University of the Philippines

Asian Center

CRITICAL PAPER #2: Understanding Di and Tian: Deity and Heaven from

Shang to Tang Dynasties

Submitted by: Princess Loren D. Domer

Submitted to: Joefe B. Santarita, Ph. D.

Professor
1. Compare and contrasts the concepts of Di and Tian in various period of Ancient China?

We can take it as a given that none of the great religious traditions in human history,
whether Semitic, Indian, or Chinese origin, has a single and uniform understanding of the ultimate,
supreme and most real reality – of Heaven, the Tao, the Absolute, the Godhead, God. The
difference in names already indicates that the term God is often not simply understood in the same
way even within single tradition. And the mystery it hold drew people much closer to examine
their own definition of “God” and “Heaven”.

History unfolds the important events that contributed to what our society is right now. It is
history that makes us see the beauty of tradition and culture that were seemingly timeless and
encompasses different walks of humanity. And the concept of religion, heaven, Supreme Being
were not of the exception. As we try to unfold the latter concept we will journey to the ancient
dynasties of Shang, Zhou, Han and Tan with focus on understanding di and tian and the idea of
heaven and deity/ies.

The terms Di and Tian were already included in numerous records from the royal courts to the
diverse philosophers. However, not only scholars today have trouble distinguishing specific
definitions for these words, but it seems that even the people used the terms in Ancient China also
differed in their ideas of the meanings.

Shang Dynasty
Di
The majority of the studies on the Shang Dynasty are based upon evidence from inscriptions found
on oracle bones and artifacts. Shang Dynasty had a complex religious system where government
was regulated by an elaborate regimen of state sacrifices. Oracle bone texts document various
hunting and fishing expeditions organized in order to gain offerings for sacrificial rituals. The king
decides when to present sacrifices, he even constructed a calendar to designate appropriate days
for offering. Interestingly, historical records from oracle bones show various rules for the rituals
and important instructions to follow. For example if the sacrificial victim were for the earth spirits,
they were to be buried, drowned when presented to the river deities, and cut into pieces when
offered to the wind spirits, and burned when offered to higher beings related to the sky. From here,
we can tell that appeasing their deity was very important to the ancient Shang people. In addition,
having proper timing to the sacrifices matter to them, may be in the belief that according to their
king, this is the best time that the deity can hear or see their efforts. The concrete actions towards
appeasing their God appears to be the highest form of worshipped.

As mentioned earlier, the offering of sacrifices was a privilege which belonged only to special
religious figures and royalty. Men and spirits did not intermingle, therefore there should be special
people to supervise the ceremonies and handle religious matters, that’s when Shamans and
Royalties came in. Shamans act as the facilitator of divine sacrifices while the Royalties are the
ones to made/act the sacrifices. Eventually, as the spiritual realm became monopolized by the
royalty, Shamanism became a means for the nobility to govern people. Religious rituals were a
method for legitimizing royal authority and the King started to be seen as a principal mediator
between the spirits and deities and human beings as a whole.

The pervasiveness of religious ceremonies were reflected in the ritualized environment of the
Shang society. Practicing polytheistic cosmology (semi-mythical ancestors, pre-dynastic kings,
and dynastic kings and their families) was notable among the Shang people and within its complex
royal pantheon lies the “Di”. Di refer as the “God” of the Shang people, this is supported with the
perpetuation of the term “Shangdi” translated as the “Lord on High” The interchangeable usage
of di to Shangdi could be best explained with the modern usage of di which means “supreme
being” and Shangdi defined as “God”. Di, is in fact most likely the Shang high god or group of
gods. There were some other claims and arguments pertaining to its meaning, other scholar even
claimed that di could refer to a sacrificial fire or sacrifice name. Thus, scholars hypothesized that
di was a force of nature. Evidence for this argument is seen in di’s ability to control nature, it also
shared similar abilities with nature spirits, but di’s powers surpassed every other deity’s. Moreover,
the most persuasive argument is that di was a term that referred to an anthropomorphic god. It
seemed more similar to an ancestral figure than a natural spirit. But there were scholars like David
Keightley who contradicted to this notion, he believed that di could not have been an ancestor
because it showed threat in destroying the Shang people. And if believed to be true, this will
contradict to the early discussion presented above. It is important to note that Chinese ancestors
always depended on their descendants to present sacrifices to sustain their spirits.

In conclusion, di played an active part in human affairs of Shang people. Kings would divine about
a wide variety of issues seeking di’s aid despite its ambiguity in meaning. The religious and
political trends in the Shang Dynasty gained legitimization of the Shaman and Kings power.

Tian
Scholars argue wheter or not tian, was a part of the Shang pantheon. Many assume that tian was
part of Chinese beliefs since the earliest records. However, there are some arguments stating that
tian was part of the Shang Dynasty though it lacks evidences, as a matter of fact, Shang texts do
not include a single occurrence of tian. Though there were symbols associating this tian, this
argument remained implausible because interpreting things can be highly subjective. Factors like
considering the context, and investigating these context would call improbable and vague results
with regards to the existence of tian in the Shang Dynasty. There were cases were tian would be
translated to da, even if doing so none of the characters can provide convincing evidence that tian
was a Shang deity. To be brief, the Shang did not have a concept of tian.
Zhou Dynasty
Di
Zhou people came at the beginning of a new history. The former Shang was overthrown by
tribesmen from the West. It is interesting to note that the conquest, with the various difficulties of
governing that came in with it, marked not only a new period of history but also an incorporation
of the past. As an intruder, the Zhou rulers needed methods to control people. Zhou Empire became
instable due to the death of their first king, who will be then succeeded by his very young son,
noting this as a future dilemma, the uncle of the new king, took control as regent. And in order to
lead by peace and harmony, he perceived a mass propaganda campaign – called the religious
cooptation.

Preliminary glance at Zhou literature suggests that di was a fundamental term in the Zhou Dynasty,
impressions were made as if noting that it has been native with the Zhou people. However, in such
an interesting contrast, Zhou collected works displayed more references to tian than to di,
signifying that di was not originally a Zhou deity. Nevertheless, by combining both di and tian
into the religious system, the rulers sought to unite people despite the difference in spiritual beliefs.
The Duke of Zhou demonstrated in his use of propaganda the attempt to assimilate the conquered
people by using tian and di as synonyms and even by combining it. We can draw a conclusion that
the Duke of Zhou uses these terms interchangeably to unite politically the conquered Shang people
and the Zhou people of the West. This is to prevent any radical movement to arise that will led to
the overthrowing of the existing administrative power.

Tian
Rewriting the history became a powerful way to mislead people, and that’s the propaganda
campaign the Zhou people used to again make their authority credible. And the best way to do this
is use the people’s non-material culture like the religion, which leads to the Mandate of Heaven.
Tian, with the start of the Zhou period, was perceived as a metaphysical and religious idea. It’s an
anthropomorphic religious being, like a “great man in the sky”, further it became a definite deity
that chose the recipient of the Mandate of Heaven. This Mandate decides whether an emperor or
dynasty should continue or not. The fact, according to the belief of Mandate of Heavne, that one
dynasty falls and is replaced by another in a cycle is explained by divine intervention based on
whether the ruler behaves in a proper upright manner just like the ruler of heaven. In addition, this
mandate reinforces a vision of a moral attitude that is the cornerstone of Confucianism.
Confucianism believe that the key to a peaceful state was to look to the past and be like the
ancestral sage emperors.

For the Zhou Dynasty, we can say that the complexity and ambiguity brought by the known
meaning of tian was then utilized by the local rulers to propagate their own interests – and that is
to legitimize and maintain their power. Fortunately for the Zhou rulers, people (Shang and other
members of the Zhou) hold on to the idea that everything that happened in their societies are by-
products of their rulers’ and their sacrifices with the Heaven. It goes to show that the political
fortunes of a dynasty ultimately rest on the good relationship of the ruler to the heaven, in
connection we could say that tian refer to a type of fate or providence since it dictated the destiny
of all under heaven.

Han Dynasty
Di
By the Han Dynasty, both di and tian were often used, they retained most of their early meaning
(from Shang-Zhou) but continued to changed and expand in their definition uses. Di continued to
be a form of divinity, an anthropomorphic god (as believed by the Shang people), but this time it
is often translated as “god” or “thearch”. It was also sometimes considered “the great god”, then
afterwards became demoted to often “god” then turned out to be just a prefix or suffix in a deity’s
name, such as Shangdi or other planetary gods just like Yan Di. In addition, Di was also often
applied to male divinities and grasped as a single deity. Further functions of di was elucidated as
an indicator of a divine or religious relation, not necessarily to the supreme god compared to the
one in Shang Dynasty. Di was used as names for holy places that are identified with the deities or
shamans.

Tian
During the Han, tian often referred to its earlier definitions, with discussions ranging on
astronomy, astrology, cosmogony and cosmology. It was describe as something similar to the
physical sky (heavens, filled with moon, sun ad planets), thus forming the clear demarcation that
it is something created and not something that creates. Furthermore, tian was illustrated as a
heavenly place, with palaces and garden for the emperor and his empress and concubines. This
description relates the kind of political occurrence the real world has, to the kind/ image of life in
heaven. Creating a dictating figure that does not speak yet still communicates with people. Similar
to the Zhou Dynasty, tian helps explain the royal title which is closely associated with divinity and
origin of “Heaven”. One interesting characteristic of tian in the Han Dynasty is its blur categories
that separates the human and natural world. Tian as a religious concept is not to provide
comprehensive explanation to the world but rather guidance in how people should interact with
the phenomena around them. This function is similar with the ideas of Confucianism,
concentrating in discovering and surviving life’s uncertainties, alongside with realizing the idea of
world’s diversity that will teach you knowledge.

These tendencies led the Han people to the quest for immortality and paradise. In this quest, people
desired to gain help from divinity or to even become part of the divine world. People articulated
the world as a reflection of what is in “heaven”. With these, Han Dynasty similar with the early
Zhous, also received the Mandate of Heaven. It became their remarkable technique to the extent
that the next Dynasty had an increasingly urgent obligation to fight for its power and demonstrate
the “Heaven’s Mandate’ to rule.

Furthermore, historical evidences revealed that there were paint images in the Han tombs that
depicted the heavenly realm, mythical animal and their journey that seemed to travel to the
afterlife. The concept of having a life after this world is a reaction of the people to the meaning of
tian. On the other hand, the flourishing interaction between cultures through silk roads trade gave
birth to the influence of Buddhism and Indian culture, and this can also be seen as another use of
tian. Tianzhongtian, god of gods, is a commonly expression used to relate the “supreme gods of
god”. Thus, the introduction of the concept Tianzhongtian, could be viewed as one of the factors
causing the changes in the meaning of tian and di during the Han Dynasty. Tianzhongtian, implies
that tian could refer both one god or to the gods collectively, and if Tianzhongtian retains its
meaning, then di and tian will be seen as only part of the names of various gods.

Tang Dynasty
Di
The term di continued to change through the Tang period and rarely stood alone to refer to a high
god. Following the pattern that began in the Han, it become more frequently found as part of a
deity’s name, such as Shangdi. And when it began to be used by itself, it started to refer more often
to the emperor, particularly to the idealized ruler.

Tian
During the Tang period, tian depicted the meaning of “a great non-anthropomorphic divinity” but
this was becomingly rare. One of its common meaning then was “heaven”, however because of
the various religions existing during the Tang, there was not simply one tian, instead many
religions and sects each had their own ideal Heaven. During the Tang Period, tian developed
different meanings in short period of time. Example of these were (1) numerous monasteries and
(2) schools included tian (e.g Tianzhu Monastery and Tiantai School) in their names. It is also
equally important to highlight that the blurring lines between the human and divine worlds had
already occurred in the Han and continued during the Tang.

People depended on gods to grant their requests while deities needed followers to make sacrifices
for their sustenance. And the gods becoming increasingly anthropomorphized, demonstrated by
the fact that their needs, such as food offering and human recognition, were expressed in human
terms. Increasing and expanding pantheon and integration of local gods with the coming of
influences in and out China empowered the imperial rule moreover.
 In conclusion, di and tian are terms that are not as explicit and clearly definable as one may
wish or try. Therefore, using “God” or “Lord” in place of “di” or identifying tian as simply as
Heaven would somehow devaluate the long history of Chinese dynasties. As discussed above,
Chinese history was greatly rooted to its religious practices and values. As a matter of fact, it is
best to say that the characterizing element of the di and tian could be best fitted in their function
of legitimizing authority and their reflection of society.

In the end, History reminds us again that the complexity of meaning among religious
concepts gives more beauty to it. There’s beauty in the unknown, there’s mystery in every
uncertainty. And people are continuously seeking answers to the discovery of the unknown.
Religious conception nowadays, remained personal and no one can just simply instill his belief
system to another person. The ambiguous definitions of religious terms like di and tian can be best
decipher by in-depth study of its context. One must be very careful in presenting ideas to make
sure that no religious belief system is being dishonored.
2. What is religious cooptation? How did the concepts of Di and Tian contribute in the said cooptation
especially from Shang to Tang?

Great leaders utilized all possible resources to come up with powerful empire and eventually indestructible
dynasty. The emperors and kings of Chinese Dynasties were very successful in maneuvering its devotees
from different factions to unison. Rulers made used of a technique that centers on assimilating and
eventually controlling the overall power in the Dynasty, this method is known as religious cooptation.

Religious cooptation was very efficient in maintaining peaceful relationship between the emperor and its
people. Its primary objective is to avoid disintegration of tribes from different groups and to realize a
common bond that will tie cultural differences. In doing so, the ruler understands that, he must avoid
rebellion or revolution in any form. He needs to establish connection which everyone will follow, without
any reluctance, and the preeminent way to execute such connection is by the virtue of involving the common
belief/conviction among people. We will try to examine the general perception of religious cooptation in
the early Chinse Empires.

Shang Dynasty
As a whole, for the Shang Dynasty, perhaps one of the reason for the ambiguity of Di and the complexity
of the spirits worshipped by the Shang is that rulers used a “process of religious cooptation” by which they
incorporated deities from the conquered tribes in order to gain influence over new people. By means of
consolidating and augmenting deities from each tribe, they sought to unite the expanding polity as one
people with kindred beliefs.

Zhou Dynasty
As for the Zhou, the second Dynasty, it incorporated the past method of the Shang people which they
accepted the religious beliefs of subjugated tribes for the purpose of assimilating and winning control over
the conquered people. Incorporating deities from new tribes helped unite the people by providing them with
common spiritual beliefs and identities. Conquered and adopt, that’s how it worked.

Han Dynasty
The next is the Han, religious cooptation is a religious policy that was inherited to them from the Qin
Empire. Its objective was to absorb the local traditions as part of the establishment of a grand empire. This
strategy helped local areas to feel like that they were part of the larger nation. It is also consolidated and
legitimized imperial rule at a local level, since performing rituals at both the local and the central courts
symbolized the recognition of these traditions. During the Han period, there were fewer additions and
changes to the cults and rituals due to the personal preferences of the emperors and influential authority as
certain emperors desired to procure more blessings while others refused to accept new cults. This scheme
eventually transformed the Han Empire and even expanded the Chinese rule from the Pacific to the Pamirs
and from Southwest Asia to Korea.
Tang Dynasty
The Empire of Tang had concept of local gods who held office reflected the introduction of Buddhism
during the early century A.D. During the Tang, the itinerant monks converted more people and local gods
to Buddhism, the on the other hand, began placing images of the Indian god on walls and any other edifice
they wanted him to protect. Soon, Buddhist, Daoist’s and Confucian developed their own pantheon and
expand their own deities. The increasing pantheon and integration of even local gods into the bureaucracy
reflected the extension of the imperial rule to the local level. The promotion of gods allowed the
communities to feel recognized by the central court and caused these areas to submit more willingly to the
imperial power.

In the end, Religious Cooptation played a focal role in legitimizing the power of the King (Son of
Heaven) to rule under all heaven by the Mandate of Heaven. Thus, we can say that religious cooptation
using di and tian concepts contributed in envisioning the world empire with equal Chinese and non-Chinese
subjects. The concept of tiandi encompasses the world, thus, resulting to the dogma of many Chinese who
believed that they were the roots of all under heaven while the barbarians were merely branches and leaves.