According to folklore, the Jade Emperor was originally called Zhang Jian or Zhang Bairen. The full name of the Jade Emperor is: "the supreme master opens the sky, holds the talisman, the imperial calendar contains the true body, the golden que, the cloud palace, the nine domes, the imperial calendar, the Wandao inaction Avenue, the bright palace, the Haotian golden que, the supreme Jade Emperor forgives sins, and the great heaven leads the high God", living in the Taiwei jade palace. The jade emperor has a great influence on Chinese people. People regard him as the "emperor" in heaven and the supreme ruler of the world of gods.
1. Jian Zhang
According to the records of Youyang Zazu, tianweng (that is, the jade emperor) has a surname of Zhang and a name of Zhang Jian. He is from Yuyang (southwest of Miyun District, Beijing). Zhang Jian was an unrestrained and uninhibited person who was not used to rules and regulations. He was independent and went his own way. He liked flying eagles, running dogs, riding horses and hunting.
Once Zhang Jian caught a white finch while hunting. The white finch was very cute. Zhang Jian liked it very much and raised it as a pet. Soon Zhang Jian dreamed that Liu Yudi (surnamed Liu) was angry and said that the white bird was a divine bird in heaven. Zhang Jian caught the divine bird without permission and should be executed.
Later, Liu Yudi really wanted to kill Zhang Jian. Fortunately, the white bird helped Zhang Jian every time and let Zhang Jian turn the risk into a barbarian. Liu Yudi was so angry that he personally went down to visit Zhang Jian in the white dragon car. Zhang Jian pretended to entertain Liu Yudi warmly, intoxicated Liu Yudi, and then secretly took Liu Yudi's white dragon car and flew to the heavenly palace.
After heaven, Zhang Jian replaced a large number of civil and military immortal officials and became the New Jade Emperor.
2. Zhang Bairen
Before his death, the Jade Emperor was a stronghold leader named Zhang Youren, also known as Zhang Bairen. It is said that Pangu opened the world and everything was peaceful between heaven and earth. Later, the gods began to fight and the world was extravagant, resulting in chaos in the three realms of heaven and earth. Therefore, Taibai Jinxing came down to earth to look for someone with both talent and morality to be the emperor of the three realms.
Taibai Jinxing turned into a beggar and looked around. When she came to Zhangjiawan, she found that Zhang Youren, who was called Zhang Bairen, managed the village very harmoniously and was kind and compassionate. Therefore, she took it back to heaven and became the Jade Emperor. Later, the immortals asked Zhang Bairen to be jointly praised as the lifelong emperor of heaven, which was called the Jade Emperor. Because the Jade Emperor was the general emperor of the three realms, he was also called the Jade Emperor or the Jade Emperor God.