The Jade Emperor玉皇大帝 is the supreme deity in traditional and folk culture, he is ruler of the gods world,and popularly worshipped since the Sui and Tang dynasties, enjoys the most exalted status in the pantheon and he is also called Heavenly Grandfather老天爷 in folklore.
So what is his origin? And what is his relationship with another co-existing supreme deity, the Heaven Emperor Hao昊天上帝（or heaven Hao emperor above ）? The latter is much older, appeared in the Shang Dynasty.
The full name of Jade Emperor is very long: "太上开天执符….玄穹高上帝" There are more than sixty characters. He was most worshiped in Song dynasty and was twice given the most prestigious title, such as “太上开天执符御历含真体道昊天玉皇上帝” in sixth year of Zhenghe reign(1116).
These names usually have the "昊hao" in them, which means that he is in fact heaven emperor Hao, the only difference between them is that one has image and other does not.The heaven emperor Hao was officially sacrificed by all dynasties,
,because since the emperor is the Heaven Son, his father cannot be painted or sculpted casually, what if he was made to look like another person? it would be even worse if it was damaged. Therefore, if he were to be put into a temple, would have to given another name.
These temples are usually Taoist, and over time the Jade Emperor in folklore was treated as a Taoist god, and there are many myths surrounding him. The heaven emperor on the other hand was seen as Confucian.
Jade Emperor in novel ‘Journey to the West’
Jade Emperor in novel ‘Journey to the West’
So we can merge them and find out his origin, and there are two clues ‘昊’ and ‘Jade’. In the legendary age (late Neolithic) Tai Hao太昊 and Shao Hao少昊 were the heads of the Dong Yi 东夷 (Eastern Yi people). Tai Hao is said to precede Shao Hao and was Shao Hao’s teacher
They may not be a personal name, but a title, probably representing two periods. Yi夷 was inhabitants of the east and was considered one of the four major barbarians. (夷 is a man drawing a bow, suggesting their custom of being good at archery.)
The narrowly defined Dong Yi area is what is now Shandong (Qi Lu area), and the broadly includes the northeastern to the lower Yangtze river. 昊 with a sun日 above and a heaven天 below, is the sun god of the east.
The sun symbols of the Dawenkou culture in Shandong.
The sun symbols of the Dawenkou culture in Shandong.
Dong Yi society had a profound influence on Chinese history, and many cultures and traditions came from the eastern. Such as the Confucianism and jade culture. Confucius was from the state of Lu (southern Shandong) and his ancestors were Shang aristocrats.
The Shang is basically an eastern dynasty as opposed to the western‘s Zhou, originated in the North China plain east of the Taihang Mountains, and its totem was the bird that was culted by all the Dong Yi cultures. The Shang worshiped a supreme deity the heaven emperor,
,and he was associated with the origin of the Shang, it is said: Heaven ordered the black bird to descend and give birth to Shang 天命玄鸟 降而生商. Later the Zhou dynasty accepted this concept and call him heaven emperor Hao.
The Qin state and dynasty from the west did not worship the heaven emperor but a great shamanic god Wu Xian巫咸 (who would usually be an agent of the heaven) and the four sacred emperors representing the four directions.
Yet the king of Qin affirmed his importance in a inscription that cursed the fall of the Chu state. The curse claimed that "the king of Chu ..... does not awe the divine might of the heaven emperor and the highest god Wu Xian. "今楚王….不畏皇天上帝，及丕显大神巫咸之光烈威神".
At the time of Wu Di of the Han Dynasty汉武帝, began ‘solely exaltation of Confucianism’ 独尊儒术 , and heaven emperor Hao became a supreme god again. The builders of Han came from the eastern, Peixian where Liu Bang's group started belonged to the Dong Yi region in past.
So I think that besides the need to rule a vast empire, there was also the cultural factors in this. Some ancient literatures describe the eastern customs of the Qi Lu regions: "they are gentle by nature and easily indoctrinated" 故天性柔顺，易以道御 "-礼记 .
. "Qi…The people are generous and open-minded with wisdom ....have the ethos of a great country". "Lu…revered Confucianism, observance of rituals, the people conduct prudent "。 “齐..其俗宽缓阔达，而足智，，，大国之风也”。“鲁...俗好儒，备于礼，故其民龊龊 ”-史记
Later on, influenced by Buddhism, the production of deity statues and the burning of incense to worship gods became popular in various regions, so the emergence of heavenly emperor Hao in the folk incarnation of the Jade Emperor.
Jade symbolizes the highest virtue advocated by Confucianism. The earliest jade culture in China emerged in the Northeastern, with the Xiaonanshan site小南山遗址 in Heilongjiang province unearthing a large number of jades dating back 15000 years,
the Xinglongwa and Chahai cultures in eastern Inner Mongolia and Liaoning unearthing ancient jades dating back 8000 years. As the pinnacle of the Northeast jade civilization, Hongshan Culture excavated earliest jade dragon: the C-shaped dragon.
This tradition of jade making gradually reached south to the lower Yellow and Yangtze rivers. This led to the flourishing of Jades from the Dawenkou culture in Shandong and the cultural circle of the Taihu lake basin.
The jade necklaces of the Dawenkou culture
The jade necklaces of the Dawenkou culture
At this time the central and western areas were mainly painted pottery, and jades is rare and simple in shape. The spread of jades there was probably blocked by the strong Yangshao culture (5000-3000 B.C.),
while boats and prehistoric navigation techniques enhanced communication between the eastern regions.
The excavation of jade artifacts from the late Yangshao to the early Longshan culture periods.
The excavation of jade artifacts from the late Yangshao to the early Longshan culture periods.
The Lingjiatan culture 凌家滩文化(3800-3300 B.C.) in Anhui province is known for its developed jade craftsmanship and deeply influenced the later Liangzhu culture. Although distant from the Liaoning province, it has many similarities with the Hongshan culture.
The jade pig-dragon and human figures found in Hongshan and Lingjiatan cultures share similarities.
This is a Lingjiatan burial, the deceased was a great chief, he was covered with several layers of jades, mostly the Yue玉钺 (a type of ritual axe) representing power and status, the cost of making one of these jade Yue was very high at that time,
,it seems that all the treasures of the tribe were gathered in his burial. He wears sets of jade bracelets on his forearms, a dozen in each set, and there are a large number of jade bi and rings at his head and neck.
This cannot be explained simply by the division of wealth in the modern sense; his son would probably not have had this honor. It reflects the high prestige he had among the people, and these jades represent the people's affection for him.
He was probably a Tai Hao or Shao Hao, whose rule relied on his virtues rather than violence. This etho was inherited by later Confucianism, so it believes a gentleman should never be without jade on his person “君子无故,玉不离身”.
Confucius once said: In the old days, those noble persons compared themselves with jade. “夫昔者，君子比德于玉焉”, and then he summarized the eleven virtues of the jade. He believed that these were the qualities that elites, especially a monarch should have.
By the time of the Longshan culture the reverence for jade spread to all regions. Fine products appeared from the Loess Plateau to the middle Yangtze River, and many continued in the eastern style.
The Liangzhu style of cong琮 was found in all regions.
The Liangzhu style of cong琮 was found in all regions.
Well, lets conclude that With the exaltation of Confucianism, the Jade Emperor or heaven emperor Hao became widely recognized as the supreme deity by both officials and general public. Jade and virtue are the same thing in Confucianism,
and that all of them both come from an age-old east tradition. The original of heaven emperor Hao is Tai Hao, the incarnation of the sun god and great leader of the prehistoric Dong Yi tribes.
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