Although foreign religions believe in Jesus and Jehovah, China's belief system contains many idols of gods and goddesses, and the choices are diverse. In mythology, each of these gods and goddesses has high prestige.
Among them, the Jade Emperor is the head of the gods, in charge of the three worlds of heaven, earth and underworld, and has supreme power and status. Therefore, among the people, the Jade Emperor has always been revered as a "highly respected" existence, and even has his own followers, competing with Buddhism.
Although there are many versions of the legend about the Jade Emperor, and it is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood, it is generally believed that he was originally just a mortal surnamed Zhang, and finally sat on the throne of the Jade Emperor due to fate.
The Chinese mythological system, while largely identical, differs in subtleties. With the development of various cultures in society, especially the struggle between Buddhism, Taoism and other schools, the mythological system has undergone major changes.
Some systems divide the mythical world into three worlds: heaven, earth, and man, while others divide it into six worlds: gods, demons, immortals, demons, ghosts, and humans. In these systems,"days"correspondence"Divine Realm"It is the existence that dominates all things in the world and has power that surpasses other worlds.
In the divine realm, the Jade Emperor is widely recognized as the supreme ruler, but the exact attribution depends on the Taoist view.
In the Tao Sutra, it is described that the Jade Emperor is the leader of the gods, and he resides in the Haotian Golden Que Miluo Heavenly Palace, which is also known as the "Lingxiao Treasure Palace".
His duty is to oversee all the yin and yang blessings and misfortunes of the Three Realms, the Ten Directions, the Four Beings, and the Six Realms. In ancient Chinese religious beliefs, there has always been a supreme god who can control the wind and rain, and the title "Jade Emperor" only became popular during the Song Dynasty, when people called him "Haotian Emperor".
In the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of Tao Hongjing's "True Spiritual Position Map", for the first time appeared the title of "Jade Emperor Daojun, High Jade Emperor", to the Sui and Tang dynasties, "Jade Emperor" has become a popular belief in the immortals.
Bai Juyi's "Dream Immortal": "Worship the Jade Emperor, Be Sincere Before the Chief" is a vivid embodiment of this phenomenon.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the image of the Jade Emperor has basically taken shape, but the detailed elaboration of its origin can not be found until the Song Dynasty Taoist classic, "The Book of the Jade Emperor".
Therefore, the Jade Emperor's position in folk beliefs should be attributed to Taoism. It is said that Taoism created its own deities to counter the influence of Buddhism.
This point is clearly reflected in the Ming Dynasty's "Journey to the West", which is one of the most comprehensive works of the mythological system, and the immortal system depicted is thought-provoking.
In many mythological stories, the Jade Emperor is often depicted as a middle-aged man, suggesting that he must have been an ordinary person before he became a god. Regarding the Jade Emperor's ** and name, "The Book of the Jade Emperor of the High Heaven" tells a story.
It is said that a long time ago, there was a place called Guangyan Mirakukoku, and the king of this country was called Jingdeok, and the queen was called Baoyueguang. The couple had a strong relationship, and together they governed the country to prosperity, but unfortunately they never had children.
Seeing that there is no one to inherit the throne, they are worried every day. In the end, they had to ask the Taoist priest for help, hoping that God would give them a child. After the Taoist priest practiced, the queen had a dream in which she dreamed of the Taishang Daojun.
Taishang Daojun hugged a baby in his arms and gave it to the queen. After waking up, the queen became pregnant, and after a year of pregnancy, the baby was finally born at noon on the ninth day of the first month of the first month of the year of Bingwu.
This day was named "Jade Emperor Christmas" and became a famous Taoist celebration day. When the child grew up, he inherited the throne according to the wishes of his parents, but he had no interest in state affairs and instead focused on spiritual practice.
He finally gave up the throne and came to Puming Xiangyan Mountain to cultivate, and achieved complete success. He went through 3,000 tribulations of cultivation to become the true body of the Golden Immortal, and after 100 million tribulations to become the Jade Emperor, he has since been ranked in the immortal class and become the head of the gods.
The story is widely circulated among the people, and there is a similar narrative in Buddhism, except that the Taoist priest is replaced by a monk, but the core idea remains the same. It is also mentioned in "Journey to the West" that the Jade Emperor began to cultivate the Tao since he was a child, and went through 1,750 eons, each of which lasted 129,600 years to become the king of the gods.
According to calculations, according to the ancient people's understanding of the universe, the lifespan of heaven and earth is 209,600 years, which is called an epoch. When the epoch ends, heaven and earth will fall into chaos again, and then it will be necessary for "Pangu"-style characters to reopen the world.
The change between life and death in heaven and earth is defined as a catastrophe, which allowed the Jade Emperor to go through more than 120,000 tribulations, which is equivalent to the time he lived for more than 100 million years. During these long years, he went through many tribulations, so he was revered as the supreme god in heaven.
Compared with the cultivation process of other immortals, the achievements of the Jade Emperor are indeed very difficult. In mythological stories, the Jade Emperor represents "majesty" and "power", but the image of him as weak and incompetent in "Journey to the West" is a misunderstanding.
There are many folk legends about the origin of the Jade Emperor. The Taoist version does not reveal his surname, but the popular version has a detailed name.
In the Taoist "Gong Case", there is a legend that tells the story of Yuan Shi Tianzun asking Jiang Ziya to perfect the list of gods. So, Jiang Ziya went down to the people to find a suitable candidate.
In the list, he deliberately vacated the two positions of "Jade Emperor" and "Stove God". However, when the Jade Emperor was hand-picked, a little immortal named Zhang Tiantian asked who should sit in this position.
Although Jiang Ziya wanted to keep it for himself, he was embarrassed to say it, so he could only reply perfunctorily: "Naturally, there are people sitting in this position." When the little fairy heard this, he was very happy and immediately sat down.
Jiang Ziya was taken aback and asked, "How can you sit there?" The little fairy replied: "It is natural that someone does what you said, my surname is Zhang, my name is natural, and there are people in words." ”
Jiang Ziya was helpless after hearing this, and in the end he could only make a mistake and let Zhang naturally become the Jade Emperor.
Legend has it that after Pangu opened the world, the chaos of the Three Realms caused the gods to quarrel. In order to solve this problem, Tai Bai Xing decided to find a leader who could lead the Three Realms on the right track.
When he came to Zhangjiawan, he heard that there was a village owner named Zhang Youren, who was shrewd and capable, and managed the affairs of the village in an orderly manner. So, Tai Bai Xing took Zhang Youren to Heaven and made him the chief manager.
Under the leadership of Zhang Youren, peace and harmony were restored to the Three Realms. Therefore, the gods elected him as the Jade Emperor.
Although the Jade Emperor is described as surnamed Zhang in popular folklore, as a fictional immortal figure, the Jade Emperor has no specific prototype to refer to, so what exactly his surname is can only be inferred from the legend.