The Jade Emperor 玉皇大帝 Head of Six Imperial Gods

The Jade Emperor, also known as "Haotian Jinque Jade Emperor" and "Central Jade Emperor", is the head of the "Six Imperial Gods". The belief in the "Jade Emperor" originated from ancient religions. In ancient times, there were notions of the supreme gods "Di" and "Shangdi" (Supreme God) who controlled natural changes such as the sun, moon, wind, and rain, as well as human fortunes, life and death, longevity, and good or bad luck. After the Western Zhou Dynasty, they were also called "Huangtian" (Imperial Heaven), "Haotian" (Vast Heaven), and "Tian Di" (Heavenly Emperor), etc.

In the Southern Dynasties, Tao Hongjing's The Chart of the Ranks and Positions of True Spirits already had titles like "Jade Emperor Daoist Lord" and "High Jade Emperor". During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the belief in the "Jade Emperor" was widely prevalent. The famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi wrote in his poem Dreaming of Immortals: "I bow to the Jade Emperor and kowtow to express my sincerity."

The important Taoist scripture The Collection of Scriptures on the Origin and Deeds of the High Jade Emperor, which was probably compiled around the Tang and Song Dynasties, elaborates on the Jade Emperor's origin and background: A long time ago, there was a country named Guangyan Miaole. The king, Jingde, and the queen, Baoyueguang, had no children in their old age. They then ordered Taoist priests to hold prayer ceremonies. The queen dreamed that the Supreme Lord handed her a baby, and after waking up, she indeed became pregnant. She carried the baby for a year and gave birth to a son in the palace at noon on the ninth day of the first lunar month in the year of Bingwu.

When the prince grew up, he inherited the throne but soon gave up the country to practice Taoism in the Puming Xiangyan Mountain. He achieved success and attained transcendence. After going through three thousand kalpas, he became a Golden Immortal. After another hundred million kalpas, he finally became the Jade Emperor.

Taoism holds that the Jade Emperor is the king of all gods, occupying an extremely high position in the Taoist divine hierarchy with the greatest divine power. Taoist scriptures state that he resides in the Haotian Jinque Miro Palace, with a solemn wonderful appearance and an supreme Dharma body. He rules over all heavens, commands all saints, dominates the universe, enlightens all worlds, practices the way of heaven, spreads the virtue of heaven, creates all things, delivers all living beings, weighs the three realms, governs all spirits, and delivers countless people. He is the supreme god of the heavenly realm and the emperor of all heavens.

In short, Taoism believes that the Jade Emperor is in charge of all yin and yang, good and bad fortunes in the three realms (heaven, earth, and space), the ten directions (four directions, four dimensions, and up and down), the four modes of birth (womb birth, egg birth, moisture birth, and transformation birth), and the six realms of existence (heaven, human, demon, hell, animal, and hungry ghost).

Every year on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Jade Emperor personally descends to the mortal world to inspect all places, rewarding the good and punishing the evil based on the good and bad deeds of all living beings, whether Taoist or secular. The ninth day of the first lunar month is the Jade Emperor's birthday, commonly known as the "Jade Emperor's Festival". It is said that on this day, all gods in heaven and on earth celebrate grandly, and the Jade Emperor returns to the heavenly palace in the afternoon of his birthday.