There is a saying that immortals are divided into heaven, earth, people and ghosts. Who is the fairy's representative? What is the basis?

China native immortal system (Taoism): "Heaven, Earth, God, Man, Ghost" (pay attention to the wrong order). The immortals we often say are immortals in a broad sense. In a narrow sense, the ranks of gods and immortals are completely different. Please see my understanding:

Fairy: The highest-ranking fairy lives for thirty-three days (Tiangong is like a tall building, the higher you live, the more cattle you get). Immortals take "Sanqing" as the core of leadership. In Sanqing, primitive Buddha is the first, Lingbao Buddha is the second, and Taishang Laojun is the third. These three giants are the best local immortals in China and the spiritual leaders of Taoism. Those who can rank among the immortals are all immortals with relatively good level. There are two points worthy of special attention: first, immortals are sanctified in the flesh, immortal, virtuous and cultivated into immortals. All living things (including flowers and plants) can become immortals, provided that you are good enough. Second, the immortal is a religious group, and it is required to be a Taoist believer and obey the Sanqing. For example, Samsung of Fu Lushou once said to the Monkey King: "Although you are a fairy, you are still too scattered to enter the real stream." The implication is: "the Monkey King, don't be crazy. Although you happen to be a fairy, as long as you don't get the approval of the official (Sanqing), you can never enter. " It's a pity that such a good talent was forced to rebel, and finally he was confessed by the Tathagata and got a big bargain.

Fairy: second only to fairy, but it can't live in the sky, only on the ground. The representative figure is Zhenyuan Daxian of Wuzhuangguan. Zhenyuan Daxian is very awesome. He only offered incense with the word "heaven and earth" and was very close to Sanqing. But his fame is not great, so that the Monkey King didn't even know that there was such a person, so he dared to break through the ground and pull out the ginseng tree on his traditional head. As a result, Zhenyuan was badly beaten. But apart from him, there seems to be no big fairy. For example, Lv Dongbin and Tie Guai Li of the Eight Immortals are immortals, but their strength is average. Since Zhenyuanzi's level is so high, why not go to the celestial fairy? I think there are two reasons: First, as the saying goes, "It's better to be a chicken mouth than a cow queen", Zhen Yuanzi is the number one fairy in heaven, and he can get to the fourth place at most, so it's better to be a bully. Secondly, ginseng fruit is a strategic treasure (although immortals live for a long time, they will eventually die, but only ginseng fruit and flat peaches can make people live forever in Journey to the West, and mastering this thing has core competitiveness). Of course, Zhen Yuanzi can't give up easily and can only live on the spot.

Renxian: My understanding is that Renxian is someone who wants to cultivate immortality, but has the wrong opportunity, limited qualifications or no promotion. They can never achieve the road, can't be perfect, and can only be one of them. Immortals have limited abilities, or they can use small magic or rejuvenate and prolong life. For example, the old monk who tried to rob the Tang Priest in Guanyin Temple lived for hundreds of years.

Immortal: It is the group of soldiers and crabs under the Jade Emperor, such as Li Tianwang and Tian Bing Tian Jiang. So the immortals in The Journey to the West and the ancient gods in Genesis (such as Pangu) are not the same concept. To distinguish them, the level of immortals in The Journey to the West is not high. The biggest difference between immortals and immortals is that they are religious groups, but immortals are not. Immortals belong to the bureaucratic system. Simply put, the immortals are the civil servants of heaven, and the Jade Emperor is their big boss. So the level of immortals is uneven. There are senior immortals like Nezha, and there are fools like Giant Spirit God. Therefore, to measure whether a fairy is immortal is not to say what level of mana should be achieved, but to see whether it is recognized by the jade emperor. Not all immortals live in the sky. Those who live in the sky are equivalent to Beijing officials, and many immortals have been sent to various places. For example, Jiro has a high level, but he can only live in Guanjiangkou without the order of the central government. The Monkey King was originally a monster, but when he became an official in Beijing, he could live in the sky. It is worth noting that in The Journey to the West, the ranks of immortals are growing, and many immortals or Buddhas have jumped on the Jade Emperor for fame and fortune.

Ghost fairy: Ghost fairy is the lowest rank among the five immortals. It means not to build roads before life, but to be quick. You can become a ghost after death. Although reincarnation can be avoided, you can't reach the fairyland, but you can only move at night. When people watch ghost movies, they seem to think ghosts are awesome, which is relative to ordinary people. In fact, the ability of ghosts in immortals is very weak and their status is very low, which is basically ignored. For example, land gods and mountain gods are ghosts, and they are often ordered around by Wukong. If anything goes wrong, they will be threatened and beaten. Of course, if people do more good deeds in death, or get expert advice, or be famous, or have people on it, but they have no chance to become immortals before their death, they may become immortals after their death. For example, Bao Zheng was named Yan Luowang after his death. Ghosts are managed by immortals sent by the Jade Emperor, and the great leader is Yan Luowang. Surprisingly, the Tathagata also planted a person in the underworld: the Tibetan king and bodhisattva. Their relationship is similar to that of the governor and the secretary of the provincial party committee, but in The Journey to the West, it seems that the hidden king and bodhisattva are overhead, and the real power is in Yan Luowang's hands.

The Tathagata's Five Immortals of Heaven and Earth intentionally or unintentionally left out the two categories of magic and Buddha, which is a very meaningful detail.

Demons: Demons are usually cultivated by animals and plants. They have magic power and can change human nature, such as tree demon and fox. Demons are powerful demons, ordinary immortals are no match at all, and they are obviously anti-government. But in fact, there is no difference between demons and immortals. The difference lies in whether they are recognized by God. For example, Kuimu Wolf in "Twenty-eight Stars" came down to earth privately, calling himself Huang Paoguai, and started a killing business. Another example is Pig Bajie, who turned out to be Marshal Tian Peng. Because he took one more look at the jade emperor's girl Chang 'e, she was resented by the jade emperor, and finally became a pig demon, occupying the people and bullying. Therefore, a demon and a fairy are just like the difference between a policeman and a hooligan. The government gives you a job number, and you are a policeman. You are a rogue without a license, and the essence is the same. The devil is not embraced by heaven, but an anarchic and free organization, taking the mountain as the king, doing its own thing and doing whatever it wants. As long as they don't make a scene, nobody cares about you. For example, cows keep mistresses in the world, eat human flesh, and do many evils. They are called the Great Sage and the Jade Emperor, but they turn a blind eye to the Tathagata. But when cows hinder the Tathagata's carefully planned plan to learn from the scriptures, they are sorry.

Buddha: In the Journey to the West, Buddhism is a foreign religious group founded by the Tathagata. Tathagata is an outstanding leader. From scratch, from small to large, business is booming, digging corners, spreading eyes and ears, and selecting high-quality demons. As long as you can use it for me, give full play to the role of larceny, and with the help of suppressing the Monkey King's An Tian Parliament and carefully planned Buddhist scriptures, you can successfully enter the China market. The hierarchy in the Buddha is also very clear, that is, Buddha, Bodhisattva, Lohan, Wensheng, monks and so on.

Then the most troublesome question came: What does the Jade Emperor do? Why do even Tathagata and Taishang Laojun have to listen to him? It turns out that the Jade Emperor is just one of the "six emperors". In terms of seniority, he is still under the three clean-ups, and he doesn't know what shit he stepped on (which may be the product of the balance of various rights). In the Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor took the top spot in heaven and became the head of state. Everyone must obey his administrative orders, whether it is the grandfather of his ancestors or the Buddha. When you meet him, you have to call yourself your majesty and your minister. Of course, this is only an administrative status. When the Tathagata or the master visits, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother will come out to meet him.

In fact, the jade emperor's position is difficult to sit in, because he is not capable and in the wrong position, and it is difficult to convince the public. Many people look down on the Jade Emperor in their bones. Although Nuo Nuo is the only one on the surface, he is willing to wait for the opportunity to see the Jade Emperor make a fool of himself. This explains the biggest doubt when watching TV series The Journey to the West: Why did the Monkey King make a scene in heaven, but he struggled to learn from it? Because except for a few sycophants, all the awesome people hide aside and don't try to see how the Jade Emperor ends up. Want to know, don't say that the old gentleman on the throne can kill the Monkey King, even the Chief Wood Wolf (Huang Paoguai after his descent) among the 24 stars can be tied with the Monkey King. If they do, hundreds of the Monkey King will make a scene in the Heavenly Palace.