Gods vs. Immortals vs. Buddhas- The Hierarchy of Chinese Mythology (Part 2)

Who will win in a fight? A god, a Buddha, or an immortal? Actually, that's the wrong question. In the Chinese mythical world, it's not just about power, it's about your job title. Welcome back to part two of our intro to the Chinese supernatural. Last time, we looked at the Ling, spirit. Jing, a more advanced spirit. Yao, fairy. Guai, monster. Ren, human. Gui, ghost. Today, we are going to go up the ranks and look at Shen, gods. Xian, immortals. Mo, demons. And Fo, buddhas. And we're going to learn why immortals have to survive lightning strikes and the difference between a demon and a heart demon. So let's pick up where we left off, ghosts. Is there ever a scenario where a ghost is allowed to stay in the human realm legally? There is one special case where a ghost can legally stay in the human realm. It becomes a Shen. In everyday belief, Shen isn't just a celestial being. It's actually a position, a spiritual bureaucratic job. So imagine if someone did lots of good deeds in their life and after death, they might be recognized by the spiritual higher ups, the higher level deities. And they say, I see that you've done a good job. You know, would you be interested in being promoted to being the local land god? You know, for example, I've heard my grandfather might become a earth god in some village, a kind of spiritual neighborhood chief. So imagine instead of arriving at the pearly gates and then getting an eternal holiday, what they do is when you arrive at the gates, would you like another job? Yeah, that sounds awesome. So when you walk into a temple in Taiwan, most of the Shen you see were once real people who were honored after death. So if you're a good ghost, essentially, you might get assigned a good job. Every god has their own job. Fertility gods help parents, exam gods help students, and so on. So when I go to a temple, it feels like visiting a multidimensional government office and submitting my requests. That's right. And talking about submitting requests, when you burn money or the money that you burn for gods is different to the ones that you burn for ghosts. So this is kind of more like the official salary for the spiritual government. So don't mix them up. You don't want to be giving the ghost money to the gods and the gods money to the ghosts, right? Different system, different currency. Do you remember the cultivation? 修行 we talked about in the last video. For humans, the ultimate goal is to become a 仙. Now in Taoist theory, anything with a 灵 can become immortal. So if you cultivate long enough, they can transcend the reincarnation cycle. So achieving eternal youth and freedom. And this was the quest and obsession of many, many a Chinese emperor. The character 仙 is made up of 人 person and 山 mountain. A person who retreats from the world to live in nature, mastering the 道 and living in harmony with all things. To become a true immortal, one must cultivate for hundreds or even thousands of years without harming or consuming humans. It's extremely difficult, but it's the highest spiritual goal for many beings. Before becoming immortal, one must pass the 天劫 heavenly trial. Most commonly, it's a 雷劫 lightning trial. If you survive being struck by divine lightning, it means you've succeeded. If not, game over, sorry. Quite a hardcore test. But since this is an official process, like we've learned, a very bureaucratic, right? Immortals can also be punished. So many stories describe immortals or gods being demoted for breaking rules and sent to live among human beings. For example, my favorite poet 李白 was called a 折仙 banished immortal because he was believed to be too brilliant to be merely human. Now go check out our 李白 video if you haven't already. What if you fail the trial? Beings who are cultivating to become immortals but get struck due to desire, obsession, ego or fear fall into darkness. And that is what we call 走火入魔 literally the fire going the wrong way and you becoming a demon. In Western terms, Lucifer is a perfect example, a once radiant being who fell from grace. 魔 doesn't just mean evil. It represents any force that resists or corrupts the righteous path. That's why we say 心魔 and it's that voice in your head whispering doubt or temptation whenever you're about to level up. Even today, we use 走火入魔 in daily life to describe someone who's lost control in their pursuit, like money, power, fame, or even love. 佛 or Buddha represents someone who has achieved supreme wisdom and enlightenment. And unlike 仙 who cultivates through Taoist discipline and attachment, 佛 follows Buddhist principles seeking truth through introspection and compassion. A 佛 draws power from inner awakening, not external rituals. You don't pray to a Buddha the way you ask a 神 for help. Instead, 佛 encourages you to find your own truth. But in real life, many Taiwanese temples mix both 佛 and 神, a sign of how deeply intertwined Buddhism and Taoism is here in Taiwan. 佛 often have immense spiritual power, sometimes even greater than Taoist deities. They can subdue demons with a single 佛印, Buddha seal. But when compared to the 上古大神, the ancient primordial gods, even Buddhas must bow in respect. Everything we discussed so far, from spirits to gods to demons, starts from a button and works upward. But 上古大神 are different. They were never human and they didn't need to cultivate their way up. They were born of the universe itself. They represent primordial forces often tied to creation myths. Eastern gods, 神, are often moral guides upholding cosmic order and balance. While these 上古大神 often represent chaotic natural power. Famous 上古大神 include 盤古, he split the sky and earth. 女媧, who molded humans from clay and repaired the sky. We've actually made or are making a video on the creation story if you are interested and we will link it in the comments or over here somewhere. After creating the world, they didn't interfere much but someone still has to government. So they chose one being among billions of cultivators. 玉皇大帝, the Jade Emperor. He became the ruler of heaven and established a celestial bureaucracy. All the gods you pray to today, well, they were appointed by him. That's why when entering any temple in Taiwan, the first thing you do is look up and bow towards the sky to show respect to the Jade Emperor before speaking to any lesser gods inside. Well, okay, I know that was a lot but at the heart of it is in the world of Chinese mythology and Taoist philosophy, your origin doesn't define you. Your choices do. You can become immortal or even a Buddha if you walk the righteous path. 妖 can be 仙, 人 can fall into 魔, 神 can be corrupted and 魔 can be turn their heart and become a fool. This is the beauty and compassion of Chinese mythology. Your birth is not your destiny but your choices are. Now, if you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our channel. It really does help us and go download Scritter today. You will be able to learn all of the gods and Buddhas and demons that we covered in today's video. So go download Scritter, hit that subscribe button and we will see you next time. We hope you enjoyed the video. Bye.