Deities Gods in Chinese / Japanese...

shén míng

jin myou

신명

In Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja, this title refers to deities or gods (can be singular or plural form). Depending on context, it could also mean "divine."

Specifically in Japanese, this can refer to Amaterasu (as an enshrined deity).

In some Buddhist context, this also means deity but can also refer to "intelligence" (as in all-knowing).

ē xiū luó

ashura

아수라

This demon title comes from the ancient Sanskrit word Asura.

阿修羅 is often used in Buddhism when describing various demons. Sometimes defined as "Fighting and battling giant demon."

In the context of Buddhism: This title originally meant a spirit, spirits, or even the gods (perhaps before 1700 years ago). It now generally indicates titanic demons, enemies of the gods, with whom, especially Indra, they wage constant war. They are defined as "not devas," and "ugly," and "without wine." There are four classes of asuras, separated according to their manner of rebirth. They can be egg-born, womb-born, transformation-born, and spawn- or water-born. Their abode is in the ocean, north of Sumeru but certain of the weaker dwell in a western mountain cave. They have realms, rulers, and palaces, as have the devas.

In terms of power, Asuras rank above humans but below most of the other deities. They live in the area near the coastal foot of Mount Sumeru (on the northern side). Their domain is partially or wholly in the ocean.