In honour of the Jade Emperor, Ruler of Heaven’s birthday, which is the ninth day of the Chinese New Lunar Year, I explore who he is as a God of utmost importance, his dominion in the Heavens and of realms and his role in the Chinese Lunar New year.
Tuesday 1st of February 2022 marked Chūnjié (春节/春節) or the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year. A cause for feasting and celebration, the festival is also a time to honour one’s household, ancestors and the Heavenly deities. In line with the lunisolar Chinese calendar, the holiday lasts for fifteen days, beginning with the “first new moon that occurs between the end of January” and ending with the next. This holiday is also observed by other East and Southeastern Asian communities such as Koreans, who call it Seollal (설날) - lasting for only three days.
Each lunar year is named after each of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals in “a cycle of 12 stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos”, who are associated with an element. The animals of the zodiac are as follows: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and the pig. This new lunar year is the year of the water tiger.
So, who chose or decided that those animals should be of the zodiac?
The Jade Emperor.
Who is the Jade Emperor (玉皇)?
The Jade Emperor (玉皇), is “the supreme deity” and a God of greatest importance in Chinese folk culture, tradition and religion. He is the Lord of the Heavenly/Celestial Imperial Court; Ruler of Heaven; *Creator of the Universe and a member of the Daoist heavenly realm, Sanqing (三清). He became Ruler of Heaven at a relatively young age for a God.
In Chinese traditional religion no deity is involved in the Creation. Instead it is believed that the universe came into existence from the union of matter (K'i) and movement (Li) therefore, the Jade Emperor is not a ‘creator God’. Rather he is “an anthropomorphic representation and guardian of morality”.*
The Jade Emperor governs all realms of existence below heaven, the cosmos, heaven and a court of Gods who act as civil servants and bureaucrats, assisting him. By having a bureaucratic court, encompassing the Heavenly Administration, The Jade Emperor’s Celestial Court also consists of a royal family, parasitical courtiers and an army - similar to an earthly court.
The Heavenly Administration is divided into various bureaus and departments - falling under the directorship and chairmanship of the Jade Emperor. Each of these are supervised by a ‘bureaucrat-deity’ of various positions and ranks in charge of a specific domain. For example, the Jade Emperor is the director and chairman of the “Celestial Treasury, where divine administrators issue a certain amount of credit to everyone at birth, that is, bestow primordial qi in the form of currency,” (Daoism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation, Livia Kohn). This credit needs to be paid back over the course of one’s current lifetime through doing good deeds and the burning of joss paper - ‘spirit money’.
One God that assists the Jade Emperor with ‘Earthly Paper work’ is Cheng Huang Ye (城隍神), the City Gods or Lords of the Walls and Moats. Responsible for the safety and prosperity of their individual, local territory, a Cheng Huang is unique to the city under them and is considered to be a heavenly reincarnation of an earlier human official, said to be changed every three years. Subordinate to the City God is Tudi Gong(土地), the Earth God, a “local protective deity.”
Another assistant is Zao Jun (灶君), literally known as Stove Master or Kitchen God, who watches and records the domestic family affairs of each household. He lives in the kitchen of every household and on the afternoon of the fourth day of the New Lunar Year, he ascends to heaven to report back to the Jade Emperor and the Celestial Court. As the Gods can be bribed, the ‘Nian gao’, a lotus root-like traditional Chinese candy can be used to persuade the Kitchen God to present a "sweetened" version of the report to the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Golden Script (玉律金篇) is a merit system that the Jade Emperor judges and metes out rewards to the actions of saints, the dead and the living,” accordingly.
The counsels of the Advisory Elders would be consulted by the Heavenly Administration upon the objection of a proposed judgement, typically by saints. When judgments proposed were objected to, usually by other saints, the administration would occasionally resort to the counsels of the advisory elders.
In order for one to achieve immortality, one must accomplish a minimum standard of Three Thousand Deeds and Eight Hundred De (三千功八百德), according to The Jade Golden Script.
The Celestial Queen Mother, Xiwangmu (西王母) is the wife of the Jade Emperor. Also known as the Queen Mother of the West, Xiwangmu was formerly a demonic figure. However, upon repenting, becoming enlightened and a Goddess, she is considered one of the most “ancient, highest ranking and most powerful female deity” in the Chinese pantheon. With complete control over life and death, and presiding over creation and destruction, she tends to the Peaches of Immortality in her garden, consumed by the immortals due to its mystic virtue of giving longevity to those who ate them.
According to the 12th chapter of the Chinese text Shan-Hai Jing (山海经) or ‘The Classic of Mountains and Seas’ - the earliest cultural and geographical record in China - the Celestial Queen Mother is the controller of the Grindstone and the Five Shards constellations of the heavens.
Together, the Jade Emperor and his wife are said to have many children. However, only three of their daughters are of greater importance. The Fertility Goddess, Zhu-sheng-niang-niang (注生娘娘); the Protector of the Blind, Yen-kuang nian-niang (眼光娘娘) and the seventh daughter, Zhinü (織女), the Goddess of Weaving who had fallen in love with a human.
The Jade Emperor has a host of attributes usually depicted as a middle-aged man sporting a thin moustache and a long, sagely goatee. He is portrayed sitting on his throne, in royal robes. He also goes by many names, some of which are: Heavenly Grandfather (天公), Yu Huang Shangdi (玉皇上帝) which means ‘Pure August Emperor on High’, the Highest Emperor and Mr. Heaven.
Taoist/Daoist Origins - The assistant to Yuanshi Tianzun (元始天尊)
In Taoism (or Daoism), the Jade Emperor was the assistant, apprentice or disciple of Yuan-shi tian-zun (元始天尊), one of the Pure Ones of which there are three, helping him bring order to the cosmos. Yuan-shi tian-zun, also known as the Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin and the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning, chose the Jade Emperor to inherit the governance of the universe and the roles it entails. The Jade Emperor will eventually pass on this mantle to the Heaven-honoured One of the Dawn of Jade of the Golden Gate (Kin-k'ue Yu-chen T'ien-tsun), at the end of his governance. The characters for both are stamped on the front of the arms of his throne.
The Jade Emperor rules on behalf of Yuan-shi tian-zun who is navel gazing for a million billion trillion years, retired and relocated to the Pure Jade Heaven.
In another Taoist origin story, the Jade emperor was born as a human crown prince of the kingdom of Pure Felicity and Majestic Heavenly Lights and Ornaments to a virgin empress who had seen Laozi (老子), the founder of Taoism, in a vision. Upon his birth, a wondrous light engulfed the entire kingdom. With patience far beyond his years, the crown prince proved himself to be benevolent, respectful, kind, brilliant, intelligent and wise. He dedicated his childhood to helping those in need and neglected - his kindness extended to animals and all creatures. With his ascension to the throne, the crown prince - now king - ensured that the kingdom was ruled through peace, harmony and contentment. Following many, many years of successful ruling, he told his ministers of his want to pursue the Tao at the Bright and Fragrant Cliff. The king then obtained Golden Immortality after 1,750 aeons (226,800,000 years). He later attained the level of Jade Emperor, Ruler of Heaven following another 100,000,000 years of contemplation.
Other Origins - Popular Chinese Folklore
Similarly, in Popular Chinese Folklore, the Jade Emperor was initially a human soldier of minor position called Zhang Denglai. Having died in the war against the ruling Shang family, Zhang Denglai, along with other fallen soldiers, awaited for his judgement and rewards in the Underworld. The leader of the Zhou forces, Jiang Ziya, tasked with giving out Heavenly honorary titles to the fallen, had planned on rewarding himself with the position of the ‘Jade Emperor’. As he was designating the titles, Jiang Ziya would say ‘deng-lai’ - wait a second - to pause for effect. Once ready to pronounce himself as ‘Jade Emperor’, Jiang Ziya had said ‘deng-lai’, Zhang Denglai, thinking that his name was called, stepped forward and bowed, thanking Jiang Ziya for bestowing him such an honour. In some versions, however, it is said that Zhang Denglai was an opportunist who purposefully feigned ignorance in order to be given the position.
Becoming Supreme Sovereign
Chaos and calamity presided over the earthly realms in the beginning of time when demons and powerful monstrous creatures, demons and legions of angels roamed freely. Having no fear of the immortals, humans and the Jade Emperor’s creations were attacked relentlessly as, at the time, there were not enough Gods to protect everyone and everything - they were outnumbered. Being able to only provide temporary relief, the Jade Emperor sought to help humanity due to his compassion and benevolence. To do so, he had to increase and strengthen his power and hid himself in a cave to cultivate Tao (道).
“Tao is considered to be the pervasive principle of all things in the universe, being the highest reality and the highest mystery, the primordial originality and unity, a cosmical law and an absolute…Tao itself is not an omnipotent being, but the genesis, the source and the alliance, the conjunction of opposites and as such not definable.” (Laotzi’s definition)
Whilst the Jade Emperor had been away, a powerful demon with the burning desire to self-impose itself as ‘god of all’, sought to conquer Heaven. Knowing that it would need to increase its power, it went into its own cave and like the Jade Emperor, it started to cultivate and grow its power. After 9 billion year and only passing 3,000 trials, the demon returned, prideful that it was unbeatable and raised an unholy army, began to ravage creation and raged war against Heaven. Heaven was losing.
After spending 9.6 billion years and passing 3,200 trials to attain unrivalled power, the Jade Emperor emerged from his cave and saw the worsening state of everything. He ascended to Heaven that was engulfed in the evil presence of the demon - seeing that the Gods were not match for the demon. Challenging the demon to a battle, the Jade Emperor and it fought causing both Heaven and the earth to shake; mountains to collapse; the oceans to dry up and emptied.
The Jade Emperor stood victorious after the relentless battle with the demon due to his deeper cultivation of the Tao and his goodness. The hosts of Heaven then defeated the demon’s evil legion and peace and order was restored to all realms. Collectively, the realms, having witnessed the Jade Emperor’s powerful acts and love, crowned him as ‘Supreme Sovereign’ and ‘Heavenly Emperor’.
The Jade Emperor and his role in the New Lunar Year
Being the ‘Supreme Sovereign’ of Heaven, the Jade Emperor had not had time to personally visit earth and had grown curious about the likeness of animals on earth. So he decided to ask them to visit him in Heaven. Wanting to help humans remember the difficult names of the years formed of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the Jade Emperor decided to host a race amongst the animals. The first twelve will then be assigned to each of the twelve years in a smaller cycle of the bigger sextagenary cycle. The animals of the Chinese zodiac do not correspond with constellations, unlike the western zodiac signs’ constellations representing the sun’s movement.
Images courtesy of Picryl public domain collections - unless stated otherwise in caption
Thank you for reading, please remember to share and read my other articles. This article is not a 'tell all' and I highly encourage you to do further research using the hyperlinks in this piece.
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