Sin you
Alternative Names (異名):
Sin_you, Hiai Chai, Chiai Tung, Kai Tsi, Kai-tsi(Japanese)
The Sin-you, (or Kai-tsi in Japanese) is a mythical Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is often compared to a Qilin.
The appearance of the Sin-you is similar to that of a Qilin, but more feral and imposing. It is a large quadruped with a feline body, a shaggy mane, and is either depicted with hooves or feline paws (the latter often to stress its difference from the Qilin). In has a single, unbranching horn in the center of its head, like a western unicorn. The Sin-you’s eyes are said to be very intense and imposing, figuratively burning into whomever it gazes at in a predatory fashion.
The Sin-you is highly symbolic of justice, and is believed to have the power to know if a person is lying or know if they are guilty with a glance. It sometimes depicted at court beside the the ruler or judge: if a person told a falsehood in its presence, it would leap forward and impale the perjurer though the heart with its horn. In other instances, the judge would put convicted murderers before the Sin-you, who would slay them in the same fashion if they were truly the perpetrator, but leave the innocent unharmed.
There has been some cryptozoological theories about the origins of this creature. It has been suggested that a mutation may have occurred among a rare species of predatory feline (such as the North China Leopard) which caused the growth of a bony protrusion from the skull. Among such a small gene pool, it is possible that such a mutation was propagated for a period of time, making it appear as a new species of horned felines.
See also
Qilin
Links
http://64.207.147.134/monsters/hyrbid/index.php?detail=article&idarticle=113
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-you
Chinese mythology | Chinese legendary creatures | Japanese legendary creatures | Legendary mammals
Shun (舜)
Shun (舜)
Alternative Names (異名):
舜, Shun
Shun (traditional Chinese: 舜) was a legendary 23rd-22nd century BC leader of ancient China, among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, whose half-century of rule was one of the longest in Chinese history. According to Mencius, Shun is a Dongyi.
Born Yao Chonghua (姚重華), he was also known as Youyu-shi (有虞氏), the Great Shun (大舜) or Yu Shun (虞舜). He received the mantle of leadership from Emperor Yao at the age of 53 and died at 100, after relinquishing the seat of power to Yu, who founded the legendary Xia Dynasty. Shun's capital was at Puban (蒲阪) (presently in Shanxi).
In later centuries, Yao and Shun were glorified for their virtue by Confucian philosophers. Shun was particularly renowned for his modesty and filial piety (xiao 孝).
The name of Shun's mother was Wudeng(握登), and his birthplace was Yaoxu (姚墟). Legend has it that he was treated with hostility and jealousy by his parents and younger brother, yet he remained loving, resentment-free towards them.
Emperor Yao chose Shun as his successor and put him on the throne in the year of Jiwei (己未). Yao's capital was in Ji (冀) which, presently, is also in Shanxi province.
Shun is also renowned as the originator of the music called Daoshao (大韶), a symphony of nine Chinese music instruments.
Events of Shun's regime
In the 3rd year of his regime, he ordered Jiutao (咎陶) to establish penalties to deal with various criminals.
In the 9th year of his regime, the West Queen came to worship in China and brought white jade rings and Jue (玦) as gifts.
In the 14th year of his regime, Yu of Xia was appointed to manage disasters caused by floods and winds.
In the 15th year of his regime, he appointed Houshi (后氏) to build the palace.
In February of the 17th year, dancing was first taught at schools.
In the 25th year of his regime, envoy of the Xishen (息慎) tribe came and, as gifts, brought the bow and arrow.
In the 29th year, he ordered Ziyi (子义) to serve as duke in Shang.
In the 30th year of his regime, his wife Mang (盲) died and was honored with a tomb built for her at Wei (渭).
In the 32nd year of his regime, he transferred military power to Yu of Xia.
In January of the 33rd year of his regime, he rewarded Yu of Xia for his achievement in managing the floods, in the aftermath of which, nine provinces were re-established in China.
In the 35th year of his regime, he ordered Yu of Xia to send troops to Youmiao (有苗). After Yu achieved victory, Youmiao sent an envoy with a request to join China.
In the 42nd year of his regime, the Xuandu (玄都) people came to worship him and brought precious jade as gifts.
The winter of the 47th year of his regime was very warm and the grass did not die.
In the 49th year of his regime, he moved to Mintiao (鸣条), a place later called Haizhou (海州) during the Warring States Period.
His death came the following year, after a rule described as having lasted fifty years.
See also
Pangu (盤古)
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Youchao (有巢)
Nüwa (女媧)
Suiren (燧人)
Fu Xi (伏羲) 2800 BC – 2737 BC
Shennong (神農) 2737 BC – 2698 BC
Huangdi (黄帝, Yellow Emperor) 2697 BC – 2598 BC
Shaohao (少昊) 2597 BC – 2514 BC
Zhuanxu (顓頊) 2514 BC – 2436 BC
Kù (帝嚳) 2436 BC – 2366 BC
Yao (堯) 2358 BC – 2258 BC
Shun (舜) 2255 BC – 2195 BC
Xia Dynasty of China
Yu (禹) 2194 BC – 2149 BC
Qi (启) 2146 BC – 2117 BC
Tai Kang (太康) 2117 BC – 2088 BC
Zhong Kang (仲康) 2088 BC – 2075 BC
Xiang (相) 2075 BC – 2008 BC
Shao Kang (少康) 2007 BC – 1985 BC
Zhu (杼) 1985 BC – 1968 BC
Huai (槐) 1968 BC – 1924 BC
Máng (芒) 1924 BC – 1906 BC
Xie (泄) 1906 BC – 1890 BC
Bu Jiang (不降) 1890 BC – 1831 BC
Jiong (扃) 1831 BC – 1810 BC
Jin (廑) 1810 BC – 1789 BC
Kong Jia (孔甲) 1789 BC – 1758 BC
Gao (皋) 1758 BC – 1747 BC
Fa (后敬) 1747 BC – 1728 BC
Jie (桀) 1728 BC – 1675 BC
Links
http://www.threekingdoms.com/history.htm#2_3_2
Chinese mythology | Chinese emperors
Alternative Names (異名):
舜, Shun
Shun (traditional Chinese: 舜) was a legendary 23rd-22nd century BC leader of ancient China, among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, whose half-century of rule was one of the longest in Chinese history. According to Mencius, Shun is a Dongyi.
Born Yao Chonghua (姚重華), he was also known as Youyu-shi (有虞氏), the Great Shun (大舜) or Yu Shun (虞舜). He received the mantle of leadership from Emperor Yao at the age of 53 and died at 100, after relinquishing the seat of power to Yu, who founded the legendary Xia Dynasty. Shun's capital was at Puban (蒲阪) (presently in Shanxi).
In later centuries, Yao and Shun were glorified for their virtue by Confucian philosophers. Shun was particularly renowned for his modesty and filial piety (xiao 孝).
The name of Shun's mother was Wudeng(握登), and his birthplace was Yaoxu (姚墟). Legend has it that he was treated with hostility and jealousy by his parents and younger brother, yet he remained loving, resentment-free towards them.
Emperor Yao chose Shun as his successor and put him on the throne in the year of Jiwei (己未). Yao's capital was in Ji (冀) which, presently, is also in Shanxi province.
Shun is also renowned as the originator of the music called Daoshao (大韶), a symphony of nine Chinese music instruments.
Events of Shun's regime
In the 3rd year of his regime, he ordered Jiutao (咎陶) to establish penalties to deal with various criminals.
In the 9th year of his regime, the West Queen came to worship in China and brought white jade rings and Jue (玦) as gifts.
In the 14th year of his regime, Yu of Xia was appointed to manage disasters caused by floods and winds.
In the 15th year of his regime, he appointed Houshi (后氏) to build the palace.
In February of the 17th year, dancing was first taught at schools.
In the 25th year of his regime, envoy of the Xishen (息慎) tribe came and, as gifts, brought the bow and arrow.
In the 29th year, he ordered Ziyi (子义) to serve as duke in Shang.
In the 30th year of his regime, his wife Mang (盲) died and was honored with a tomb built for her at Wei (渭).
In the 32nd year of his regime, he transferred military power to Yu of Xia.
In January of the 33rd year of his regime, he rewarded Yu of Xia for his achievement in managing the floods, in the aftermath of which, nine provinces were re-established in China.
In the 35th year of his regime, he ordered Yu of Xia to send troops to Youmiao (有苗). After Yu achieved victory, Youmiao sent an envoy with a request to join China.
In the 42nd year of his regime, the Xuandu (玄都) people came to worship him and brought precious jade as gifts.
The winter of the 47th year of his regime was very warm and the grass did not die.
In the 49th year of his regime, he moved to Mintiao (鸣条), a place later called Haizhou (海州) during the Warring States Period.
His death came the following year, after a rule described as having lasted fifty years.
See also
Pangu (盤古)
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Youchao (有巢)
Nüwa (女媧)
Suiren (燧人)
Fu Xi (伏羲) 2800 BC – 2737 BC
Shennong (神農) 2737 BC – 2698 BC
Huangdi (黄帝, Yellow Emperor) 2697 BC – 2598 BC
Shaohao (少昊) 2597 BC – 2514 BC
Zhuanxu (顓頊) 2514 BC – 2436 BC
Kù (帝嚳) 2436 BC – 2366 BC
Yao (堯) 2358 BC – 2258 BC
Shun (舜) 2255 BC – 2195 BC
Xia Dynasty of China
Yu (禹) 2194 BC – 2149 BC
Qi (启) 2146 BC – 2117 BC
Tai Kang (太康) 2117 BC – 2088 BC
Zhong Kang (仲康) 2088 BC – 2075 BC
Xiang (相) 2075 BC – 2008 BC
Shao Kang (少康) 2007 BC – 1985 BC
Zhu (杼) 1985 BC – 1968 BC
Huai (槐) 1968 BC – 1924 BC
Máng (芒) 1924 BC – 1906 BC
Xie (泄) 1906 BC – 1890 BC
Bu Jiang (不降) 1890 BC – 1831 BC
Jiong (扃) 1831 BC – 1810 BC
Jin (廑) 1810 BC – 1789 BC
Kong Jia (孔甲) 1789 BC – 1758 BC
Gao (皋) 1758 BC – 1747 BC
Fa (后敬) 1747 BC – 1728 BC
Jie (桀) 1728 BC – 1675 BC
Links
http://www.threekingdoms.com/history.htm#2_3_2
Chinese mythology | Chinese emperors
Shen (神)
Shen (神)
Alternative Names (異名):
神(Chinese), shén(pinyin), Shen, 신(Hangul), かみ(Hiragana), しん, spirit(literally), god, deity
Shen (Chinese: 神; pinyin: shén; Wade-Giles: shen; literally "spirit; god") is a keyword in Chinese philosophy, Chinese religion, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Semantics
Shen 神's polysemous meanings developed diachronically over three millennia. The Hanyu dazidian, an authoritative historical dictionary, distinguishes one meaning for shēn 神 "Name of a deity (神名)" and eleven meanings for shén 神, translated below.
1. Celestial gods/spirits of stories/legends, namely, the creator of the myriad things in heaven and earth and the supreme being. (传说中的天神,即天地万物的创造者和主宰者.)
2. Spirit; mind, mental faculties; consciousness. Like: concentrated attention; tire the mind; concentrate one's energy and attention. (精神.如: 凝神; 劳神; 聚精会神.)
3. Expression, demeanor; consciousness, state of mind. (表情; 神志.)
4. Portrait, portraiture. (肖像.)
5. Magical, supernatural, miraculous; mysterious, abstruse. Like: ability to divine the unknown, amazing foresight; highly skilled doctor; genius, masterpiece. (神奇; 玄妙. 如: 神机妙算; 神医; 神品.)
6. Esteem, respect; valuable, precious. (尊重; 珍贵.)
7. Rule, govern, administer. (治理.)
8. Cautious, careful, circumspect. (谨慎.)
9. Display, arrange, exhibit. (陈列.)
10. Dialect. 1. Dignity, distinction. (威风.) 2. Entrancement, ecstasy. (入神.) 3. Clever, intelligent. (聪明.)
11. Surname, family name. (姓.)
This dictionary entry for shen lists early usage examples, and many of these 11 meanings were well attested prior to the Han Dynasty. Chinese classic texts use shen in meanings 1 "spirit; god", 2 "spirit, mind; attention", 3 "expression; state of mind", 5 "supernatural", and meaning 6 "esteem". The earliest examples of meaning 4 "portrait" are in Song Dynasty texts. Meanings 7-9 first occur in early Chinese dictionaries; the Erya defines shen in meanings 7 "govern" and 8 "cautious" (and 6, which is attested elsewhere), and the Guangya defines meaning 9 "display". Meaning 10 gives three usages in Chinese dialects (technically "topolects", see Fangyan). Meaning 11 "a surname" is exemplified in Shennong ("Divine Farmer"), the culture hero and inventor of agriculture in Chinese mythology.
The Chinese language has many compounds of shen. For instance, it is compounded with tian 天 "sky; heaven; nature; god" in tianshen 天神 "celestial spirits; heavenly gods; deities; (Buddhism) deva", with shan 山 "mountain" in shanshen 山神 "mountain spirit", and hua 話 "speech; talk; saying; story" in shenhua 神話 "mythology; myth; fairy tale". Several shen "spirit; god" compounds use names for other supernatural beings, for example, ling 靈 "spirit; soul" in shenling 神靈 "gods; spirits, various deities", qi 祇 "earth spirit" in shenqi 神祇 "celestial and terrestrial spirits", xian 仙 "Xian (Daoist immortal), transcendent" in shenxian 神仙 "spirits and immortals; divine immortal", guai 怪 "spirit; devil; monster" in shenguai 神怪 "spirits and demons; gods and spirits", and gui 鬼 "ghost, goblin; demon, devil" in guishen 鬼神 "ghosts and spirits; supernatural beings".
Wing-Tsit Chan distinguishes four philosophical meanings of this guishen: "spiritual beings", "ancestors", "gods and demons", and "positive and negative spiritual forces".
In ancient times shen usually refers to heavenly beings while kuei refers to spirits of deceased human beings. In later-day sacrifices, kuei-shen together refers to ancestors. In popular religions shen means gods (who are good) and demons (who are not always good). In Neo-Confucianism kuai-shen may refer to all these three categories but more often than not the term refers to the activity of the material force (ch'i). Chang Tsai's dictum, "The negative spirit (kuei) and positive spirit (shen) are the spontaneous activity of the two material forces (yin and yang)," has become the generally accepted definition. (1963:790)
The primary meaning of shen is translatable as English "spirit, spirits, Spirit, spiritual beings; celestial spirits; ancestral spirits" or "god, gods, God; deity, deities, supernatural beings", etc. Shen is sometimes loosely translated as "soul", but Chinese distinguishes hun 魂 "spiritual soul" and po 魄 "physical soul". Instead of struggling to translate shen 神, it can be transliterated as a loanword. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.) defines shen, "In Chinese philosophy: a god, person of supernatural power, or the spirit of a dead person."
Shen plays a central role in Christian translational disputes over Chinese terms for God. Among the early Chinese "god; God" names, shangdi 上帝 or di was the Shang term, tian 天 was the Zhou term, and shen was a later usage (see Feng Yu-Lan 1952:22-26, 30-31). Modern terms for "God" include shangdi, zhu 主, tianzhu 天主 (esp. Catholics), and shen 神 (esp. Protestants).
Graphics
The character 神 for shen exemplifies the most common class in Chinese character classification: xíngshēngzì 形声字 "pictophonetic compounds, semantic-phonetic compounds", which combine a radical (or classifier) that roughly indicates meaning and a phonetic that roughly indicates pronunciation. In this case, 神 combines the "altar/worship radical" 礻or 示 and a phonetic of shēn 申 "9th Earthly Branch; extend, stretch; prolong, repeat". Compare this phonetic element differentiated with the "person radical" in shen 伸 "stretch", the "silk radical" in shen 紳 "official's sash", the "mouth radical" in shen 呻 "chant, drone", the "stone radical" in shen 砷 "arsenic", the "earth radical" in kun 坤 "soil", and the "big radical" in yan 奄 "cover". (See the List of Kangxi radicals.)
Chinese shen 申 "extend" was anciently a phonetic loan character for shen 神 "spirit". The Mawangdui Silk Texts include two copies of the Dao De Jing and the "A Text" writes shen interchangeably as 申and 神: "If one oversees all under heaven in accord with the Way, demons have no spirit. It is not that the demons have no spirit, but that their spirits do not harm people." (chap. 60, tr. Mair 1990:30). The Shuowen Jiezi defines shen 申 as shen 神 and says that in the 7th lunar month when yin forces increase, bodies shenshu 申束 "bind up".
The earliest written forms of shen 神 "spirit; god" occur in Zhou Dynasty Bronzeware script and Qin Dynasty Seal script characters (compare the variants shown on the Chinese Etymology link below). Although 神 has not been identified in Shang Dynasty Oracle bone script records, the phonetic shen 申 has. Paleographers interpret the Oracle script of 申 as a pictograph of a "lightning bolt". This was graphically differentiated between dian 電 "lightening; electricity" with the "cloud radical" and shen 神 with the "worship radical", semantically suggesting both "lightning" and "spirits" coming down from the heavens.
Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Religion in China
Alternative Names (異名):
神(Chinese), shén(pinyin), Shen, 신(Hangul), かみ(Hiragana), しん, spirit(literally), god, deity
Shen (Chinese: 神; pinyin: shén; Wade-Giles: shen; literally "spirit; god") is a keyword in Chinese philosophy, Chinese religion, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Semantics
Shen 神's polysemous meanings developed diachronically over three millennia. The Hanyu dazidian, an authoritative historical dictionary, distinguishes one meaning for shēn 神 "Name of a deity (神名)" and eleven meanings for shén 神, translated below.
1. Celestial gods/spirits of stories/legends, namely, the creator of the myriad things in heaven and earth and the supreme being. (传说中的天神,即天地万物的创造者和主宰者.)
2. Spirit; mind, mental faculties; consciousness. Like: concentrated attention; tire the mind; concentrate one's energy and attention. (精神.如: 凝神; 劳神; 聚精会神.)
3. Expression, demeanor; consciousness, state of mind. (表情; 神志.)
4. Portrait, portraiture. (肖像.)
5. Magical, supernatural, miraculous; mysterious, abstruse. Like: ability to divine the unknown, amazing foresight; highly skilled doctor; genius, masterpiece. (神奇; 玄妙. 如: 神机妙算; 神医; 神品.)
6. Esteem, respect; valuable, precious. (尊重; 珍贵.)
7. Rule, govern, administer. (治理.)
8. Cautious, careful, circumspect. (谨慎.)
9. Display, arrange, exhibit. (陈列.)
10. Dialect. 1. Dignity, distinction. (威风.) 2. Entrancement, ecstasy. (入神.) 3. Clever, intelligent. (聪明.)
11. Surname, family name. (姓.)
This dictionary entry for shen lists early usage examples, and many of these 11 meanings were well attested prior to the Han Dynasty. Chinese classic texts use shen in meanings 1 "spirit; god", 2 "spirit, mind; attention", 3 "expression; state of mind", 5 "supernatural", and meaning 6 "esteem". The earliest examples of meaning 4 "portrait" are in Song Dynasty texts. Meanings 7-9 first occur in early Chinese dictionaries; the Erya defines shen in meanings 7 "govern" and 8 "cautious" (and 6, which is attested elsewhere), and the Guangya defines meaning 9 "display". Meaning 10 gives three usages in Chinese dialects (technically "topolects", see Fangyan). Meaning 11 "a surname" is exemplified in Shennong ("Divine Farmer"), the culture hero and inventor of agriculture in Chinese mythology.
The Chinese language has many compounds of shen. For instance, it is compounded with tian 天 "sky; heaven; nature; god" in tianshen 天神 "celestial spirits; heavenly gods; deities; (Buddhism) deva", with shan 山 "mountain" in shanshen 山神 "mountain spirit", and hua 話 "speech; talk; saying; story" in shenhua 神話 "mythology; myth; fairy tale". Several shen "spirit; god" compounds use names for other supernatural beings, for example, ling 靈 "spirit; soul" in shenling 神靈 "gods; spirits, various deities", qi 祇 "earth spirit" in shenqi 神祇 "celestial and terrestrial spirits", xian 仙 "Xian (Daoist immortal), transcendent" in shenxian 神仙 "spirits and immortals; divine immortal", guai 怪 "spirit; devil; monster" in shenguai 神怪 "spirits and demons; gods and spirits", and gui 鬼 "ghost, goblin; demon, devil" in guishen 鬼神 "ghosts and spirits; supernatural beings".
Wing-Tsit Chan distinguishes four philosophical meanings of this guishen: "spiritual beings", "ancestors", "gods and demons", and "positive and negative spiritual forces".
In ancient times shen usually refers to heavenly beings while kuei refers to spirits of deceased human beings. In later-day sacrifices, kuei-shen together refers to ancestors. In popular religions shen means gods (who are good) and demons (who are not always good). In Neo-Confucianism kuai-shen may refer to all these three categories but more often than not the term refers to the activity of the material force (ch'i). Chang Tsai's dictum, "The negative spirit (kuei) and positive spirit (shen) are the spontaneous activity of the two material forces (yin and yang)," has become the generally accepted definition. (1963:790)
The primary meaning of shen is translatable as English "spirit, spirits, Spirit, spiritual beings; celestial spirits; ancestral spirits" or "god, gods, God; deity, deities, supernatural beings", etc. Shen is sometimes loosely translated as "soul", but Chinese distinguishes hun 魂 "spiritual soul" and po 魄 "physical soul". Instead of struggling to translate shen 神, it can be transliterated as a loanword. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.) defines shen, "In Chinese philosophy: a god, person of supernatural power, or the spirit of a dead person."
Shen plays a central role in Christian translational disputes over Chinese terms for God. Among the early Chinese "god; God" names, shangdi 上帝 or di was the Shang term, tian 天 was the Zhou term, and shen was a later usage (see Feng Yu-Lan 1952:22-26, 30-31). Modern terms for "God" include shangdi, zhu 主, tianzhu 天主 (esp. Catholics), and shen 神 (esp. Protestants).
Graphics
The character 神 for shen exemplifies the most common class in Chinese character classification: xíngshēngzì 形声字 "pictophonetic compounds, semantic-phonetic compounds", which combine a radical (or classifier) that roughly indicates meaning and a phonetic that roughly indicates pronunciation. In this case, 神 combines the "altar/worship radical" 礻or 示 and a phonetic of shēn 申 "9th Earthly Branch; extend, stretch; prolong, repeat". Compare this phonetic element differentiated with the "person radical" in shen 伸 "stretch", the "silk radical" in shen 紳 "official's sash", the "mouth radical" in shen 呻 "chant, drone", the "stone radical" in shen 砷 "arsenic", the "earth radical" in kun 坤 "soil", and the "big radical" in yan 奄 "cover". (See the List of Kangxi radicals.)
Chinese shen 申 "extend" was anciently a phonetic loan character for shen 神 "spirit". The Mawangdui Silk Texts include two copies of the Dao De Jing and the "A Text" writes shen interchangeably as 申and 神: "If one oversees all under heaven in accord with the Way, demons have no spirit. It is not that the demons have no spirit, but that their spirits do not harm people." (chap. 60, tr. Mair 1990:30). The Shuowen Jiezi defines shen 申 as shen 神 and says that in the 7th lunar month when yin forces increase, bodies shenshu 申束 "bind up".
The earliest written forms of shen 神 "spirit; god" occur in Zhou Dynasty Bronzeware script and Qin Dynasty Seal script characters (compare the variants shown on the Chinese Etymology link below). Although 神 has not been identified in Shang Dynasty Oracle bone script records, the phonetic shen 申 has. Paleographers interpret the Oracle script of 申 as a pictograph of a "lightning bolt". This was graphically differentiated between dian 電 "lightening; electricity" with the "cloud radical" and shen 神 with the "worship radical", semantically suggesting both "lightning" and "spirits" coming down from the heavens.
Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Religion in China
Sha Wujing (沙悟凈)
Sha Wujing (沙悟凈)
Alternative Names (異名):
沙悟凈(Chinese), Sha Wu-ching(Wade-Giles), Sha Wujing
Shā Wùjìng (Chinese: 沙悟凈; Wade-Giles: Sha Wu-ching) is one of the three helpers of Xuánzàng in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims. He is called Sandy in many English versions of the story. His name is translated into Japanese as Sa Gojō (sometimes Sa Gojyō, as jō is spelt in kana as ji-yo-u), into Sino-Vietnamese as Sa Ngộ Tịnh and into Thai as Sua Jeng.
Like Zhu Bajie, Wujing was originally a general in Heaven - - more specifically as a Curtain-Lifting General. Once, he became very furious and destroyed a valuable vase. Other sources mention that he did this unintentionally. Nevertheless, he was punished by the Jade Emperor, who had him struck 800 times with a rod and exiled to earth, where he was to be reincarnated as a terrible man-eating Sand Demon. There, he lived in the Liúshā-hé (流沙河, Lưu Sa Hà in Han-Vietnamese, "flowing-sand river", or "quicksand-river"). Every seven days a sword would be sent from heaven to stab him 100 times in the chest before flying off.
Wujing's appearance was rather grisly; he had a red beard and his head was partially bald; a necklace consisting of skulls made him even more terrible. He still carried the weapon he had in Heaven, a yuèyáchǎn, a double-headed staff with a crescent-moon (yuèyá) blade at one end and a spade (chǎn) at the other, with six xīzhàng rings in the shovel part to denote its religious association. There is an interesting story about the necklace of skulls. An earlier group of nine monks on a pilgrimage West to fetch the scriptures met their end at the hands of Wujing. Despite their pleas for mercy, he devoured them, sucked the marrow from their bones, and threw their skulls into the river. However, unlike his other victims whose bone sank to the river bottom, the skulls of the monks floated. This fascinated and delighted Wujing, who strung them on a rope and played with them whenever he was bored.
Later, Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, and her disciple Prince Moksa came searching for powerful bodyguards in preparation of Xuanzang's journey west. She recruited Wujing in exchange for some relief from his suffering. She then converted him and gave him his current name, Shā Wùjìng. His surname Shā ("sand") was taken from his river-home, while his Buddhist name Wùjìng means "awakened to purity" or "aware of purity". Finally, he was instructed to wait for a monk who would call for him. When Wujing does meet Xuanzang, he was mistaken for an enemy and attacked by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Guanyin was forced to intervene for the sake of the journey.
After everything was cleared up, Wujing became the third disciple of Xuanzang, who called him Shā-héshàng (the "sand priest"; a héshàng is a Buddhist monk or priest in change of a temple; in Japanese, oshō). Now, he was clad in a Buddhist pilgrim's robe and his skull-necklace was turned into a monk's one. His appearance also changed; from now on he looked more like a human, yet still ugly. During the Journey to the West, his swimming ability was quite useful. He always carried a small gourd which he could turn into a huge one to cross rivers. Wujing was actually a kind-hearted and obedient person and was very loyal to his master, among the three he was likely the most polite and the most logical. At the journey's end, Buddha transformed him into an arhat or luohan.
As the third disciple, even though his fighting skills are not as great as that of Wukong or Bajie, he is still a great warrior protecting Xuanzang and can use his intellect as well as his strength to beat the enemy. He does not know any transformations; he admits this during the middle of the book.
Sha Wujing in other media
Sha Wujing had a Mortal Kombat character who much like him is a drunkard and is obese (in most of the incarnations). The character's name is Bo' Rai Cho.
In Japan he was seen as a kappa, another fearsome kind of water demon.
In the manga/anime Saiyūki, Sha Gojyō is loosely based on Sha Wujing, with a modified version of the same weapon (albeit incorrectly called a shakujō, the Japanese name for the Chinese xīzhàng). However, Gojyō is described as being half human, half yōkai, instead of a man-eating river monster.
Mega Man: The Wily Wars had a character based on Sha Wujing named Mega Water.S in the unlockable "Wily Tower" game. Mega Water.S later made an appearance in the CD Database for Mega Man & Bass.
In the manga/anime Dragon Ball, the character Yamcha, the Desert Bandit, was originally based upon Sha Wujing.
In the novel American Gods, author Neil Gaiman makes mention of a "tall Chinese gentleman with a necklace of tiny skulls... shouldering a long staff with a moon-shaped blade at the end." This is likely Sha Wujing.
In Digimon, Shaujinmon is based on Sha Wujing.
Chinese mythology | Fictional monks | Characters in written fiction | Journey to the West
Alternative Names (異名):
沙悟凈(Chinese), Sha Wu-ching(Wade-Giles), Sha Wujing
Shā Wùjìng (Chinese: 沙悟凈; Wade-Giles: Sha Wu-ching) is one of the three helpers of Xuánzàng in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims. He is called Sandy in many English versions of the story. His name is translated into Japanese as Sa Gojō (sometimes Sa Gojyō, as jō is spelt in kana as ji-yo-u), into Sino-Vietnamese as Sa Ngộ Tịnh and into Thai as Sua Jeng.
Like Zhu Bajie, Wujing was originally a general in Heaven - - more specifically as a Curtain-Lifting General. Once, he became very furious and destroyed a valuable vase. Other sources mention that he did this unintentionally. Nevertheless, he was punished by the Jade Emperor, who had him struck 800 times with a rod and exiled to earth, where he was to be reincarnated as a terrible man-eating Sand Demon. There, he lived in the Liúshā-hé (流沙河, Lưu Sa Hà in Han-Vietnamese, "flowing-sand river", or "quicksand-river"). Every seven days a sword would be sent from heaven to stab him 100 times in the chest before flying off.
Wujing's appearance was rather grisly; he had a red beard and his head was partially bald; a necklace consisting of skulls made him even more terrible. He still carried the weapon he had in Heaven, a yuèyáchǎn, a double-headed staff with a crescent-moon (yuèyá) blade at one end and a spade (chǎn) at the other, with six xīzhàng rings in the shovel part to denote its religious association. There is an interesting story about the necklace of skulls. An earlier group of nine monks on a pilgrimage West to fetch the scriptures met their end at the hands of Wujing. Despite their pleas for mercy, he devoured them, sucked the marrow from their bones, and threw their skulls into the river. However, unlike his other victims whose bone sank to the river bottom, the skulls of the monks floated. This fascinated and delighted Wujing, who strung them on a rope and played with them whenever he was bored.
Later, Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, and her disciple Prince Moksa came searching for powerful bodyguards in preparation of Xuanzang's journey west. She recruited Wujing in exchange for some relief from his suffering. She then converted him and gave him his current name, Shā Wùjìng. His surname Shā ("sand") was taken from his river-home, while his Buddhist name Wùjìng means "awakened to purity" or "aware of purity". Finally, he was instructed to wait for a monk who would call for him. When Wujing does meet Xuanzang, he was mistaken for an enemy and attacked by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Guanyin was forced to intervene for the sake of the journey.
After everything was cleared up, Wujing became the third disciple of Xuanzang, who called him Shā-héshàng (the "sand priest"; a héshàng is a Buddhist monk or priest in change of a temple; in Japanese, oshō). Now, he was clad in a Buddhist pilgrim's robe and his skull-necklace was turned into a monk's one. His appearance also changed; from now on he looked more like a human, yet still ugly. During the Journey to the West, his swimming ability was quite useful. He always carried a small gourd which he could turn into a huge one to cross rivers. Wujing was actually a kind-hearted and obedient person and was very loyal to his master, among the three he was likely the most polite and the most logical. At the journey's end, Buddha transformed him into an arhat or luohan.
As the third disciple, even though his fighting skills are not as great as that of Wukong or Bajie, he is still a great warrior protecting Xuanzang and can use his intellect as well as his strength to beat the enemy. He does not know any transformations; he admits this during the middle of the book.
Sha Wujing in other media
Sha Wujing had a Mortal Kombat character who much like him is a drunkard and is obese (in most of the incarnations). The character's name is Bo' Rai Cho.
In Japan he was seen as a kappa, another fearsome kind of water demon.
In the manga/anime Saiyūki, Sha Gojyō is loosely based on Sha Wujing, with a modified version of the same weapon (albeit incorrectly called a shakujō, the Japanese name for the Chinese xīzhàng). However, Gojyō is described as being half human, half yōkai, instead of a man-eating river monster.
Mega Man: The Wily Wars had a character based on Sha Wujing named Mega Water.S in the unlockable "Wily Tower" game. Mega Water.S later made an appearance in the CD Database for Mega Man & Bass.
In the manga/anime Dragon Ball, the character Yamcha, the Desert Bandit, was originally based upon Sha Wujing.
In the novel American Gods, author Neil Gaiman makes mention of a "tall Chinese gentleman with a necklace of tiny skulls... shouldering a long staff with a moon-shaped blade at the end." This is likely Sha Wujing.
In Digimon, Shaujinmon is based on Sha Wujing.
Chinese mythology | Fictional monks | Characters in written fiction | Journey to the West
Shaohao (少昊)
Shaohao (少昊)
Alternative Names (異名):
少昊(Chinese), Shaohao
Shaohao (少昊) is credited by some as being one of the Five Emperors of ancient Chinese mythology.
The son of the Yellow Emperor Huang Di, Shaohao is the leader of the Yi people, where he shifted their capital to Shandong Qufu. Ruling for eighty-four years, he is succeeded by his nephew Zhuanxu.
Shaohao's tomb, which is in the form of a large pyramid, is in present-day Jiuxian ("old prefecture") village, east of Qufu, Shandong province.
See also
Pangu (盤古)
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Youchao (有巢)
Nüwa (女媧)
Suiren (燧人)
Fu Xi (伏羲) 2800 BC – 2737 BC
Shennong (神農) 2737 BC – 2698 BC
Huangdi (黄帝, Yellow Emperor) 2697 BC – 2598 BC
Shaohao (少昊) 2597 BC – 2514 BC
Zhuanxu (顓頊) 2514 BC – 2436 BCC
Kù (帝嚳) 2436 BC – 2366 BC
Yao (堯) 2358 BC – 2258 BC
Shun (舜) 2255 BC – 2195 BC
Xia Dynasty of China
Yu (禹) 2194 BC – 2149 BC
Qi (启) 2146 BC – 2117 BC
Tai Kang (太康) 2117 BC – 2088 BC
Zhong Kang (仲康) 2088 BC – 2075 BC
Xiang (相) 2075 BC – 2008 BC
Shao Kang (少康) 2007 BC – 1985 BC
Zhu (杼) 1985 BC – 1968 BC
Huai (槐) 1968 BC – 1924 BC
Máng (芒) 1924 BC – 1906 BC
Xie (泄) 1906 BC – 1890 BC
Bu Jiang (不降) 1890 BC – 1831 BC
Jiong (扃) 1831 BC – 1810 BC
Jin (廑) 1810 BC – 1789 BC
Kong Jia (孔甲) 1789 BC – 1758 BC
Gao (皋) 1758 BC – 1747 BC
Fa (后敬) 1747 BC – 1728 BC
Jie (桀) 1728 BC – 1675 BC
Chinese mythology
Alternative Names (異名):
少昊(Chinese), Shaohao
Shaohao (少昊) is credited by some as being one of the Five Emperors of ancient Chinese mythology.
The son of the Yellow Emperor Huang Di, Shaohao is the leader of the Yi people, where he shifted their capital to Shandong Qufu. Ruling for eighty-four years, he is succeeded by his nephew Zhuanxu.
Shaohao's tomb, which is in the form of a large pyramid, is in present-day Jiuxian ("old prefecture") village, east of Qufu, Shandong province.
See also
Pangu (盤古)
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Youchao (有巢)
Nüwa (女媧)
Suiren (燧人)
Fu Xi (伏羲) 2800 BC – 2737 BC
Shennong (神農) 2737 BC – 2698 BC
Huangdi (黄帝, Yellow Emperor) 2697 BC – 2598 BC
Shaohao (少昊) 2597 BC – 2514 BC
Zhuanxu (顓頊) 2514 BC – 2436 BCC
Kù (帝嚳) 2436 BC – 2366 BC
Yao (堯) 2358 BC – 2258 BC
Shun (舜) 2255 BC – 2195 BC
Xia Dynasty of China
Yu (禹) 2194 BC – 2149 BC
Qi (启) 2146 BC – 2117 BC
Tai Kang (太康) 2117 BC – 2088 BC
Zhong Kang (仲康) 2088 BC – 2075 BC
Xiang (相) 2075 BC – 2008 BC
Shao Kang (少康) 2007 BC – 1985 BC
Zhu (杼) 1985 BC – 1968 BC
Huai (槐) 1968 BC – 1924 BC
Máng (芒) 1924 BC – 1906 BC
Xie (泄) 1906 BC – 1890 BC
Bu Jiang (不降) 1890 BC – 1831 BC
Jiong (扃) 1831 BC – 1810 BC
Jin (廑) 1810 BC – 1789 BC
Kong Jia (孔甲) 1789 BC – 1758 BC
Gao (皋) 1758 BC – 1747 BC
Fa (后敬) 1747 BC – 1728 BC
Jie (桀) 1728 BC – 1675 BC
Chinese mythology
Shangdi (上帝)
Shangdi (上帝)
Alternative Names (異名):
上帝(Chinese), Shàngdì(pinyin), Shang Ti(Wade-Giles), Shangdi
Shangdi (上帝, pinyin: Shàngdì, Wade-Giles Shang Ti) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people (see traditional Chinese religion), a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor" or "Above Sovereign", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", "the God above", "the Supreme God", "Above ", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term dyeus used by Indo-European peoples. Another title of Shangdi is simply Di (帝). Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty (周朝)(1122 BC to 256 BC) onwards, another name, Tian (天), is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people (see Heaven worship). Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language, it can either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian". Shangdi is also the name given for God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Shen 神 (lit. spirit, or deity) was also adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. Shangdi is never represented with images or idols in Chinese tradition.
First mention
The earliest references to Shangdi are found in Oracle Bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600 BC - ca. 1046 BC). Shangdi is first mentioned in Chinese Literature in the Five Classics, (五經, pinyin: Wujing) allegedly compiled by Confucius in the 6th century BC. The Wujing was a collection of five books that represented the pinnacle of Chinese culture at that time. The oldest parts of the Wujing were first written around 1000 BC, apparently relying on older texts. All of the five classics include references to Shangdi:
Occurrences of Shangdi (上帝) in Wujing (五經)
This is just a sampling; alternate translations and compilations will yield slightly different numbers. The total for the Wujing collection alone totals over 85 references.
Other classics mention Shangdi as well (a formalized analysis showing the development of the term over time would be useful). Another "Classic" collection, the Four Books (四書, pinyin: SiShu), mentions Shangdi also, but it is a later compilation and the references are much more sparse and abstract. The highest amount of occurrences appear to be in the earliest references; and this may reflect the cultural development (or rejection) towards ShangDi as a whole over time.
One of the five books in the Wujing is the Classic of History, (書經, pinyin: Shujing), aka Book of History, aka Esteemed Book (尚書, pinyin Shangshu). The Shujing is possibly the earliest narrative of China, and may predate the European historian Herodotus (about 440 BC) as a history by many centuries. This implies that Shangdi is the oldest deity directly referenced in China by any Chinese narrative literature. The Shujing itself is also divided into 5 parts, and those parts were actually considered books as well. However, the number of books or "documents" is a division that varies largely on the version or compilation; thus quoted references may not match unless you use the same compilation.
The 2nd of the 5 "books" inside the Shujing is called the "Book of Yu" (虞書, pinyin: Yushu). Yu, in this title, is a location, not the popular hero 禹 Yu. This "book" has 4 "chapters"; and the 1st "chapter" is called the "Canon of Shun" (舜典, pinyin: ShunDian). Emperor Shun was the predecessor to the heroic Da Yu (大禹), or Great Yu, the first emperor of the Xia Dynasty. About the third sentence is the first mention of ShangDi. And, as it was mentioned in the previous section how yearly sacrifices to ShangDi were made by Emperor Shun, thus, it appears that, according to Confucius, the Chinese belief in ShangDi predates the Xia Dynasty.
Meaning & Use of Name
Shangdi (上帝) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people, a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term dyeus used by Indo-European peoples, but apparently without the linguistic connection. Another title of Shangdi is simply Di (帝). Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty (周朝) onwards, another name, Tian (天), is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people. Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language, it could either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian".
Attributes
Uniquely, Chinese traditions do not appear to have a narrative for Shangdi in the earliest texts; nor are there physical representations of him. However, the many references to Shangdi do assign attributes to his character, including: maleness, emotion, compassion, intellect, judgement, mastery, and greatness. A few examples follow below; please note quoted references vary (usually by verse number) due to the variety of compilations:
The ShuJing (書經), the earliest of Chinese narratives (described above), represents Shangdi as a good god who punishes evil and rewards goodness. "Shangdi is not invariant [for he judges a person according to his actions]. On the good-doer He sends down blessings, and on the evil-doer He sends down miseries."
The Shijing (詩經), the earliest of Chinese poetries, attributes speech to him in poem 241. Other significant portrayals include poems 245, 236, 300; as well as poems 192, 224, 235, 254, 255, 258, 274, 276, & 304.
The Wujing (五經), and the official sacrificial rituals show people praying to Shangdi (i.e. Liji (禮記) 04:1:13; aka Liji Book 4, Section 1, verse 13).
These portrayals appear to predate Daoist or Buddhist interpretations by anywhere from 500 to 2000 years.
Creator
Shangdi is considered by some to be the Creator of the universe. If this is true, he would predate the later Daoist creation myth of Pangu around 200 AD by at least 500 years, as shown below. Note the "depersonalization" of Shangdi that appears to occur (or at least grow) after the Warring States (戰國) period with the ascension of Daoism. Oddly, later Daoism appears to restore personality traits to Heaven around 900 AD:
(470 - 390 BC) Warring States (戰國) Mohist philosopher Mozi (墨子), in the philosophical text 'Mozi', explicitly mentions Shangdi 26 times; as shown in 2:12, 4:16, 5:15, 6:25ab, 7:26ab, 27, 28ab, 8:31, 32, 9, 35ab, 36, 37, 12:47.
The quote below shows Mozi describing a benevolent creator, but here he is translated as using the agent of "Heaven". It is possible he is referring to Shangdi in the same way Westerners use "Heaven" to indirectly refer to God.
‘I know Heaven loves men dearly not without reason. Heaven ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars to enlighten and guide them. Heaven ordained the four seasons, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer, to regulate them. Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk so that the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and river, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man’s good or bring him evil.’ (from Book 7, Chapter 27, aka 天志, "Will of Heaven", paragraph 8. This translation is from "Yi Pao Mei" )
Note that the word "ordered" here appears to mean more than "guided".
(079 - 166 AD) East Han Dynasty (東漢朝) scholar Ma Rong (馬融), in one of his works[citation needed], claimed Shangdi (or more precisely 上帝太一神, pinyin: Shangdi Taiyishen) is the personification of "the Supreme Ultimate" (太一, pinyin: Tàiyī), which is the Ultimate Origin and Ground of Being for all existence. See also Taiyi Shengshui.
(127 - 200 AD) East Han Dynasty (東漢朝) Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan (鄭玄), in one of his works[citation needed], said: "Shangdi is the parent of all peoples" in his annotations of the Shangshu (aka Shujing), he says: "Everyone is a child of Heaven" (凡人皆天之子).
(960 -1279 AD) Song Dynasty (宋朝) begins reintroducing personality traits to Heaven in various Daoist incarnations as the Yu Huang (玉皇, or Jade Emperor), Pure August Jade Emperor (玉皇上帝), and Yuanshi Tianzun (元始天尊).
(1368 - 1644 AD) Ming Dynasty (明朝), records in the Statutes of the Ming Dynasty regulations during this time. This includes the words spoken to Shangdi by Ming Emperor Jiajing (嘉靖) in the Temple of Heaven. The specific words are recorded in the Text of the Border Sacrifice, depicting the 1538 AD Annual Sacrifice Ritual. They describe Shangdi as a creator:
In the beginning there was confusion and chaos. The five elements had not yet began to transform, nor did the sun and the moon began to shine. In the midst of this there existed neither forms nor sound. Then the Spiritual Sovereign came forth, and began to separate the purer from the grosser parts.
He created the heavens, He created earth, He created man. All things with reproductive powers received their being. The beginning of all things was the result of His Kind Act. All things received His Great Love. All of the myriad things are found lacking compared with His Great Virtue.
Who knows of all the blessings that He has sent to us? Only Huangtian Shangdi (皇天上帝) is the True Ancestor of the myriad things
Worship
From the earliest eras of Chinese history, Shangdi was officially worshipped through sacrificial rituals. Shangdi is believed to rule over natural and ancestral spirits, who act as His ministers. Shangdi is thought to be the Supreme Guide of both the natural order and the human order. The ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual sacrificial rituals to Shangdi at the great Temple of Heaven in the imperial capital. During the ritual a completely healthy bull would be slaughtered and presented as an animal sacrifice to Shangdi. It is important to note that Shangdi is never represented with either images or idols. Instead, in the center building of the Temple of Heaven, in a structure called the "Imperial Vault of Heaven", a "spirit tablet" (神位, or shénwèi) inscribed with the name of God is stored on the throne. That name is "Supreme Sovereign God of Heaven" (皇天上帝, Huangtian Shangdi). 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.
Chinese Christianity
Shangdi is also one of the main names used by Chinese Christians for the Christian God. It is first used in the southern China edition of the Chinese Union Version, a Mandarin Chinese translation of the Christian Bible. 19th century British Protestant missionaries in China, such as James Legge, used the name Shangdi to refer to the Christian God, while American Protestant missionaries in northern China in the early 20th century preferred the alternative Shen (神, pinyin: Shén), and another edition was printed reflecting this usage. By contrast, historically, Chinese Catholics have predominantly used the term "Tian Zhu" (天主, pinyin: tian1 zhu3; literally, "Lord of Heaven") to address God. Chinese philosophers of religion also use the name Shangdi to refer to the philosophical God. Newer versions of Chinese bibles that uses "Shen" add a space known as nuo tai before the character (" 神") to preserve formatting of the "Shangdi" editions. Some scholars like Matteo Ricci(Jesuit) and James Legge asserts that Shangdi is same as the Christian God after studying the Chinese Classics.
See also
Heaven worship
Chinese terms for God
Chinese Mythology
Pangu
Religion in China
Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Religion in China | Names of God
Alternative Names (異名):
上帝(Chinese), Shàngdì(pinyin), Shang Ti(Wade-Giles), Shangdi
Shangdi (上帝, pinyin: Shàngdì, Wade-Giles Shang Ti) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people (see traditional Chinese religion), a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor" or "Above Sovereign", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", "the God above", "the Supreme God", "Above ", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term dyeus used by Indo-European peoples. Another title of Shangdi is simply Di (帝). Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty (周朝)(1122 BC to 256 BC) onwards, another name, Tian (天), is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people (see Heaven worship). Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language, it can either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian". Shangdi is also the name given for God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Shen 神 (lit. spirit, or deity) was also adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. Shangdi is never represented with images or idols in Chinese tradition.
First mention
The earliest references to Shangdi are found in Oracle Bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600 BC - ca. 1046 BC). Shangdi is first mentioned in Chinese Literature in the Five Classics, (五經, pinyin: Wujing) allegedly compiled by Confucius in the 6th century BC. The Wujing was a collection of five books that represented the pinnacle of Chinese culture at that time. The oldest parts of the Wujing were first written around 1000 BC, apparently relying on older texts. All of the five classics include references to Shangdi:
Occurrences of Shangdi (上帝) in Wujing (五經)
| Chinese | pinyin | English | occurrence |
| 書經 | Shujing | Classic of History | 32 times |
| 詩經 | Shijing | Classic of Poetry | 24 times |
| 禮記 | Liji | Classic of Rites | 20 times |
| 春秋 | Chunqiu | Spring and Autumn Annals | 8 times |
| 易經 | Yijing | Classic of Changes | 2 times |
This is just a sampling; alternate translations and compilations will yield slightly different numbers. The total for the Wujing collection alone totals over 85 references.
Other classics mention Shangdi as well (a formalized analysis showing the development of the term over time would be useful). Another "Classic" collection, the Four Books (四書, pinyin: SiShu), mentions Shangdi also, but it is a later compilation and the references are much more sparse and abstract. The highest amount of occurrences appear to be in the earliest references; and this may reflect the cultural development (or rejection) towards ShangDi as a whole over time.
One of the five books in the Wujing is the Classic of History, (書經, pinyin: Shujing), aka Book of History, aka Esteemed Book (尚書, pinyin Shangshu). The Shujing is possibly the earliest narrative of China, and may predate the European historian Herodotus (about 440 BC) as a history by many centuries. This implies that Shangdi is the oldest deity directly referenced in China by any Chinese narrative literature. The Shujing itself is also divided into 5 parts, and those parts were actually considered books as well. However, the number of books or "documents" is a division that varies largely on the version or compilation; thus quoted references may not match unless you use the same compilation.
The 2nd of the 5 "books" inside the Shujing is called the "Book of Yu" (虞書, pinyin: Yushu). Yu, in this title, is a location, not the popular hero 禹 Yu. This "book" has 4 "chapters"; and the 1st "chapter" is called the "Canon of Shun" (舜典, pinyin: ShunDian). Emperor Shun was the predecessor to the heroic Da Yu (大禹), or Great Yu, the first emperor of the Xia Dynasty. About the third sentence is the first mention of ShangDi. And, as it was mentioned in the previous section how yearly sacrifices to ShangDi were made by Emperor Shun, thus, it appears that, according to Confucius, the Chinese belief in ShangDi predates the Xia Dynasty.
Meaning & Use of Name
Shangdi (上帝) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people, a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", or "Celestial Lord". Its meaning is similar to the term dyeus used by Indo-European peoples, but apparently without the linguistic connection. Another title of Shangdi is simply Di (帝). Shangdi is chiefly associated with Heaven. From the earliest times of Chinese history, and especially from the Zhou Dynasty (周朝) onwards, another name, Tian (天), is also used to refer to the Supreme God of the Chinese people. Tian is a word with multiple meanings in the ancient Chinese language, it could either mean the physical sky or the presiding God of Heaven. When Tian is used in the latter sense, it has the same meaning as Shangdi. By the time of the Han dynasty, the influential Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan declared that "Shangdi is another name for Tian".
Attributes
Uniquely, Chinese traditions do not appear to have a narrative for Shangdi in the earliest texts; nor are there physical representations of him. However, the many references to Shangdi do assign attributes to his character, including: maleness, emotion, compassion, intellect, judgement, mastery, and greatness. A few examples follow below; please note quoted references vary (usually by verse number) due to the variety of compilations:
The ShuJing (書經), the earliest of Chinese narratives (described above), represents Shangdi as a good god who punishes evil and rewards goodness. "Shangdi is not invariant [for he judges a person according to his actions]. On the good-doer He sends down blessings, and on the evil-doer He sends down miseries."
The Shijing (詩經), the earliest of Chinese poetries, attributes speech to him in poem 241. Other significant portrayals include poems 245, 236, 300; as well as poems 192, 224, 235, 254, 255, 258, 274, 276, & 304.
The Wujing (五經), and the official sacrificial rituals show people praying to Shangdi (i.e. Liji (禮記) 04:1:13; aka Liji Book 4, Section 1, verse 13).
These portrayals appear to predate Daoist or Buddhist interpretations by anywhere from 500 to 2000 years.
Creator
Shangdi is considered by some to be the Creator of the universe. If this is true, he would predate the later Daoist creation myth of Pangu around 200 AD by at least 500 years, as shown below. Note the "depersonalization" of Shangdi that appears to occur (or at least grow) after the Warring States (戰國) period with the ascension of Daoism. Oddly, later Daoism appears to restore personality traits to Heaven around 900 AD:
(470 - 390 BC) Warring States (戰國) Mohist philosopher Mozi (墨子), in the philosophical text 'Mozi', explicitly mentions Shangdi 26 times; as shown in 2:12, 4:16, 5:15, 6:25ab, 7:26ab, 27, 28ab, 8:31, 32, 9, 35ab, 36, 37, 12:47.
The quote below shows Mozi describing a benevolent creator, but here he is translated as using the agent of "Heaven". It is possible he is referring to Shangdi in the same way Westerners use "Heaven" to indirectly refer to God.
‘I know Heaven loves men dearly not without reason. Heaven ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars to enlighten and guide them. Heaven ordained the four seasons, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer, to regulate them. Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk so that the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and river, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man’s good or bring him evil.’ (from Book 7, Chapter 27, aka 天志, "Will of Heaven", paragraph 8. This translation is from "Yi Pao Mei" )
Note that the word "ordered" here appears to mean more than "guided".
(079 - 166 AD) East Han Dynasty (東漢朝) scholar Ma Rong (馬融), in one of his works[citation needed], claimed Shangdi (or more precisely 上帝太一神, pinyin: Shangdi Taiyishen) is the personification of "the Supreme Ultimate" (太一, pinyin: Tàiyī), which is the Ultimate Origin and Ground of Being for all existence. See also Taiyi Shengshui.
(127 - 200 AD) East Han Dynasty (東漢朝) Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan (鄭玄), in one of his works[citation needed], said: "Shangdi is the parent of all peoples" in his annotations of the Shangshu (aka Shujing), he says: "Everyone is a child of Heaven" (凡人皆天之子).
(960 -1279 AD) Song Dynasty (宋朝) begins reintroducing personality traits to Heaven in various Daoist incarnations as the Yu Huang (玉皇, or Jade Emperor), Pure August Jade Emperor (玉皇上帝), and Yuanshi Tianzun (元始天尊).
(1368 - 1644 AD) Ming Dynasty (明朝), records in the Statutes of the Ming Dynasty regulations during this time. This includes the words spoken to Shangdi by Ming Emperor Jiajing (嘉靖) in the Temple of Heaven. The specific words are recorded in the Text of the Border Sacrifice, depicting the 1538 AD Annual Sacrifice Ritual. They describe Shangdi as a creator:
In the beginning there was confusion and chaos. The five elements had not yet began to transform, nor did the sun and the moon began to shine. In the midst of this there existed neither forms nor sound. Then the Spiritual Sovereign came forth, and began to separate the purer from the grosser parts.
He created the heavens, He created earth, He created man. All things with reproductive powers received their being. The beginning of all things was the result of His Kind Act. All things received His Great Love. All of the myriad things are found lacking compared with His Great Virtue.
Who knows of all the blessings that He has sent to us? Only Huangtian Shangdi (皇天上帝) is the True Ancestor of the myriad things
Worship
From the earliest eras of Chinese history, Shangdi was officially worshipped through sacrificial rituals. Shangdi is believed to rule over natural and ancestral spirits, who act as His ministers. Shangdi is thought to be the Supreme Guide of both the natural order and the human order. The ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual sacrificial rituals to Shangdi at the great Temple of Heaven in the imperial capital. During the ritual a completely healthy bull would be slaughtered and presented as an animal sacrifice to Shangdi. It is important to note that Shangdi is never represented with either images or idols. Instead, in the center building of the Temple of Heaven, in a structure called the "Imperial Vault of Heaven", a "spirit tablet" (神位, or shénwèi) inscribed with the name of God is stored on the throne. That name is "Supreme Sovereign God of Heaven" (皇天上帝, Huangtian Shangdi). 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.
Chinese Christianity
Shangdi is also one of the main names used by Chinese Christians for the Christian God. It is first used in the southern China edition of the Chinese Union Version, a Mandarin Chinese translation of the Christian Bible. 19th century British Protestant missionaries in China, such as James Legge, used the name Shangdi to refer to the Christian God, while American Protestant missionaries in northern China in the early 20th century preferred the alternative Shen (神, pinyin: Shén), and another edition was printed reflecting this usage. By contrast, historically, Chinese Catholics have predominantly used the term "Tian Zhu" (天主, pinyin: tian1 zhu3; literally, "Lord of Heaven") to address God. Chinese philosophers of religion also use the name Shangdi to refer to the philosophical God. Newer versions of Chinese bibles that uses "Shen" add a space known as nuo tai before the character (" 神") to preserve formatting of the "Shangdi" editions. Some scholars like Matteo Ricci(Jesuit) and James Legge asserts that Shangdi is same as the Christian God after studying the Chinese Classics.
See also
Heaven worship
Chinese terms for God
Chinese Mythology
Pangu
Religion in China
Chinese gods | Chinese mythology | Religion in China | Names of God
Shang Xiang (上庠)
Shang Xiang (上庠)
Alternative Names (異名):
上庠(Chinese), shàng xiáng(pinyin), shang hsiang(Wade-Giles), Shang Xiang
Shang Xiang (Chinese: 上庠; pinyin: shàng xiáng; Wade-Giles: shang hsiang), was a school founded in Youyu (有虞) period in China. Shun (舜, 2257 BC–2208 BC), the king of the State of Youyu, founded two schools, one was Shang Xiang (shang(上), means up, high), and the other one was Xia Xiang (下庠, xia (下) means down, low). Shang Xiang was a place to educate noble youth. Teachers at Shang Xiang were generally erudite, elder and noble persons.
The original meaning of Xiang (庠) may be provide for (養). So Xiang (including Shang Xiang and Xia Xiang) was initially a place to provide for the aged persons and then became a place for teaching.
Shang Xiang may be the origination of higher education institute of Guo Xue (國學, National School, or Imperial School, the nation's supreme school) in China. Cheng Jun (成均) was another ancient institution with educational function before Xia Dynasty as recorded in literature. The imperial school was named Taixue (太學) in Han Dynasty. From Sui Dynasty to Qing Dynasty it was named Guozijian (國子監).
Shang Xiang was also one of the five national schools in the capital city in Zhou Dynasty. The other four were: Pi Yong (闢雍), Dong Xu (東序), Gu Zong (瞽宗) and Cheng Jun (成均). Pi Yong was central school, located in central position and was an imperial school. Dong Xu was east school, Cheng Jun was south school, Gu Zong was west school and Shang Xiang was north school. These four schools were for seigneurs. The schools in Zhou Dynasty mainly taught six skills (or six arts, 六藝): Li (禮, convenance), Yue (樂, music), She (射, archery), Yu (禦, charioteering), Shu (書, literature), Shu (數, maths).
Chinese mythology | Education in China
Alternative Names (異名):
上庠(Chinese), shàng xiáng(pinyin), shang hsiang(Wade-Giles), Shang Xiang
Shang Xiang (Chinese: 上庠; pinyin: shàng xiáng; Wade-Giles: shang hsiang), was a school founded in Youyu (有虞) period in China. Shun (舜, 2257 BC–2208 BC), the king of the State of Youyu, founded two schools, one was Shang Xiang (shang(上), means up, high), and the other one was Xia Xiang (下庠, xia (下) means down, low). Shang Xiang was a place to educate noble youth. Teachers at Shang Xiang were generally erudite, elder and noble persons.
The original meaning of Xiang (庠) may be provide for (養). So Xiang (including Shang Xiang and Xia Xiang) was initially a place to provide for the aged persons and then became a place for teaching.
Shang Xiang may be the origination of higher education institute of Guo Xue (國學, National School, or Imperial School, the nation's supreme school) in China. Cheng Jun (成均) was another ancient institution with educational function before Xia Dynasty as recorded in literature. The imperial school was named Taixue (太學) in Han Dynasty. From Sui Dynasty to Qing Dynasty it was named Guozijian (國子監).
Shang Xiang was also one of the five national schools in the capital city in Zhou Dynasty. The other four were: Pi Yong (闢雍), Dong Xu (東序), Gu Zong (瞽宗) and Cheng Jun (成均). Pi Yong was central school, located in central position and was an imperial school. Dong Xu was east school, Cheng Jun was south school, Gu Zong was west school and Shang Xiang was north school. These four schools were for seigneurs. The schools in Zhou Dynasty mainly taught six skills (or six arts, 六藝): Li (禮, convenance), Yue (樂, music), She (射, archery), Yu (禦, charioteering), Shu (書, literature), Shu (數, maths).
Chinese mythology | Education in China
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Alternative Names (異名):
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Strictly speaking, the term "Taoist Sexual practices" is wrong, because such practices are denied by orthodox Taoism, and such practices cannot lead anyone to Tao.
The Dharn Scriptures (丹經, alchemic scripture), which lead Taoist practitioners to Immortality, are very profound, and are full of metaphors, therefore many people misinterpreted them, and according to their misinterpretations, many wrong techniques were developed. As A Poem that Enlightens Those Who Get Lost and Rectifies the Way to Tao says:
Some people try to return to the origin by eating fire and water; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, the PUG of the earth is called by them "the WHUN of the heaven"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors and think that is equal to Reality Cultivation
Those techniques are regarded by orthodox Taoism as Aside-Doors(旁門), or Aside-Doors and Wrong Ways(旁門左道), especially, those techniques involving sexual conducts are called "The Dharn Techniques of Slurry and Sewage" (泥水丹法).
The sexual energy is one of The Three Treasures (Taoism), a Taoist cultivator should save it instead of wasting it.
The Yellow Court Scripture (黃庭經) says:
The Immortals and Taoist cultivators do not have any other special things, they simply accumulate their essential energy to achieve the Reality.
The Jade Green Emptiness Tractate (翠虛篇) says:
Do not say that sexual conducts can lead you to Immortality, and exchange your gold for tiles. When a tree's root is withered, even if its leaves are still green, that is useless. When such a practitioner is enjoying the waving in his Energy-Ocean, he is going to die as quick as a shooting arrow.
In fact, A Taoist monk or nun does not have sex with any one, and does not have any intimate relationship with anyone of the opposite sex -- This is a very important Taoist precept. And the true alchemic practice does not violate any Taoist precepts.
Being able to interpret the scriptures correctly requires lots of merits. If one has not enough merits, no matter how smart he is, no matter he is a scholar, scientist, president, emperor, etc., he just cannot understand the true meanings of the scriptures. Therefore, the scriptures and masters all persuade the practitioners to do virtuous deeds to accumulate merits.
The Scripture of Forty-nine Chapters, by Ultra Supreme Emptiness Emperor, the Heavenly Lord says:
If one has accumulated fully one thousand merits, both his body and his divinity (souls) will become immortal; if his merits are near but less than one thousand, his divinity will become immortal but his physical body will decay; if his contributions benefit trillions of people, he will be a guest of the Jade Pure Pellucid One (The Original Universal Lord). He will slough off his mundane body and become an immortal person, and the immortal person will then become a Real Person.
The Ultra Supreme One's Tractate on Actions and Their Retributions says:
He who seeks to become a heavenly Immortal should accumulate 1300 virtuous merits; and he who seeks to become an earthly Immortal should accumulate 300 virtuous merits.
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
Sexual practices in Orthodox Taoism
Strictly speaking, the term "Taoist Sexual practices" is wrong, because such practices are denied by orthodox Taoism, and such practices cannot lead anyone to Tao.
The Dharn Scriptures (丹經, alchemic scripture), which lead Taoist practitioners to Immortality, are very profound, and are full of metaphors, therefore many people misinterpreted them, and according to their misinterpretations, many wrong techniques were developed. As A Poem that Enlightens Those Who Get Lost and Rectifies the Way to Tao says:
Some people try to return to the origin by eating fire and water; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, the PUG of the earth is called by them "the WHUN of the heaven"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors and think that is equal to Reality Cultivation
Those techniques are regarded by orthodox Taoism as Aside-Doors(旁門), or Aside-Doors and Wrong Ways(旁門左道), especially, those techniques involving sexual conducts are called "The Dharn Techniques of Slurry and Sewage" (泥水丹法).
The sexual energy is one of The Three Treasures (Taoism), a Taoist cultivator should save it instead of wasting it.
The Yellow Court Scripture (黃庭經) says:
The Immortals and Taoist cultivators do not have any other special things, they simply accumulate their essential energy to achieve the Reality.
The Jade Green Emptiness Tractate (翠虛篇) says:
Do not say that sexual conducts can lead you to Immortality, and exchange your gold for tiles. When a tree's root is withered, even if its leaves are still green, that is useless. When such a practitioner is enjoying the waving in his Energy-Ocean, he is going to die as quick as a shooting arrow.
In fact, A Taoist monk or nun does not have sex with any one, and does not have any intimate relationship with anyone of the opposite sex -- This is a very important Taoist precept. And the true alchemic practice does not violate any Taoist precepts.
Being able to interpret the scriptures correctly requires lots of merits. If one has not enough merits, no matter how smart he is, no matter he is a scholar, scientist, president, emperor, etc., he just cannot understand the true meanings of the scriptures. Therefore, the scriptures and masters all persuade the practitioners to do virtuous deeds to accumulate merits.
The Scripture of Forty-nine Chapters, by Ultra Supreme Emptiness Emperor, the Heavenly Lord says:
If one has accumulated fully one thousand merits, both his body and his divinity (souls) will become immortal; if his merits are near but less than one thousand, his divinity will become immortal but his physical body will decay; if his contributions benefit trillions of people, he will be a guest of the Jade Pure Pellucid One (The Original Universal Lord). He will slough off his mundane body and become an immortal person, and the immortal person will then become a Real Person.
The Ultra Supreme One's Tractate on Actions and Their Retributions says:
He who seeks to become a heavenly Immortal should accumulate 1300 virtuous merits; and he who seeks to become an earthly Immortal should accumulate 300 virtuous merits.
Taoism | Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs
Hua Shan Temple
Hua Shan Temple
From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/
| Description | Hua Shan Temple |
| Date | Taken on 29 April 2007 |
| Source | Photo taken by Brian Dell. Released to the public domain. |
| Author | Bdell555 at en.wikipedia |
| Licensing | This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Bdell555 at the English Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide. |
From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/
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