Three Great Emperor-Officials

The Three Great Emperor-Officials, Sanguan, or the Three Officials are three of the highest shen in some branches of religious Taoism, and subordinate only to the Jade Emperor. The Three Great Emperor-Officials are the, the and the. 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.''''''

Full titles

Legend

The Ming dynasty text Comprehensive Collection of Deities from the Three Religions states that the Three Officials are the three sons born to Chen Zidao and the Dragon Girl. They were enfeoffed by Yuanshi Tianzun as follows: the eldest son was titled "Shangyuan Yipin Jiuqi Tianguan Zifu Dadi" ; the second son was titled "Zhongyuan Erpin Qiqi Diguan Qingxu Dadi" ; and the third son was titled "Xiayuan Sanpin Wuqi Shuiguan Dongyin Dadi".
The Qing dynasty text Shenxian Tongjian identifies the Three Officials as the ancient sage-kings Yao, Shun and Yu. It states: "The Heavenly Official is Yao; the Earthly Official is Shun; and the Water Official is Yu."

''Tianguan''

Tianguan was thought to have power over Tian or heaven and grant happiness to believers.''''''

''Diguan''

Diguan was the official of earth who took away sin in popular belief, although all the Sanguan were thought to be able to pardon sin to some extent, especially with their powers combined.''''''

''Shuiguan''

Shuiguan was the ruler of the ocean in some Taoist belief systems, and in others, he shared the same position as the Dragon King or did not exist. He was often held to "avert misfortune".''''''