Shangdi

 ( Chinese Gods ) 

Modern researches have paid attention to the adoption of Shang religious practices by the Zhou dynasty, and particularly, the continued worship of Shangdi through altered forms. Modern explanations are based on the parallel between Shang and Zhou adoptions. Historically, the regency of the Duke of Zhou sought to re-stabilize the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou court modeled their adoption after the Shang, whose imports of local cults as well as official worship of tribal deities played an important role in maintaining kingly sovereignty of the monarchs over subjugated polities. According to Ruth H. Chang, continuation of Shang religion also provided opportunities to further share changing religious activities the newly conquered Shang people. The Zhou dynasty aimed to make an impression that the term "Di" was native to them. These actions were perceived by Chang as a Zhou attempt at a similar cult adoption for the purpose of uniting Shang and Zhou under one political entity.

There were other reasons behind the Duke of Zhou's attempt in merging Di with the concept of Tian. Evidence from oracle bone inscriptions show that the Shang believed in Shangdi's blessings for the king, which some scholars interpreted as a belief in the ruler's granted authority by the gods. This belief was resonant with the theory of Tian, in that the monarch received divine authority to rule. Obedience of the Shang people was likely to be ensured by implementing a Zhou concept in which the Shang found similarities with their native beliefs.

The connection of many rituals with the Shang clan meant that Shang nobles continued to rule several locations (despite their rebellions) and to serve as court advisors and priests. The Duke of Zhou even created an Luoyang along strict cosmological principles to house the Shang aristocracy and the nine tripods representing Huaxia sovereignty; the Shang were then charged with maintaining the Rites of Zhou. Likewise, the Shang's lesser houses, the shi knightly class, developed directly into the learned Confucian gentry and scholars who advised the Zhou rulers on courtly etiquette and ceremony."Chinese Philosophy". China Renmin Univ., 2006. The Five Classics carried on and ordered the earlier traditions, including the worship of Shangdi. All of them include references:

The Four Books mention Shangdi as well but, as it is a later compilation, the references are much more sparse and abstract. Shangdi appears most commonly in earlier works: this pattern may reflect increasing rationalization of Shangdi over time, the shift from a known and arbitrary tribal god to a more abstract and philosophical concept, or his conflation and absorption by other deities.

As early as the Western Zhou period, Di had become fully synonymous with Tian, as the two words were used interchangeably in various bronze inscriptions. One such situation appears in bronze castings during King Li of Zhou's reign (9th century BC),

• pointing out the prevalence of equating both words with each other.

In later eras, he was commonly known by the name "Heavenly Ruling Highest Deity" (皇天上帝, Huángtiān Shàngdì) and, in this usage, he is especially conflated with the Taoist Jade Emperor.

According to some prominent scholars, including Guo Moruo, Shangdi was originally identical to Emperor Ku (or Kui) or Diku (" Divus Ku"), the progenitor (first ancestor) of the Zi (子) lineage, the founders of the Shang dynasty, attested in the Shiji and other texts. According to this interpretation, this identification had profound political implications, because it meant that the earthly Shang kings were themselves by birth aspects of divinity.

.]]Further evidence from Shang sources suggests that there wasn't a complete identification between the two, as Di controls spirits of nature, while Kui does not; Di is frequently pictured sending down "approvals", while Kui is never so pictured; and Kui received cult, while Di did not. Moreover, Kui is frequently appealed in "horizontal" relationship with other powers, undermining any portrait of him as the apex of the pantheon.

Interpretations of Shang oracle bones yield the possibility of Di being equated with Shang Jia, the utmost and supreme being of the "Six Spirits" who were predynastic Shang male ancestors. The bone graph for Shang Jia consists of a square encompassing a cross. Since the cross shape is understood to be "Jia", the square is therefore "Shang", indicating it to be the ancestral square that constitute Di's central core.

He illustrates how the Shang oracular script for Di can be projected on the north pole template of the ancient sky in such a way that its extremity points correspond with the visible star, while the intersection of the linear axes at the centre will map to the vacant celestial pole. Pankenier argues that the supreme Di was identified with the celestial pole, an idea familiar in later stages of Chinese religion, linking with the Tàiyī 太一 ("Great One") fully documented as early as the 4th century BC.

The interpretation of Shangdi as the celestial pole, Taiyi and as Ku the progenitor of the Shang is not contradictory. Feng Shi argues that Ku and Di are indeed identical. The Shang probably deliberately identified their ancestor with a universal god recognized in different regions and local cultures in order to legitimize their power.

Many inscriptions found on Shang bones and bronze indicate that Di's multiplicity could be further understood by interpreting the "Shang" in "Shangdi". Scholars argue that the "Shang" component illustrated the inequivalence between Di and Shangdi. Shangdi, according to them, was only a part of Di in the mind of the Shang people, and that there was presence of Shangdi's counterpart. Interpreting versions of the character "Di" in Shang texts, Didier found out that versions with two horizontal lines above the graph denoted "Shangdi", while those possessing three lines would connote a broader meaning of " Shangxiadi" (上下帝). This connotation appearing in Shang inscriptions reveal the multiplicity in which the deity was divided into superior ( shang) and lesser ranks ( xia). They argued that the adopted spirits which constitute Di's unfavorable actions to them living realm would, possibly, be housed in the lesser rank, or "Xiadi" (下帝), while the "friendly" ancestral spirits would compose the "Shangdi" as a counterpart.

During the Shang, it is observed that Di did not receive a direct cult. Instead, his consular spirits would manifest in the human world to be offered sacrifices. The Shang often identified these spirits as Di and sometimes performed a "Di-sacrifice" to them, illustrating intimate connections of the recipients with the being.

Under Shangdi or his later names, the deity received sacrifices from the ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty annually at a great Temple of Heaven in the imperial capital. Following the principles of fengshui, this would always be located in the southern quarter of the city. During the ritual, a completely healthy bull would be slaughtered and presented as an animal sacrifice to Shangdi. The Book of Rites states the sacrifice should occur on the "summer solstice" on a round-mound altar. The altar would have three tiers: the highest for Shangdi and the Son of Heaven; the second-highest for the sun and moon; and the lowest for the natural gods such as the stars, clouds, rain, wind, and thunder.

It is important to note that Shangdi is never represented with either images or idols. Instead, in the central building of the Temple of Heaven, in a structure called the "Imperial Vault of Heaven", a "spirit tablet" (神位, shénwèi) inscribed with the name of Shangdi is stored on the throne, Huangtian Shangdi (皇天上帝). During an annual sacrifice, the emperor would carry these tablets to the north part of the Temple of Heaven, a place called the "Prayer Hall for Good Harvests", and place them on that throne.

While initially he utilized the term Tianzhu (, lit. "The Lord of Heaven"), Ricci gradually changed the translation to "Shangdi" instead.“上帝給人雙目、雙耳、雙手、雙足，欲兩友相助，方爲事有成矣。”《交友論》,1595“上帝者，生物原始，宰物本主也。”《二十五言》,1599 His usage of Shangdi was contested by Confucians, as they believed that the concept of Tian and "Shangdi" is different from that of Christianity's God: Zhōng Shǐ-shēng, through his books,天学初征天学再征 stated that Shangdi only governs, while Christianity's God is a creator, and thus they differ.程小娟：《God的汉译史——争论、接受与启示》，Social Sciences Literature Press，2013年 Ricci's translation also invited the displeasure of Dominican Order and that of the Roman Curia: on March 19, 1715, Pope Clement XI released the Edict Ex Illa Die, stating that Catholics must use "Tianzhu" instead of "Shangdi" for Christianity's God.

When Protestantism entered China in the middle of the 19th century, the Protestant missionaries also encountered a similar issue: some preferred the term "Shangdi", while some preferred the term Shen ("god"). A conference held in 1877 in Shanghai, discussing the translation issue, also believed that "Shangdi" of Confucianism and the Christian concept of God are different in nature.艾約瑟譯《各省教師集議記略》，載李天綱編校《萬國公報文選》，北京：生活·讀書·新知三聯書店，1998年，第22頁。

However, by the 20th century, most British missionaries, some Catholics, Chinese Orthodox Christians, and Evangelicals preferred "Shangdi" as a connection with Chinese native monotheism,James Legge, The Religions of China, Hodder and Stoughton, 1880, p24-25: "'He sacrificed specifically, but with the ordinary forms, to ShangTi' -that is, we have seen, to God." with some furthering the argument by linking it with the unknown god as described in the Christian Bible.