The Celestial Heavens Above

All things have their proper place from the most noble Emperor and dragon to the least peasant and ant. As it is on Earth so too in Heaven and Hell; the Jade Emperor sits at the pinnacle of the divine hierarchy and so on down the celestial order to the least spirit of land and hearth. These are the benevolent gods whose favour brings prosperity and harmony.

There are a bewildering array of gods, from those of a location such as lake or city or crossroads to those of function such as plough or rain. Each has its place and purpose beneath Heaven, however. Though it is not wholly within mortal comprehension each is assigned a rank within one of the many departments in the Celestial Bureaucracy. Every god, except for the Pure August Jade Emperor, has at least one supervisor to whom they must report and for many there are a myriad to which to report and junior deities to supervise.

It is the job of the Imperial Priesthood to navigate this complex web of ministries, responsibilities and ranks to see that each petitioners if guided to pray to the appropriate god. As with earthly bureaucracy not every member of the Celestial Bureaucracy is beyond bribery; the most successful of priests often supplement official prayers with unofficial supplementary gifts or oaths.

There are few trustworthy reports of what Heaven is like. While every life ends with a trip to Hell, and many are the reasons from the living and dead who return from there, very few visit Heaven and even fewer who are permitted entry leave such a splendid place. It is said that Heaven is an enormous palace larger than the Imperial Capital, filled with cooling fountains and wide boulevards through beautiful gardens. At the centre of the palace, upon a throne that appears to have been carved from a moutain sits the August Personage in Jade surrounded by his wondrous court as they guide the universe into true harmony.

Radiating from the throne are the immense buildings that house the great Ministries of the Celestial Bureaucracy. Paperwork flows through them ceaselessly so that every squall is planned and every raindrop meticulously accounted for. It is within these departments that the few righteous souls that were once mortal and are now gods are to be found.

At every gateway and entrance to Heaven is set at least one pair of the fearsome Guardian Lions. Each is a warrior divinity in its own right and only the most powerful of magics may shield from their sleepless ceaseless gaze. It is said that they can smell deceit and that any attempt to forge a Writ of Passage, the only legitimate way past them, is to invite a bloody throat. Legends also say that for all their power they are none too bright, and a few stories tell of how they have been tricked with half-truths or simply bribed.

Heaven is interested in the welfare of human beings. For this reason the Jade Emperor has established governors and rulers who assume the responsibility for the welfare of their people. Heaven mandates that certain people be in charge; while they rule justly, fairly, and wisely Heaven blesses their rule. If a dynasty or ruler ceases to rule justly or wisely and begins to rule only with its own self-interests at heart, then Heaven removes the mandate from that ruler and passes it on to another family, who are then required to revolt and overthrow the dynasty. How does one know if the Mandate has passed to another dynasty? It is made evident by the fortunes of war.

Now this Mandate is not equivalent to fate or destiny, it is more of an imperative. Humans are free to rule unjustly, they are free to harm the people they rule over; their rule, however, will come to a swift end as Heaven passes on its mandate to another family. Similarly it is not some innate inferiority that renders those who live outside Ch'in less civilised and less content. Since there is only one Heaven, there can be only one supreme ruler upon the Earth. It follows, therefore, that because the Emperor is the blessed of Heaven that all other rulers are his tributaries. Those who do not realise this simple truth will not enjoy the same degree of favour from Heaven and can never be as prosper as do those loyal to the Emperor.

There is a cycle to history: that which is whole flies apart, that which is separated seeks to be rejoined. Chi'in has a long history, periods in which the state is unified in peace and prosperity under a great dynasty punctuated by periods in which the dynasty fails and the state dissolves into factions and the evils of civil war before the Middle Kingdom is reborn under new and more harmonious rule.

When a great dynasty fails the Jade Emperor turns his face away from the lands below and Heaven is closed. Prayers go unheard and the Silver Bridge is sealed. For if the Jade Emperor were to witness even one tenth of the unrighteous deeds performed in the wars of sister against sister and father against son, or hear one hundredth of the prayers of the suffering common folk, then surely fire would fall from the heavens instead of rain and the rivers flow with acid while the earth shook in anger and shame.