What level of deity is the Jade Emperor?

The Jade Emperor is the supreme god, the patriarchal king of the heavens, and the holy lord of the firmament in Taoist mythology.

The Jade Emperor is often regarded as the supreme god of Taoism, for he rules the three realms, from the 36 heavens down to the 72 earths, but all the spirits existing in the world are under his jurisdiction. Gods, Buddhas, immortals, demons, and human beings are all under his jurisdiction. But in fact, when it comes to the highest god of Taoism, it often also mentions the Three Purities, that is, Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and Taiqing Daode Tianzun, which are collectively known as the Void of Nature Dala Three Purities and Three Realms and Three Treasures of the Heavenly Father.

Three Qing is the first heaven and earth at the beginning of the time has existed, the so-called one air into three Qing, that is, the three Qing by the Tao and born, before all things above. And it is said that the Jade Emperor is by the three Qing, his main function, generally are some of the gods will be the three worlds of various affairs to its petition and report, by the Jade Emperor to give the will. That is to say, the Jade Emperor's function is to deal with the affairs within the system, systematization, and some specific things in the three realms.

Mythological status of the Jade Emperor

Since the folk use the Jade Emperor to replace the Emperor of Heaven, the Taoist Church has pushed the boat into the water to improve the status of the Jade Emperor God, listed him as one of the "three Qing", second only to the First Heavenly Father, residing on the top of the Supreme Lord Laojun, which can be described as "A god below, above all gods". But the people did not buy the account of Taoism, only recognized the Jade Emperor as the supreme emperor, Taoism can do nothing about it. In elevating the status of the Jade Emperor, Taoism also fabricated the story of the Jade Emperor's birth to the success of monasticism, in order to deify the origin of the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor, the supreme deity believed in by the people, is in fact the people who stole the Emperor's name and surname, crowned with the name of the Jade Emperor, and then made up a story similar to that of Buddha's success to the deification of its origins, and put it together to create a new one. And from the evolution of the Jade Emperor God can also be seen in the traditional jade text on the subtle influence of the Chinese culture of immortals, almost can be jade and immortality, supremacy and draw the same.