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Other times, however, a deified person rose to high status in
the heavenly realm. This was the case with the Shang-ti, better
known as the Jade Emperor. Several myths, some of them with
conflicting content, tell of his human origins, the most common of
which pictures him as an ordinary mortal who lived thousands of
years before the emergence of the first dynasty. Very well mean-
ing, the story went, he desired to aid his fellow humans and did
many good deeds. But over time he became sad that he could
not stop everyone’s suffering. So he retreated to a remote cave in
the mountains and there underwent hundreds of personal moral
trials. Eventually, aided by some unnamed gods, he emerged
from the mountains as a powerful divine being. In fact, thereafter
known as the Jade Emperor, he long remained the leader of the
Chinese gods.
The Supreme Deity
Shang-ti, more often called the Jade Emperor, was the supreme deity of
Chinese worship and mythology. (He went by many other names as well,
including Yu-di and Yu Huang Shang-ti.) In early Chinese history, well
before he took on his emperor-like image and status, he was a powerful
sky god who bore different names in different parts of the country. Over
time, he assumed an increasing number of important duties, including
overseer of law and order, justice, and in some places even creation. He
was also credited with controlling the weather, regulating the passage of
the seasons, and teaching humans the fundamentals of architecture. At
some point, new myths were assigned to him, including the major one
that claimed he had started out as a human hero and had been dei ed,
thereby becoming a divine entity.
Rituals of worship naturally developed around the Jade Emperor. One
observed his birthday on the ninth day of the year’s rst lunar month,
when Taoist temples held special rituals appropriately called “heaven
worship.” It included people prostrating themselves (lying facedown
on the oor or ground), burning incense, and making offerings. These
consisted of several types of food, among them fruits and vegetables,
noodles, cake, and wine.
