EAI - 1 - The Early Period - Shang and Zhou

Modern terms for philosophy and religion

• Religion: 宗教

• Philosophy: 哲学

both concepts come from Western notions

Transcendance

• beyond the normal human world

  • God in Christianity

  • Heaven as a separate divine realm

  • a creator outside the universe

Immanence

• it exists within the world itself

  • Nature being sacred

  • Dao flowing trough everything

  • divinity present inside the universe

Is Chinese thought Transcendance or Immanence?

• Shanghdi:

  • Shangdi is above humans

  • Shangdi lies legitimacy to rulers

  • Shandi can judge kings

→ looks transcendent

But also:

• Shangdi communicates through ancestors

• Ancestors interact with humans

• The divine world constantly mixes with the human world

→ looks immanent

→ so Chinese religion often sits in the middle

Exclusive ideological systems

• 1 truth

• other beliefs rejected

• being part requires ditching the other

Christianity, Islam, etc etc

Inclusive Ideological syste,s

• different traditions can coexist

• multiple systems may be used simultaneously

• contradictions are often tolerated

Examples in China:

• Confucian ethics

• Daoist ritual

• Buddhist salvation

• ancestor worship

Why is Ancient Chinese Philosophy Often Called Political Philosophy?

Political philosophy

• Focuses on creating social order

• Discusses government, rulers and society

• Searches for solutions to disorder

Takeaway

• Most Chinese schools emerged during periods of warfare and instability.

• Their central concern was how to restore order.

• For this reason ancient Chinese philosophy is often interpreted as political philosophy rather than purely metaphysical speculation.

Main Question

How should society be governed

Confucianism

• Order through virtue

• Order through ritual (li)

• Moral rulers create moral subjects

Mohism

• Order through universal concern

• Promote benefit (li)

• Eliminate selfish partiality

Legalism

• Order through law (fa)

• Rewards and punishments

• Strong state authority

Daoism

• Order through non-action (wuwei)

• Less interference

• Follow the Dao

教

jiao: Teaching; Doctrine

• Sanjiao 三教 → Three teachings → Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism

宗

Zong: Ancestor, later also used for religious philosophical schools

學

xue, to study ; system of beliefs ideas

Central terms and concepts for the early period

1. Ancestor/patriarch

2. Divination

3. Universal kingship

4. Divine-human relationship

5. Philosophical thought often starts from this question:

   How are humans, ancestors, spirits, and Heaven connected?

6. Fluid boundaries:

Exam takeaway

Early Chinese religion is not just “belief in gods.” It is a political-religious system where ancestors, rituals, divination, kingship, and Heaven structure society.

Fluid boundaries

• The divine and human realms are not sharply separated.

• Gifted humans can become cultural heroes or deities.

• Ancestors, nature spirits, and deities overlap.

Philosophical thought often starts from this question:

How are humans, ancestors, spirits, and Heaven connected?

Universal kingship

• Early China develops the idea of a ruler whose authority is cosmic, not just political.

• The king’s rule is tied to the Heavenly Mandate.

Shang and Zhou

• Rituals are directly connected to kingship.

• The king acts as mediator between humans and divine forces.

• Later, especially with Confucius, ritual becomes more family/clan-based.

Divination

• Divination is used to communicate with ancestors and spirits.

• It connects humans with supernatural forces.

Ancestor/patriarch

• Ancestors are not just dead family members.

• They connect the human world with the divine/spirit world.

• Ancestor rituals become a model for social order.

Shāng 商 Dynasty

Shang 商 Dynasty

• Traditionally dated either:

  • 1766–1122 BCE

  • or 1523–1027 BCE

Important archaeological site

• Anyang 安陽, in modern Henan.

• The last Shang capital was Yin 殷.

• Pan Geng 盤庚 moved the capital to Yin around 1401 BCE.

Last ruler

• Zhou 紂, remembered as a tyrant.

What this means

The Shang are important because:

• they provide early evidence of writing;

• they practiced divination;

• they worshipped ancestors and Shangdi;

• their fall becomes morally interpreted by the Zhou.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Oracle Bone Inscriptions, OBI 甲骨文, are a core source for Shang religion.

Key points

• Found especially around Anyang.

• Written on turtle plastrons and animal bones.

• Used in divination.

• They are among the earliest forms of Chinese writing.

• They reveal concerns about ancestors, spirits, weather, war, harvest, sacrifice, and rulership.

Exam takeaway

Oracle bones are not just “old writing.” They show how Shang rulers used divination to communicate with ancestors and divine powers.

Shangdi 上帝

Shangdi 上帝 is the highest divine power in Shang religion.

Key points

Shangdi

• Key term in the Shang Dynasty.

• Also used in later periods.

• During the Zhou, Shangdi is often replaced by or merged with Tian 天, “Heaven.”

• Shangdi communicates with the king through ancestors/deities/spirits.

• Shangdi must approve government.

• Because Shangdi can judge rulers, Shangdi transcends royal lineages.

Transcendence vs immanence

Transcendent side

• Shangdi is above the human world.

• Shangdi can approve or reject rulers.

• Shangdi is not simply one family ancestor.

Immanent side

• Shangdi communicates through ancestors and spirits.

• Rituals connect humans to divine power.

Exam takeaway

Shangdi is both above the human world and connected to it through ancestor ritual. This makes early Chinese religion neither purely transcendent nor purely immanent.

Ancestors and other deities SHANG

Key points

• Shangdi is the highest deity, but not the only divine power.

• Ancestors, zu 祖, are also worshipped.

  • Ancestors are less transcendent than Shangdi.

  • Ancestors are closer to the human world.

  • Ancestors help mediate communication between humans and higher divine powers.

• Other deities/spirits also exist, including natural powers.

  • Like: yellow river diety: the control of large rivers and their DEITIES has been a continuous concern duting the Chinese History.

  • Important mountains such as Sōngshān 嵩山 with the “Mt. Sōng” deity

    Concepts of “Five Sacred Mountains” or “Four Sacred Mountains” developed early china.

  • After death of King he became a 蒂 or ancestral spirit.

• Veneration in Ancestor Temple (zōng 宗)

  • Ritual bronze vessels

  • Rituals

  • Shamans/priests (wū 巫)

  • Divination practices

Why this matters

This proves Chinese religion is inclusive, not exclusive:

• one can worship Shangdi;

• perform ancestor rites;

• sacrifice to nature spirits;

• use divination;

• all within the same religious system.

Exam takeaway

Shang religion had a layered divine world: Shangdi at the top, ancestors as mediators, and other spirits/deities also receiving ritual attention.

Religion during the Zhou

Main idea

In the Zhou, the highest power becomes increasingly described as Tian 天, “Heaven.”

Key points

Tian 天

• Highest power in Zhou religion.

• Appears in written sources around ca. 700 BCE, though dating is tricky.

• Tian and Di/Shangdi partly merge over time.

Other divine beings

• Terrestrial deities.

• Nature deities.

• God of Millet.

• Five Sacred Mountains.

• Human ancestors.

Ancestors

• Still crucial.

• Correct sacrifices remain important.

• Proper sacrifice gives some control over spirits, but not over Heaven.

Changes from Shang to Zhou

• Human sacrifice gradually disappears.

• Divination methods gradually change.

• Tian becomes central to political legitimacy.

Exam takeaway

Zhou religion shifts emphasis from Shangdi toward Tian. Heaven becomes the highest source of legitimacy, while ancestor sacrifice and nature cults remain important. This prepares the concept of tianming 天命, the Mandate of Heaven.

Shang political philosophy

Point

• Yin, the capital, is seen as center of the world.

• Everything outside is external: fang 方.

Know

• Centrality becomes important in Chinese cosmology.

• King rules capital directly.

• Other regions governed through family/connected elites.

• Tribute, administration, officials, labor division.

Exam takeaway

• Shang kingship links political geography with cosmological centrality.

Zhou Dynasty

Point

• Western Zhou: 11th c.–770 BCE.

• Eastern Zhou:

  • Spring and Autumn 722-481

  • Warring States 403/453 - 221

Know

• Confucius and others idealized early Zhou as a golden age.

Exam takeaway

• Zhou becomes the model past for Confucian political imagination.

Historical background Zhou

Point

• Iron replaces bronze.

• Agriculture improves.

• New weapons.

• Population increases.

• Bronze coins circulate.

• Eastern Zhou:

  • Many wars.

    • Huge philosophical productivity.

      • Especially in political philosofy

Know

• Political instability produces philosophy.

Exam takeaway

• Chinese philosophy develops as a response to war and disorder.

Zhou political development

Point

• Early Zhou: feudal system fengjian 封建.

• Later Zhou: more centralization/bureaucracy.

• Shi 士 become important.

• States become independent.

• Zhou court becomes symbolic.

Know

• Political fragmentation creates Warring States competition.

Exam takeaway

• The weakening Zhou order is the background for Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, Daoism.

Religion during Zhou

Point

• Highest power becomes Tian 天, Heaven.

• Tian and Di/Shangdi merge partly.

• Other deities remain:

  • nature deities

  • God of Millet

  • Five Sacred Mountains

  • ancestors

Know

• Ancestor sacrifices still crucial.

• Correct sacrifice gives control over spirits, but not Heaven.

• This is where the mandate of heaven is set

• Human sacrifice gradually disappears.

• Divination methods change.

Exam takeaway

• Zhou religion shifts toward Tian as highest legitimacy, while ancestor/nature worship continues.

States of Spring and Autumn/Warring States

1. Jin

   1. Originally the most powerful in Spring and Autumn period

2. Lu

3. Qi

   1. Last state to be defeated by Qin in 221

4. Song

5. Qin

   1. Reforms of Shang Yang 359

      1. “Becoming Qin's chief minister for twenty years, he launched two series of reforms,^[2] laying the administrative, political and economic foundations that would eventually enable Qin to conquer the other six rival states, unifying China under centralized rule for the first time under the Qin dynasty”

6. Chu

   1. Most powerful in 334

7. Wu

8. Zhao

9. Han

10. Wei

What is myth?

• Myth is not “fake story.”

• Myth encodes:

  • social organization

  • rituals

  • taboos

  • fears

  • institutions

  • worldview

Know

• Myths structure society and legitimacy.

Exam takeaway

• Chinese myths are political-cultural tools, not just fantasy stories.

Yellow Emperor Huangdi 黃帝

Point

• Ancestor of all Chinese.

• Legitimizes rulership.

• Cultural hero.

• Linked with inventions.

  • Cang Jie invents writing.

• Subdues rebellious tribes.

Exam takeaway

• Huangdi functions as mythical ancestor, civilizing hero, and symbol of political legitimacy.

Nuwa 女媧

Point

• Traced in literature to ca. 350 BCE.

• Appears with brother/husband Fuxi 伏羲.

• Ancestor of humanity.

• Created humans from clay.

• Repaired the universe.

Exam takeaway

• Nuwa represents creation, repair of cosmic order, and origins of humanity

Shennong 神農

Point

• “Divine/Heavenly Farmer.”

• Mythical emperor and cultural hero.

• Invents plow and agriculture.

Exam takeaway

• Shennong represents agriculture, civilization, and practical cultural invention.