Meeting the Jade Emperor

The Yuhuang (Jade Emperor) is one of the main Gods in Taoism. Taoism and the ordinary people regard him as the ruler in the Heaven and the imperatorial God. Therefore, a fete on him is necessary.

It is said the lunar January 9 is the birthday of the Jade Emperor. According to the custom, a ceremony for celebration is to be held. The ordinary people will gather together to burn joss sticks. This is called the Yuhuang (Jade Emperor) Meeting. The Meeting is very grand. Because the Jade Emperor plays a very important role in the Heaven, a lot of other Gods accompany him.

The Yuhuang Meeting is sweeping, but it is just held near the Yuhuang Temple, therefore it can't become a mass festival. Most people will have the activity of meeting Yuhuang on New Year's Eve. It tells that the Jade Emperor would inspect the world every New Year's eve, and would give meed or punishment as he observes people doing good or evil. So on that day, every home will place incense burner table and offerings to meet the befalling of the Jade Emperor, which is called Meeting the Jade Emperor. As common people think the Jade Emperor as the super God, some even call him the Ruler of the Heaven, so this activity is called Heaven Feting in the south areas of Jiangsu Province.

At the same time of meeting the Jade Emperor; there are similar feting ceremonies in the Taoist temple. For example, there is the ceremony of meeting the Jade Emperor on New Year's Eve in Baiyun Temple in Beijing.