The Jade Emperor is the lord of the heavenly court, and the Yuan Shi Tianzun is the head of the three Qings, and which of the two has a higher status has always been a topic that people talk about.
In film and television dramas, Yuan Shi Tianzun's status is usually inferior to that of the Jade Emperor, and he is often set as a highly respected minister in the Heavenly Court, but no matter how high the prestige of the minister is, he must obey the leadership of the Jade Emperor.
But some people believe that the status of the Jade Emperor should not be as good as that of Yuan Shi Tianzun, and there is an obvious gap between the two.
First of all, the status of Yuan Shi Tianzun in the Journey to the West World is extremely high, and even Zhen Yuanzi, who is the ancestor of the earth immortals, is quite in awe of him.
In the twenty-fourth chapter of the original work, after learning that the scripture study team was about to arrive at Wuzhuang Temple, Zhen Yuanzi decided to entrust his disciples Qingfeng and Mingyue to entertain him. Why didn't he entertain him personally? It was out of awe of the Yuan Shi Tianzun that he did not dare to disobey his orders.
He said to Qingfeng and Mingyue at that time: "Don't go against the brief post of Yuan Shi Tianzun, you must go to Miluo Palace to listen to his lectures, you two are good at home, and soon an old man will come to visit, treat me well, go and don't neglect them." ”
Secondly, although the Jade Emperor is the lord of the heavenly court, he is also a Taoist god.
The Taoist gods have three Qings, four emperors, and five elders, and the Jade Emperor is only equivalent to the four emperors in the Taoist gods, which is a whole rank lower than the three Qings. Therefore, as the head of the Three Qings, Yuan Shi Tianzun can completely lead the Jade Emperor.
This statement seems to make sense at first glance, however, if the status of Yuan Shi Tianzun is really higher than that of the Jade Emperor, there is no way to explain this scene that happened in the original book.
In the seventh chapter of the original work, after Rulai pressed Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain, the Jade Emperor was overjoyed and specially held an antiy conference to celebrate his achievements, and the book went on to write -
After a while, the Yuqing Yuan Shi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, Taiqing Daode Tianzun, Wuqi Zhenjun, Wudou Xingjun, Sanguan and Four Sages, Jiuyao Zhenjun, Zuo Fu, Right Bi, Tianwang, Nezha, Xuanxu should be well-informed, on the pair of flags, double banner covers, all holding pearls and treasures, longevity fruit flowers, to the Buddha to worship and say: "Feel like immeasurable mana, ambush the demon monkey." ”
Yuan Shi Tianzun and Rulai are both supreme gods of religion, and their status is said to be equal, However, he led all the immortals to worship Xie Rulai and surrendered to Sun Wukong. And all this is just because of a will of the Jade Emperor.
If the status of Yuan Shi Tianzun was really higher than that of the Jade Emperor, then how could the Jade Emperor issue an order for him to worship Xie Rulai?
As for who has a higher status between him and the Jade Emperor, we can see the clue from Rulai's words.
In the seventh chapter of the original work, the Jade Emperor decided to hold an antiy conference to celebrate Rulai's success, and sent Tianpeng and Tianyou, two true monarchs, to invite Rulai to a banquet. After the two true monarchs saw Rulai, Rulai humbly said: "The old monk inherited the order of the Great Tianzun to come here, what is the magic power? Or is it that the Tianzun and the gods are blessed, dare to thank you?"
Here, the name of the Jade Emperor is Da Tianzun. In the Journey to the West, the god with the highest status in a certain religious group is often respected as the Great Tianzun by the members of the group, for example, Zhen Yuanzi is a member of the Taoist group, and the Yuan Shi Tianzun, who is the supreme god of the Taoist group, is called the Great Tianzun.
If you are the head of the Buddhist group, but you respect the Jade Emperor as the Great Heavenly Zun, this undoubtedly reveals another prominent identity of the Jade Emperor, that is, the Great Heavenly Venerable of the Three Realms.
The so-called Great Heavenly Venerable of the Three Realms, that is, the leader of all the religious groups in the Three Realms, can command all the religious groups in the Three Realms, including the Taoist group.
Therefore, the Jade Emperor can order the Taoist group, as the supreme god of the Taoist group, to obey the Jade Emperor's mission. Since this is the case, the status of the Jade Emperor is naturally higher than that of Yuan Shi Tianzun. What do you think?