science

Hongjun Laozu

Hongjun Laozu is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hongjun Laozu rather than just read about it. In short: 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…

Key takeaways

Hongjun Laozu belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hongjun Laozu to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hongjun Laozu from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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". 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").

Myth Hongjun Laozu has hardly been the subject of academic studies and the role assigned to it may vary according to the faithful. Some only know his interpretations in fiction. Hongjun Laozu makes his first major appearance in Chinese literature in the popular novel The Investiture of the Gods, under the name of Hongjun Daoren (鴻鈞道人). According to The Investiture of the Gods, he is the eldest of the four beings created by the Spirit of Creation (Chuangshi Yuanling; 創始元靈), the others being Hunkun Zushi (混鯤祖師), Nüwa Niangniang, and Luya Daojun (陸壓道君). His disciples are the Three Purities: Daode Tianzun (道德天尊) alias Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Tongtian Jiaozhu (通天教主), assimilated to Lingbao Tianzun. The first two are found in the novel in conflict with the last. According to the Wujihongjun Gong temple (無極黌君宮) in Taipei, he is the principle behind the universe. The Cihui Tang temple (慈惠堂) in Zhonggang, Taichung offers the faithful three interpretations:

He is the origin of the universe, from him are born the Three Pure Ones and then the Five Ancients (wulao 五老), rulers associated with the five elements and the five directions. He is also the ancestor of all immortals. The original chaos (hunyuangui 混元規) gave birth to the celestial order (tiangui 天規) embodied by Haotian Laozu (昊天老祖; "Ancestor of the Boundless Sky") and the earthly order (digui 地規) embodied by Hongjun Laozu. He is a form of Pangu and also goes by the name Xuanxuan Shangren (玄玄上人). Hongjun Laozu was also told about in the myth of Chinese New Year. He was the person who captured Nian, the great beast that terrorised the people of China every Chinese New Year. Every Chinese New Year was a time of suffering and fear for the people of China because of Nian, the great beast. One Chinese New Year's Eve, the monk, Hongjun Laozu, came to a village in China. He saw how everyone looked sad and frightened, so he went to a young man and said, "Why are you so sad? It is Chinese New Year, a time for celebration." The man replied, "Do you not know? Have you not heard about Nian? He comes every New Year and terrorises us, even eats us." The monk said, "I will go and reason with Nian." So off he went, to find Nian. When Hongjun Laozu came to Nian, he said, "Nian, I have come to reason with you. Stop eating and terrorising the people of China." But Nian said, "Haha. You have delivered yourself to me, old man, so now I will eat you." The man replied, "Oh, but what will that prove? Eating me isn't great! Would you dare to eat the poisonous snakes on the mountains?" "Bah! What's so difficult about that?" So Nian went to the poisonous snakes and ate them up. "How is this? Am I not great?" "At the back of the mountain there are many great beasts. Can you subdue them?" So Nian went and scared all of the dangerous beasts out of the back of the mountain. "Old man, now it's time for me to eat you!" "Sure, but just wait while I take my clothes off, I will taste much better then". So the old man took his clothes off to reveal his undergarments, which were red. "OK, you can eat me now." But Nian said, "Ah! a red undergarment! I dearly hate red, get out of my sight quickly." "Haha! I knew you were afraid of red!" The old man went into the town on top of Nian and said, "Dear villagers, do not be afraid. Nian is most terrified of red. From now on each house must paste red on each of their doors to prevent Nian creating havoc." After that, the people started to paste red paper on their front doors before New Year's Day. After that incident, Nian never came to the village again. Hongjun Laozu eventually captured Nian and after that, Nian retreated to a nearby mountain. The name of the mountain has long been lost over the years.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hongjun Laozu

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hongjun Laozu claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hongjun Laozu before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hongjun Laozu ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hongjun Laozu

In research: Hongjun Laozu appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hongjun Laozu in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hongjun Laozu is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Chinese gods, Creation myths, Taoist deities, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hongjun Laozu outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hongjun Laozu in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hongjun Laozu means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hongjun Laozu out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hongjun Laozu in simple terms?

Why does Hongjun Laozu matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hongjun Laozu?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hongjun Laozu.