Hongjun Laozu
Hongjun Laozu (simplified Chinese: 鸿钧老祖; traditional Chinese: 鴻鈞老祖; pinyin: Hóngjūn Lǎozǔ; Wade–Giles: Hung-chün Lao-tsu) lit. "Ancestor of the Great Balance" is a deity in Chinese folk religion and Taoism, teacher of the Three Pure Ones in Taoist mythology. Hongjun 鴻鈞 is a graphic variant of hungjun (洪钧; 洪鈞; hóngjūn; hung-chün) "primordial nature", as used in the Chinese idiom Xian you hongjun hou you tian 先有鸿钧后有天 "First there was Hongjun and then there was Heaven".
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Daoists mythologize Hongjun Laozu as the ancestor of xian "trancendents; immortals" and use the honorific name Hongyuan Laozu (鸿元老祖; 鴻元老祖; Hóngyuán Lǎozǔ; Hung-yuan Lao-tsu) "Great Primal Ancestor". In Chinese creation myths, hongyuan 鸿元 or 洪元 is a cosmological term for "the universe before the separation of heaven and earth".
Some myths about the creator Pangu refer to Hongjun Laozu as Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人; Xuánxuán Shàngrén; Hsüan-hsüan Shang-jen) "Mystery of Mysteries Saint" (a reference to the Daodejing, "Mystery or mysteries, the gate of all wonders!"). Hongjun Laozu is also referred to as Hunyuan Laozu (混元老祖 - "Ancestor of Original Chaos").