Shangdi (Chinese: 上帝; pinyin: Shàngdì; Wade–Giles: Shang4 Ti4), also called simply Di (Chinese: 帝; pinyin: Dì; lit. 'Lord'), is the main god in both the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
Etymology[]
Shangdi is made of the words Shang (上) that means "First" or "Primordial", meanwhile the word Di (帝) is the short version of the word huangdi (皇帝).
Mythology[]
Dynasty religion[]
The cult of Shangdi existed since the dynasty before the Xia dynasty, however Shangdi´s cult will not extend to the Shang dynasty, where he was seen as a god on how he gave the victory over the battle.
For the Zhou dynasty Shangdi was identified as the heaven, The Duke of Zhou justified his clan's usurpation for being an order of Shangdi.
During the early Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan glossed: "Shangdi is another name for Heaven". Dong Zhongshu said: "Heaven is the ultimate authority, the king of gods who should be admired by the king". Progressively the word "Di" was associated with the Yellow Emperor. (Huangdi), the Flame Emperor (Yandi) and various other figures.
Late Shangdi was known by the name "Heavenly Ruling Highest Deity" (皇天上帝, Huángtiān Shàngdì) and used for the Taoist Jade Emperor.
Rituals[]
Since the Xia Dynasty, sacrifices to Shangdi, specifically animal sacrifices, were very common. These were performed in the "Temple of Heaven."
Conflation with singular universal God[]
When the Jesuits came to China, Shangdi became the Chinese name for Yahweh.
Popular Culture[]
Video Games[]
- In the video game, The Alchemist Code, there exists a female character called Shangdi.