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 Ink and color painting on silk of the Jade Emperor, Ming dynasty (16th century)
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In themyths andfolk religion ofChinese culture, theJade Emperor orYudi[1] is one of the representations of theprimordial god.
InTaoist theology, he is the assistant ofYuanshi Tianzun, who is one of theThree Pure Ones, the three primordial emanations of theTao. However, some Taoists in history were skeptical of his benevolence because his buildings and infrastructure in heaven and earth were sometimes seen as interfering with the many natural laws ordao.[2]
He is often identified withŚakra in ChineseBuddhist cosmology[3] and identified withYu the Great inChinese mythology.[2]
The Jade Emperor is known by many names, including Yu,[2] Heavenly Grandfather (天公,Tiāngōng), which originally meant "Heavenly Duke", which is used by commoners; the Jade Lord; the Highest Emperor; Great Emperor of Jade (玉皇上帝Yu Huang Shangdi, or玉皇大帝Yu Huang Dadi).
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There are many stories inChinese mythology involving the Jade Emperor.[4]
He can also be regarded as a traditional figure among theWhite Lotus secret society.
It was said that Jade Emperor was originally the crown prince of the kingdom of Pure Felicity and Majestic Heavenly Lights and Ornaments. At birth, he emitted a wondrous light that filled the entire kingdom. When he was young, he was kind, intelligent and wise. He devoted his entire childhood to helping the needy (the poor and suffering, the deserted and single, the hungry and disabled). Furthermore, he showed respect and benevolence to both men and creatures.After his father died, he ascended the throne. He made sure that everyone in his kingdom found peace and contentment. After that, he told his ministers that he wished to cultivateTao on the Bright and Fragrant Cliff.
After 1,750 eons, each eon lasting for 129,600 years (3602 years), he attained Golden Immortality. After another one hundred million years of cultivation, he finally became the Jade Emperor. (Using the given figures, this period before his becoming the Jade Emperor lasted for a total of about 327 million years.)
One of the myths describes how the Jade Emperor became the monarch of all the deities in heaven. It is one of the few myths in which the Jade Emperor really shows his power.
In the beginning of time, the earth was a very difficult place to live, much harsher than it is now. People had to deal with a variety of monstrous beings, and they did not have many gods to protect them; in addition, many powerful demons were defying the immortals of heaven. The Jade Emperor was an ordinary immortal who roamed the earth helping as many people as he could. He was saddened because his powers could only ease the suffering of humans. He retreated to a mountain cave to cultivate his Tao. He passed 3,200 trials, each trial lasting about 3 million years.
On earth at this time, a powerful, evil entity had the ambition to conquer the immortals and gods in heaven and proclaim sovereignty over the entire universe. This evil entity also went into retreat and meditation to expand its power, though later than the Jade Emperor did. He passed through 3,000 trials, each trial lasting about 3 million years. After its final trial, it felt confident that no one could defeat it. It re-entered the world and recruited an army of demons with the purpose of attacking heaven.
The immortals, being aware of the threat, gathered themselves and prepared for war. The gods were unable to stop the powerful demon and it defeated them all.
The Jade Emperor finished his cultivation during this war. When he was changing the land to make it more liveable for men and repelling a variety of monsters, he saw an evil glow radiating from heaven and knew something was amiss. He ascended and saw that the evil entity was too powerful to be stopped by the gods. He challenged it, and they fought. Mountains shook and rivers and seas toppled. Due to his deeper and wiser cultivation, his benevolence instead of his might, the Jade Emperor won the battle. After the evil entity was defeated, its army was scattered by the gods and immortals.
Because of his noble and benevolent deeds, the gods, immortals, and humans proclaimed the Jade Emperor the supreme sovereign of all.
The world started withwuji (無極, nothingness) according to theChinese creation myth. The Jade Emperor was the head of the pantheon, but not responsible for creation.
In anothercreation myth, the Jade Emperor fashioned the first humans from clay and left them to harden in the sun. Rain deformed some of the figures, which gave rise to human sickness and physical abnormalities. (The most common alternative Chinese creation myth states that human beings were once fleas on the body ofPangu.)
In another myth,Nüwa fashions men out of the mud from the Yellow River by hand. Those she made became the richer people of the earth. After getting tired of it, she dipped her scarf into the mud and swung it around. The drops that fell from the scarf became the poorer humans.
In another story, popular throughout Asia and with many differing versions, the Jade Emperor has a daughter namedZhinü (simplified Chinese:织女;traditional Chinese:織女;pinyin:zhī nǚ or Chih'nü, literally: weaver girl). She is most often represented as responsible for weaving colorful clouds in the heaven. In some versions, she is the Goddess Weaver, daughter of the Jade Emperor and the Celestial Queen Mother, who weaves the Silver River (known in the West as theMilky Way), which gives light to heaven and earth. In other versions, she is a seamstress who works for the Jade Emperor.
Every day Zhinü descended to earth with the aid of a magical robe to bathe. One day, a lowly cowherd namedNiu Lang (Chinese:牛郎;pinyin:niú láng) spotted Zhinü as she bathed in a stream. Niu Lang fell instantly in love with her and stole her magic robe which she had left on the bank of the stream, leaving her unable to escape back to Heaven. When Zhinü emerged from the water, Niu Lang grabbed her and carried her back to his home.
When the Jade Emperor heard of this matter, he was furious but unable to intercede, since in the meantime his daughter had fallen in love and married the cowherd. As time passed, Zhinü grew homesick and began to miss her father. One day, she came across a box containing her magic robe which her husband had hidden. She decided to visit her father back in Heaven, but once she returned, the Jade Emperor summoned a river to flow across the sky (theMilky Way), which Zhinü was unable to cross to return to her husband. The Emperor took pity on the young lovers, and so once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of thelunar calendar, he allows them to meet on a bridge over the river.
The story refers toconstellations in the night sky. Zhinü is thestarVega in the constellation ofLyra east of the Milky Way, and Niu Lang is the starAltair in the constellation ofAquila west of the Milky Way. Under the first quarter moon (7th day) of the seventh lunar month (around August), the lighting condition in the sky causes the Milky Way to appear dimmer, hence the story that the two lovers are no longer separated on that one particular day each year.
The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a holiday in China calledQixi Festival, which is a day for young lovers much likeValentine's Day in theWest. InJapan, it is calledTanabata (star day). InKorea, it is calledChilseok. InVietnam, it is called Thất Tịch and if it rains on that day, it is said to be Zhinü crying tears of happiness for being reunited with her husband.
There are several stories as to how the twelve animals of theChinese zodiac were chosen. In one, the Jade Emperor, although having ruled Heaven and Earth justly and wisely for many years, had never had the time to actually visit the Earth personally. He grew curious as to what the creatures looked like. Thus, he asked all the animals to visit him in heaven. TheCat, being the most handsome of all animals, asked his friend theRat to wake him on the day they were to go to Heaven so he would not oversleep. The Rat, however, was worried that he would seem ugly compared to the Cat, so he did not wake the cat. Consequently, the Cat missed the meeting with the Jade Emperor and was replaced by thePig. The Jade Emperor was delighted with the animals and so decided to divide the years up amongst them. When the cat learned of what had happened, he was furious with the Rat and that, according to the story, is why cats and Rats are enemies to this day. The Cat can be seen as the domesticatedTiger or leopard the third of the animals in the classicalChinese Zodiac text.[5]
Once a great drought had spread across the land. Four dragons from the sea noticed the plight of the people and traveled to beseech The Jade Emperor in the Heavenly Palace to bring the rains to the people. He was very busy ruling the heavens, earth, and sea and distractedly agreed to send the rains on the next day if they would return to the sea, but soon after the dragons departed, he forgot his promise.
After ten days, the rains still did not come and the people began to die of starvation. The dragons could not simply stand by and do nothing, and so they decided to use their bodies to capture great masses of water from the sea, taking it upon themselves to bring the rain. The people were grateful and prayed their thanks to the Jade Emperor, who soon discovered what the dragons had done, and became angry that they intervened without his blessing.
The Jade Emperor ordered Mountain God to trap the four dragons. However, from each mountain that trapped a dragon there sprang a new river. From Yellow Dragon came theYellow River, from Long Dragon theYangtze River, from Black Dragon theAmur River, and from Pearl Dragon thePearl River. The rivers thereafter flowed from west to east and north to south, the dragons ensuring that the people of China would never be without water again.
The Jade Emperor was originally the assistant of the Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin,Yuanshi Tianzun. Yuanshi Tianzun is said to be the supreme beginning, the limitless and eternal creator of Heaven and Earth, who picked Yu-huang, or the Jade Emperor, as his personal successor.
The Jade Emperor will eventually be succeeded by the Heavenly Master of the Dawn of Jade of the Golden Door (金闕玉晨天尊).[6] The characters for both are stamped on the front of the arms of his throne.
In two folkautomatic writing texts produced in 1925 and 1972,Guan Yu became the 18th Jade Emperor in about 1840 AD;[7][8][9] however, some have disagreed that Guan Yu has succeeded, and thus the Jade Emperor and Guan Yu are often worshiped separately.[10] InTienti teaching, the reigning Jade Emperor has 55 predecessors.[11] However this is from the point of view ofChinese Folk religion, and many orthodox Taoists do not believe these claims to be true.
Elements from the supreme godShangdi and his worship were incorporated into theology about the Jade Emperor and the two were often thought to be the same being.[13]
The Jade Emperor's Birthday (天公誕) is said to be the ninth day of the first lunar month.[14] On this day, Taoisttemples hold a Jade Emperor ritual (拜天公,Mandarin:bài Tiāngōng;Hokkien:pài Thinn-kong, literally "heaven worship") at which priests and laymen prostrate themselves, burnincense and make food offerings.
In the morning of this birthday, Chinese, Taiwanese as well asHokkien andPeranakanMalaysian Chinese andSingaporean Chinese who practiceBuddhism,Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions set up an altar table with 3 layers: one top (containing offertories of six vegetables (六齋), noodles, fruits, cakes,tangyuan, vegetable bowls, and unripebetel, all decorated with paper lanterns) and two lower levels (containing the five sacrifices and wines) to honor the deities below the Jade Emperor.[14] The household then kneels three times andkowtows nine times to pay homage and wish him a long life.[14]
InPenang,Malaysia, a focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations isThni Kong Tnua, which gained worldwide fame as one of the featured locations forThe Amazing Race 16.[15] The temple, built in 1869, is located at the foot ofPenang Hill at theAir Itam suburb nearGeorge Town,Penang's capital city.[16] Aside fromThni Kong Tnua, the Chew Jetty in the heart ofGeorge Town is another focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations; the festivities in this particular location was captured for a 2014 Malaysian film,The Journey.[17]
Yuk Wong Kung Tin (Cantonese romanisation) (玉皇宮殿) also known as Yuk Wong Po Tin (玉皇寶殿) is a temple inA Kung Ngam,Hong Kong, dedicated to the Jade Emperor. In the mid 19th century, people fromHuizhou andChaozhou mined stones in the hill for the development of the central urban area. They set up a shrine to worship Yuk Wong. At the beginning of the 20th century, the shrine was developed into a smalltemple and was renovated many times. The latest renovation was in 1992.[18]
Early Catholic missionaries to China wrote often about the Jade Emperor. They noticed that, "The stories of Jesus and the Jade Sovereign are, in certain aspects, quite similar. In both cases it is claimed that a god incarnated as a human being." On the other hand, they denounced the cult of the Jade Emperor as "superstitious," and compared unfavorably the "legends" about the Jade Emperor with what they claimed was a solid historical record documenting the existence and life of Jesus.[19]
In 2005, roughly 2% ofChinese folk practitioners believed in the Jade Emperor.[20]
A crater onSaturn's moonRhea, discovered byVoyager 2 spacecraft, is named after him.[citation needed]
Counterparts of the Jade Emperor in other Asian cultures
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Media related toJade Emperor at Wikimedia Commons