Seated on a throne with a tablet in his hands. Traces of red lacquer and gilding. Height 20 cm.
Ware.
The Jade Emperor (Yu Huang or Yu Dì) is known informally by children and commoners as Heavenly God and known formally as the Pure August Jade Emperor or August Personage of Jade. According to Chinese mythology he is the ruler of Heaven and among the most important gods of the Chinese Daoist pantheon.
From the ninth century, he was also the patron deity of the Chinese Imperial family. The Jade Emperor is thought to rule over Heaven and Earth just as the earthly emperors ruled over China. He and his court are part of a celestial bureaucracy (mirroring that of ancient China) ruling over every aspect of human and also animal life.