The term “Three Pure Ones,” which in Chinese reads as: 三清 or in Chinese pinyin, reads as: Sānqīng, is also translated in five different ways. They are: The Three Pure Pellucid Ones, the Three Pristine Ones, the Three Divine Teachers, the Three Clarities, or the Three Purities. In the Taoist Trinity, the three highest Gods are among the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as a pure manifestation of the Tao and the origin of all sentient beings. From the Taoist classic Tao Te Ching, it was widely believed that: "The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things." It is generally agreed that: Tao produced One - Wuji produced Taiji; One produced Two - Taiji produced Yin and Yang or Liangyi (兩儀).

In religious Taoism, the theory of how Tao produces One, Two, and Three is also explained in an interesting manner. In Tao produces One - Wuji produces Taiji, it represents the Great Tao, embodied by Yuánshǐ Tiānwáng (混沌無極元始天王) "Heavenly King of the Void and Chaotic Primordial Beginning" at a time of pre-Creation when the Universe was still null and the cosmos are in disorder; manifesting into the first of the Taoist Trinity, Yuanshi Tianzun. Yuánshǐ Tiānzūn oversees the earliest phase of Creation of the Universe, and is henceforth known as Dàobăo (道寶) "Treasure of the Tao". In One produces Two - Taiji produces Yin Yang, Yuánshǐ Tiānzūn manifests into Lingbao Tianzun who separated the Yang from the Yin, the clear from the murky, and classified the elements into their rightful groups. Therefore, he is also known as Jīngbăo (經寶) "Treasure of the Law/Scripture". While Jīng in popular understanding means "scriptures", in this context it also mean "passing through" [the phase of Creation] and the Laws of Nature of how things are meant to be. In the final phase of Creation, Daode Tianzun is manifested from Língbăo Tiānzūn to bring civilization and preach the Law to all living beings. Therefore, He is also known as Shībăo (師寶) "Treasure of the Master."

The “Tao Produces One” belief -Wuji produces Taiji, and all of this represents the Great Tao, which is also embodied by Yuánshǐ Tiānwáng’s (混沌無極元始天王) "Heavenly King of the Void and Chaotic Primordial Beginning." This piece of work explained these beliefs at length and, at the time that it was created, sought to preserve the history of China as the country was developing amid a changing social climate.