》引《读书纪数略》云：“三清者玉清圣境，元始居之；上清圣境，道君居之；太清仙境，老君居之。”同时，道教的三清尊神还反映了道教“三洞真经”的神化。《云笈七?》卷六《三洞经教部》说：“《道门大论》云三洞者，洞言洞也。通玄达妙，其统有三，故云‘三洞’。第一洞真，第二洞玄，第三洞神。乃三景之玄旨，八会之灵章。”根据《道法会元》卷一《清微道法枢纽》关于清微神位的记载；清微圣祖玉清元始妙道上帝代表洞真经部，太玄辅之，传道教清微派；清微玄祖上清灵福玉雇大道君，代表洞玄经部，太平辅之，传灵宝派；清微始祖太清道德五灵玄老君代表洞神经部，太清辅之，正一盟威之道通贯三洞，传道德派和正一派。
三清尊神的形象有一个历史过程。汉顺帝时(126—144年)，张道陵鹤鸣山(今四川大邑县境内)创立无斗米道，尊“太上老君”为最高神。后来寇谦之改革天师道，亦以“太上老君”为最早最高尊神，但已经出现了“道德天尊”的名称，以今所见，“三清”的名称最早始见于南梁陶弘景所撰的《真灵位业图》。该书排列神仙序位，分为七个层次，每一层设一个中位。上第一中位，上合虚皇道君，应号元始天尊。第二中位，上清高圣太上玉晨元皇大道君(为万道之主)。第三中位，太极金阙帝君，姓李，(壬辰下教太平主)。第四中位，太清太上老君(为太清道主，下临万民)。上皇太上无上大道君。其中较为明显地提出了上清太清的名称，但“三清”之名位次序尚未确定，并且第三位为“金阙帝君”，太上老君却居于第四中位。以后“三清”神名逐渐流变发展，至唐代才成为定说。《道藏·太平部·三洞珠囊》卷七引《老君圣迹》云：“此即玉清境，元始天尊位，在三十五天之上也。此即上清境，太上大道君(灵宝天尊)位，在三十四天之上也。太清境太极目，即太上老君位，在三十三之上也。”于是“三清”遂成为道教的最高神。