In the Immortal Hierarchy of Journey to the West, the pinnacle of power is Sanqing, Rulai and the Jade Emperor, and Rulai belongs to the Western world and is not in the administrative sequence of the Heavenly Court. In the Three Qing Dynasties, only Taishang Laojun served in the Heavenly Court, so who was the Immortal with the greatest power in the Heavenly Court, taishang Laojun and the Jade Emperor?
The Jade Emperor and Lao Jun in the TV series Journey to the West
In terms of seniority, Taishang Laojun existed before the chaos, and has experienced more than 35,000 disasters, even if it is counted from the beginning of Pangu's opening of the world, it is about 4.6 billion years old. For example, the Buddha said that the Jade Emperor had experienced more than 1,700 disasters, each of which was 129,600 years old, and it was only about 200 million years old. The Jade Emperor, the Haotian Emperor, was incarnated by the Golden Turtle Jade Disk, who had practiced under the old seat of Hongjun Laozu and was considered to be Lao Jun's disciple.
In journey to the West, there are 36 heavens in the Celestial Realm, and the Tushi Palace of Taishang Laojun is in the 33rd Heaven (the Master of the Tongtian Sect lives in the 34th Heaven, and the Yuan Shi Tianzun lives in the 35th Heaven). The status of the Three Qings was above that of the Jade Emperor, who was only in charge of the 32nd and below heavens. However, according to the order of the divine realm, the Three Qings are the largest, and after the Three Qings are the Jade Emperor, but the Jade Emperor has a greater influence on the people, and the ritual of sacrificing the Jade Emperor often exceeds the specifications of the Three Qings, making people mistakenly think that the Jade Emperor has a higher position. The Jade Emperor was the greatest official in the heavens, but he was not the greatest god in the Immortal Realm. The Jade Emperor's divine throne was not as high as lao jun, but he enjoyed the power to rule the Three Realms. The Jade Emperor was secretly awarded the Jade Text by the Emperor of the First Heaven, and held the Heavenly Seal for thirty-six days, and had seventy-two jurisdictions under his jurisdiction, and was in charge of all the affairs of the gods, immortals, Buddhas, saints, the human world, and the earthly government, and had boundless power.
Lao Jun's TuShi Palace
However, the Jade Emperor could not compare with the Taishang Laojun in terms of seniority, mana, and ability, so why wasn't the Jade Emperor's throne seated by the Taishang Laojun? In fact, this is not surprising, just like the emperor of the world, there are many top masters in literature, martial arts, and strategy, but they may not be able to become emperors. Second, the era of the Three Qing Dynasties has passed. At that time, the first heavenly court established by the Eastern Emperor Taiyi collapsed, and the world was in an era of demons, demons, ghosts, monsters, people, gods, immortals and other ethnic groups living together and fighting, and Sanqing was temporarily in charge until the end of the War of The Gods, all the dust settled, and Sanqing transferred power to the Jade Emperor. It was only Lao Jun who was also responsible for alchemy and refining tools, and helping the immortals to prolong their lives and cross the robbery, that he could only continue to serve in the Heavenly Court.
At this time, Lao Jun, as the representative of the Three Qings, was the spiritual leader of the Divine Realm and had a lofty position. The Jade Emperor is the most powerful god in the Heavenly Court and the leader of the monarchy. Therefore, there is such a fragment in the Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother heard that Taishang Laojun had to go out to greet him! However, when Taishang Laojun saw the Jade Emperor, he wanted to perform a pilgrimage.