Wei Zi, king of the gods.

Is the position of the old gentleman on the throne inferior to that of the jade emperor?

This statement is obviously wrong. As the ancestor of Taishang Laojun, his position is definitely higher than that of the Jade Emperor!

Taishang Laojun is a great Confucian of Taoism and the most accomplished person since ancient times. His identity is supreme in Taoism and a very special existence. The incarnation of the old gentleman? Lao tze? It left us a very valuable Tao Te Ching, which belongs to both practitioners and Taoist teachings.

In the mythological system of Taoism, the old fairy of Taishang Laojun is definitely the one with the oldest qualification and the highest status. Sanqing, the highest god in Taoism, is called the supreme god. They are: Jade Qing Yuan Shi Tianzun (Pangu), Qing Lingbao Tianzun and Taiqing Moral Tianzun, and this moral Tianzun is Laozi, the supreme old gentleman.

According to Taoist records, the ancestor of Laojun was in Yujing, the ancestor of God King; I am the Lord of the flying fairy.

The old gentleman in Taishang also has an identity, called Daozu. Daozu, as its name implies, is the founder of Taoism and, by extension, the founder of Control Avenue. It can be said that all Taoist practitioners are descendants of the old gentleman. Such a person's status is high, it is estimated that no one can match except heaven.

It is said that Taishang Laojun is also the master of three emperors and five emperors. He taught Fuxi gossip, enlightened people to make fire, cultivated Shennong, and was the master of human relations. He also personally enlightened Confucius and taught Confucius Avenue, which means that the Confucian Avenue was also handed down by the old gentleman. He even turned Hu into a Buddha and absorbed western teachings. Even the Tathagata is his apprentice.

It can be seen that its position in people's minds is high.

Jade Emperor, also known as God, Jade Emperor and Giant Buddha, is also commonly known as God. The jade emperor is in charge of everything in the world and has boundless power. Among the people, the Jade Emperor has great influence. People often worship the jade emperor, saying that the specifications are beyond Sanqing, which is normal, because Sanqing is too high and illusory for ordinary people, and the jade emperor is more realistic because he is in charge of the world.

Even in the mythological system of The Journey to the West, which regards the Jade Emperor as the master of heaven and earth and the head of gods, the position of the old gentleman on the throne is higher than that of the Jade Emperor. There is a clear division and arrangement of immortals in The Journey to the West. They are Sanqing, Yusi, Wu Fang Wulao, Si Liu, Qiyuan, Octupole, Jiuyao and Du Shi.

What needs to be mentioned here is that there were four emperors under the Sanqing, and some said they belonged to six emperors. Both of these statements are correct, but the difference is that the Four Emperors separated the Jade Emperor and Gouchen Shanggong Emperor respectively, because these two men were one level higher than the other four. ? Liu Yu? They are: Jade Emperor, Gouchen Shanggong Emperor, Zhongtian Arctic Wei Zi Emperor, Dongji Tsinghua Emperor, Antarctic Fairy Emperor and Chengtian Emperor. There is no doubt that the Jade Emperor is the head of the six emperors and the king of the gods. He occupies a very high position in the Taoist hierarchy and has the greatest divine power. In charge of 36 days, it governs 72 places, and is in charge of all matters related to God, immortals, Buddha, holiness, man and the underworld.

Taishang Laojun is one of the Sanqing, the Jade Emperor belongs to one of the Four Emperors, and the Tathagata is a five-party and five-old. Obviously, the old gentleman is taller than the jade emperor.

In fact, what you see in the TV series is not true. I suggest you see the original. In the original work, every time the Taishang Laojun came to heaven to attend the flat peach party, out of respect for the Taoist master, the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager would go to the worse gate to meet the Taishang Laojun.

In the 86th edition of Journey to the West, every time the Jade Emperor holds a meeting, all the immortals kneel and bow to the Jade Emperor, except for one immortal, the Taishang Laojun, who just bows to the Jade Emperor.

In the original Journey to the West, not only did the old gentleman not bow to the jade emperor, but the jade emperor also bowed to him in front of the old gentleman, even the heavenly queen was no exception.

The original description of Journey to the West: the Monkey King ate the elixir of Taishang Laojun, Taishang Laojun complained to the Jade Emperor, and the four heavenly teachers came to report that Taishang Laojun had come. The Jade Emperor rushed out with the Empress Dowager.

It can be seen that the old gentleman and the jade emperor respect each other. Although the realm of the old gentleman is higher, the jade emperor is in charge of the three realms and has a high status, so the old gentleman deserves respect.

In fact, in The Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en deliberately played down the detached position of the old gentleman in the throne. Because Journey to the West, in essence, is just a realistic satire novel covered with myth.

In the era of Wu Cheng'en, the emperor's position was above everything else, and all other great talents, regardless of their abilities, must be engaged in at the orders of the emperor. The Taoist immortals in the book must be in this system, so no matter who is necessarily taller than the jade emperor in Wu Cheng'en's novels, Wu Cheng'en has no mind to give up his seat to every immortal.

In fact, as far as the whole book is concerned, you can't see who has a high position, King Tota or Yang Jian, the old gentleman on the throne or other star kings, or the immortals and heavenly generals on the islands. Everyone has his own responsibilities and his own main business. Emperor Yan, like the Dragon King, is more like a government official, and Tian will be more like the central government.

In a word, the central idea expressed by The Journey to the West was also dissatisfaction with the decadent feudal system at that time, and the classification of immortals was not strictly in accordance with the popular Taoist system.

In fact, we can roughly understand the relationship between the Jade Emperor and Grand Priest: Sanqing is the highest spiritual leader among the Taoist gods in China, while the Jade Emperor is the highest political god. Just like the Pope and other kings in western churches. The king controls the supreme power, and the religious right is in the hands of the Pope.

Sometimes, status and power cannot be equated. The most obvious is the constitutional monarchy. In Britain and Japan, the prime minister has the greatest power, but in terms of identity, the monarchs of these countries, such as the Queen of England and the Emperor of Japan, are all heads of state. Also, in the well-known martial arts novels, the head of the sect is the most powerful, but there are often elders with high status. Therefore, the prime minister and the head of household are equivalent to the jade emperor, and the heads of state and elders are equivalent to the old gentleman.

In addition to high status, Taishang Laojun is also very strong. For example, throwing a diamond ring casually can knock the Monkey King out. Just throw a green cow, I can't help it. On the contrary, the Jade Emperor felt that he had no skill, so Monkey Sun made a scene in Heaven and asked the Tathagata for help.

Therefore, whether it is the orthodox Taoist mythology system or the later folklore mythology system such as The Journey to the West, the position of the Taishang Laojun is higher than that of the Jade Emperor, but he doesn't care about anything.