Speaking of the immortals in Chinese mythology, the Jade Emperor, the Tathagata Buddha and the Supreme Lord are all famous figures. Among the above three, who has the most profound magic power and the highest status?
When many people read the journey to the west, they may have a question: who is the eldest among the three, the supreme Lao Jun, the Tathagata Buddha and the Jade Emperor? Some people say it is the Jade Emperor, because he is sitting on the throne in the LingXiao palace, managing all living beings in the three realms. Some people say that he is the supreme old gentleman, because he is one of the three Qings and the supreme Taoist. The Jade Emperor is only one of the four emperors. According to the ranking of the three Qings and the four emperors, the supreme old gentleman is undoubtedly the eldest. Others say it is the Tathagata, because he has the highest mana. The Supreme Lord usually practices alchemy and magic weapons. I don’t see any magic power in him. The Jade Emperor didn’t know what he could do. When the monkey king made a big fuss in the heavenly palace, he still asked the Tathagata to surrender.
It seems that the public says that the public is reasonable and the women say that the women are reasonable. Is there no solution to this problem? Not at all.
Round1: Jade Emperor vs Tathagata
The Jade Emperor is in charge of the eastern heaven, and the Tathagata is the Western Buddha. The two people have nothing to do with each other. If they want to compare their size, they are a little similar to Guan Gong and Qin Qiong. But since we are talking about the journey to the west, of course we should follow the fairy world in the journey to the West. The Jade Emperor and the Tathagata, who is big and who is small? In fact, it is not difficult to find the answer by looking carefully at the text of journey to the West.
In the seventh episode of journey to the west, the monkey king made a scene in heaven. The Jade Emperor ordered you Yiling and Yi Shengzhen to go to the west to invite the Tathagata to subdue the demons. The book says: when the Tathagata heard the imperial edict, he said to all Bodhisattvas: “you should sit here in the Dharma hall, don’t mess up your Zen position, and wait for me to practice demons and rescue you.”
Two words are used here: imperial edict and rescue. In ancient times, the order document issued by the emperor was called an imperial edict. For example, we are most familiar with the beginning when the eunuch read the imperial edict, “carry the emperor to heaven and make an imperial edict.”. (you can also keep saying, but don’t read it as “carry it by heaven, and the emperor orders it.”) The original meaning of rescuing the emperor is explained in Baidu Encyclopedia as rescuing the emperor from danger. It is also a special term for the emperor. We are also very familiar with this. For example, in film and television dramas, once the emperor is assassinated, the emperor or the eunuch nearby will usually shout “rescuing” or “rescuing”.
In the seventh chapter of journey to the west, the Tathagata subdued the monkey king and planned to return immediately, but the Jade Emperor left him to give a banquet. The book said: the Tathagata dared not disobey, so he folded his hands and said: “what magic power does the old monk have to come here to accept the order of the great God? Or does the God and the gods dare to thank you for their great blessings?” This article is an original story about history and cannot be reproduced in any form without the permission of the official story about history.
Let’s look at the words used here: dare not, declare life. Baidu Encyclopedia said that declaring orders refers to the emperor’s orders or conveying the emperor’s orders. In the movie and TV series, when the emperor invites someone to go to the palace, the eunuchs around him usually say, “Xuan ~ ~ ~ go to the palace.”. Dufu has a poem “send Yang Liuguan to Xifan”, which reads “proclaim that the future is urgent, but good people should be kind to scholars.”
There are many similar words, so there is no need to list them one by one. Through these two places, we can easily find that in the journey to the west, when facing the Jade Emperor, the Tathagata regarded himself as a minister. In addition to these words and sentences, we also look at the immortal system in the journey to the west, which more directly illustrates the status of the Tathagata.
It was the seventh time. After Sunwukong was subdued, the Jade Emperor entertained the gods, that is, an Tian assembly. He asked the gods of the Ministry of thunder to invite all the saints according to their positions. The book said: the Jade Emperor sent a message, that is, with the gods of the Ministry of thunder, he invited Sanqing, Siyu, Wulao, liusi, Qiyuan, Baji, Jiuyao, Shidu, qianzhen and Wansheng to come here to attend the meeting and thank the Buddha.
What kind of Buddha does Tathagata belong to? There is an answer in the fifth round. The queen mother held a flat peach banquet and asked the seven fairies to pick flat peaches. Monkey King asked the guests what they had, and the fairy answered him in detail: the meeting had its own old rules, including the Western Buddha, Bodhisattva, Saint monk and arhat, the Southern Antarctic Guanyin, the eastern chongen holy emperor, the ten continents and three islands fairy, the northern Arctic mystic spirit, the central yellow yellow horn fairy, and this is the five elders.
It can be seen that the Tathagata belongs to the category of five elders, and is under the status of three Qings and four emperors. So, who is bigger or smaller, the Tathagata or the Jade Emperor? In terms of status, of course, the Jade Emperor is great.
Round2: Jade Emperor vs supreme Lao Jun
As we mentioned before, the immortal system of journey to the west is the three Qing Dynasties, the four imperial dynasties and the five elders. Which three are Sanqing? There are two versions in the journey to the West. One is the Yuanshi Tianzun of the Yuqing Dynasty, the Lingbao Tianzun of the Shangqing Dynasty, and the moral Tianzun of the Taiqing Dynasty. This is the seventh time. One is Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Daojun and taishanglaojun. This is the 44th time. Of course, this is actually the same statement.
Lingbao Tianzun and Lingbao Daojun are the same person, but their names are different. The word “Tao” of “Tao Te Tian Zun” comes from Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, and Laozi, as we all know, is the noumenon of the supreme Laojun, so “Tao Te Tian Zun” is also the supreme Laojun. Who are the four emperors? It is not mentioned in the journey to the west, but according to the immortal system of Taoism, the four emperors refer to the Jade Emperor, the Zhongtian purple and micro Arctic emperor, the supreme official emperor and the empress earth emperor. This article is an original story about history and cannot be reproduced in any form without the permission of the official story about history.
The Jade Emperor is one of the four emperors. (when comparing the deities of the Tathagata and the Jade Emperor, we defaulted on this statement.) And the supreme Laojun is one of the three Qing Dynasties. Therefore, in terms of status, this round is the victory of the supreme Laojun. However, if we look at the text of journey to the west, we will find that, like the Tathagata, the Supreme Lord Lao Jun is also a minister.
In the fifth episode of journey to the west, monkey king made a mess of the flat peach club, ate the immortal pill of the Supreme Lord Lao Jun, and then escaped from the heavenly palace. When I learned that the elixir had been stolen, I went to the LingXiao palace to tell the Jade Emperor. The book said: “there are four heavenly masters to play:” the supreme Taoist is coming. ” The Jade Emperor greeted the queen mother. After finishing the ceremony, the old gentleman said: “in the Taoist palace, I refined some nine turn gold pills to serve your majesty for the Dan yuan conference. I was unexpectedly stolen by thieves. I’m very glad your majesty knew it.”
The words of the Supreme Lord, which his majesty did not say for two times in a row, were added with the words “serve” and “special enlightenment”, all of which showed his respect for the Jade Emperor. What is more important is the word “pilgrimage”. Baidu Encyclopedia explains that it means paying homage, which is the courtiers’ etiquette to the emperor. The emperor’s use of courtship to the Jade Emperor is undoubtedly an indication of his status as a minister. Similarly, there is the use of “pilgrimage ceremony” in the fourth chapter. Taibai Jinxing summoned Sun Wukong and led him to heaven to see the Jade Emperor. The book said: Taibai Jinxing led the monkey king to the outside of Lingxiao hall. Before the imperial edict was announced, the imperial court finished the ceremony. Wukong stood up and did not salute.
In addition to the description of these words, we can also see one or two from their names. In the journey to the west, the official full name of the Jade Emperor is “the Jade Emperor, the saint of heaven, the benevolent, the Jade Emperor, the great heaven, the high God in the Xuan dome”. We should pay attention to the two key words “the great heaven” and “the high God”. The names of Sanqing are Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Daojun and taishanglaojun, and the highest title is “Tianzun”. In comparison, the name of the Jade Emperor is more noble. Name and identity echo one by one. In this respect, the identity of the Jade Emperor is also more noble than that of the supreme Lao Jun.
After writing about this, some people may be confused. How can the jade emperor be lower than Lao Jun for a while and higher than Lao Jun for a while? Is this a big bug in journey to the west?
We know that the journey to the West has a complicated process of writing, which was not done by one person at a time. WuChengEn is not so much a creator as a compiler, which is the biggest difference between it and the dream of Red Mansions. Therefore, there are many bugs in the journey to the west, which is normal. However, I don’t think there is any loophole in the identity of the supreme Lao Jun and the Jade Emperor. The reason for this problem is that many people automatically apply the immortal system of Taoism, namely, the three Ching and four Yu, and default that the Jade Emperor is one of the four Yu. This article is an original story about history and cannot be reproduced in any form without the permission of the official story about history.
However, in the journey to the west, if the Jade Emperor is really one of the four emperors, why does the book never point out this point? Moreover, in the immortal system, the three Qings and five elders all have detailed introductions. Why did the four emperors in the middle not name their names?
Is the jade emperor one of the four emperors?
The journey to the West reflects the folk belief in immortals, not the religious world of Taoism or Buddhism. In fact, everyone knows this. We can see this more clearly from the composition of the five elders. As mentioned above, the “five elders” in the journey to the West refers to “the Buddha, Bodhisattva, Saint monk and arhat in the west, Guanyin in the south pole, the emperor chongen in the East, the immortals in the ten continents and three islands in the East, the mysterious spirit in the North Pole and the yellow horn immortal in the center. These are the five elders in the five directions.”
[five sides and five elders] is the immortal system of Taoism, derived from the traditional sacrifice of [five sides and five emperors]. Since the Warring States period, the theory of the five elements has prevailed. The alchemists and Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty have gradually constructed the national religious belief that the five parties and five emperors are the supreme theocracy. It is recorded in the Weishu River map that “the Qing emperor in the East is revered by his spirit, and the wooden emperor is also respected; the Red Emperor in the south is Chixi crossbow, and the fire emperor; the Yellow Emperor in the central is a hub, and the earth emperor is also; the white emperor in the west is baizhaozhu, and the Jin emperor is also; the black emperor in the north is yeguangji, and the water emperor is also.” The “five directions and five emperors” here are the pairing of five elements and five directions.
Taoism revised the “five kingdoms and five emperors” in Weishu to become “five kingdoms and five elders”. The Taoist Scripture, the five old men of the Yuan Dynasty, recorded specific names, “The eastern Anbao Hualin is an old man with the name of Qingling, the emperor of heaven, the surname of Yu, taboo of openness, and the word of Lingwei. The southern burning treasure Changyang Danling is an old man with the name of Red Emperor of Japan, the surname of Dong Fu, taboo of Jiyan, and the word of Chiyu crossbow. The Central Jade treasure Yuanling is an old man with the name of Yellow Emperor of Japan, the surname of Tong ban, taboo of yuan family, and the word of hub. The seven treasures in the West are HaoLing emperor, the name of white Emperor, the name of Shangjin, taboo of changkai, the word of yaopinbao, and the word of Bai refused. The northern cave yinshuo is full of five spirits, The number is black emperor, the surname is black Festival, the name is Yin Hou Bureau, and the name is Ye Guangji. “
The above is the more authentic five elders. The five elders mentioned in the journey to the West are obviously a mixture of Taoism and Buddhism. Not only that, but also Guanyin was brought out alone to stand on the same footing with the Buddha. This is obviously because of the folk worship of Guanyin. Therefore, the immortal system in the journey to the west is mixed with various figures such as Buddhism, Taoism and traditional myths, which reflects the complexity of traditional Chinese folk beliefs.
Back to the Jade Emperor and the four emperors, although the Jade Emperor is one of the four emperors in Taoist mythology, the Chinese people who often live under the emperor’s autocracy cannot imagine that there are three or more supreme gods ruling the three realms, and the three Qing Dynasties were excluded from the ranks of the supreme gods. There should be an emperor ruling the people on earth, and there should also be a jade emperor ruling the immortals in heaven. This is in line with the understanding of ordinary people. The Jade Emperor is the counterpart of autocratic imperial power in heaven. Therefore, although Sanqing is the supreme god of Taoism and the Jade Emperor is only one of the four emperors, ordinary people do not buy Taoist accounts. In their eyes, there is only one supreme God, the Jade Emperor, who represents the imperial power.
Since Sanqing could not be the Supreme God, he had to be a minister. Since the Jade Emperor is the Supreme God, he can no longer be ranked among the four emperors. However, the Taoist theory of “three cleans and four emperors” has long been fixed. It is not easy to modify the immortals at will. The only way is to avoid talking about them. Therefore, in the journey to the west, the three Qings and the five elders all have introductions, but the four imperial capitals have been mentioned in one stroke and have never been specified in detail.
Both the Taoist supreme monarch and the Buddhist Tathagata are just gods in religion. In contrast, in the hearts of ordinary people who do not believe in Buddhism and Taoism, only the Jade Emperor, who represents the imperial power, is qualified to become the master of the heaven and the first person in the three realms. This article is an original story about history and cannot be reproduced in any form without the permission of the official story about history. Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.
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