Friday, December 29, 2006
Nations (Religion-Chinese)
"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8 NIV)
As polytheism became the popular religious system, finding people groups who were monotheistic was harder and harder to find. One of the most ancient and most highly recognized monotheistic religions is Judaism. Oddly, the Hebrews kept their monotheistic beliefs (for the most part) in a region that was highly influenced by polytheistic beliefs: Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Hittites, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, and eventually Romans. But a more isolated group of people were discovered to be monotheistic.
Before the introduction of Confucianism and Taoism, followed by Buddhism from India, the early Chinese were monotheistic. They worshiped the god ShangTi, the Heavenly Ruler. Every year the reigning emperor of China would travel back west to the border of his country and sacrifice a young unblemished bullock on an outdoor altar. Eventually the Temple and Altar of Heaven was moved to Beijing, where it still stands today.
Many references to ShangTi can be found in The Five Classics, five ancient Chinese books that are believed to be compiled by Confucius. Confucious was perplexed by these sacrifices. In one of his writings he wrote: “He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth … would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!” [ref].
Many of the prayers and songs that were sung to ShangTi at the Border Sacrifice can still be read today. One of the most profound is the following:
Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and moon to shine. You, O Spiritual Sovereign first divided the grosser parts from the purer. You made heaven. You made earth. You made man. All things with their reproducing power got their being. … All the numerous tribes of animated beings are indebted to Thy favor for their beginnings. Men and things are all emparadised [sic] in Thy love, O Te [different name of same person]. All living things are indebted to Your goodness, but who knows from whom his blessings come to him? You alone, O Lord, are the true parent of all things. … He sets fast forever the high heaven, and establishes the solid earth. His government is everlasting. … Your sovereign goodness cannot be measured. As a potter, You have made all living things.
These songs and traditions outdate Moses’ writings by more than 700 years. Could the Chinese have taken memories from after the flood as they dispersed to the east? I believe what may be more telling is the language they developed and still maintain in a simplified form today! That is for another post.
REF: Nelson, Ethel R. and Richard E. Broadberry. Mystery Confucius Couldn’t Solve. Ethel R. Nelson: 1994.
(See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangdi)
As polytheism became the popular religious system, finding people groups who were monotheistic was harder and harder to find. One of the most ancient and most highly recognized monotheistic religions is Judaism. Oddly, the Hebrews kept their monotheistic beliefs (for the most part) in a region that was highly influenced by polytheistic beliefs: Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Hittites, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, and eventually Romans. But a more isolated group of people were discovered to be monotheistic.
Before the introduction of Confucianism and Taoism, followed by Buddhism from India, the early Chinese were monotheistic. They worshiped the god ShangTi, the Heavenly Ruler. Every year the reigning emperor of China would travel back west to the border of his country and sacrifice a young unblemished bullock on an outdoor altar. Eventually the Temple and Altar of Heaven was moved to Beijing, where it still stands today.
Many references to ShangTi can be found in The Five Classics, five ancient Chinese books that are believed to be compiled by Confucius. Confucious was perplexed by these sacrifices. In one of his writings he wrote: “He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth … would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!” [ref].
Many of the prayers and songs that were sung to ShangTi at the Border Sacrifice can still be read today. One of the most profound is the following:
Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and moon to shine. You, O Spiritual Sovereign first divided the grosser parts from the purer. You made heaven. You made earth. You made man. All things with their reproducing power got their being. … All the numerous tribes of animated beings are indebted to Thy favor for their beginnings. Men and things are all emparadised [sic] in Thy love, O Te [different name of same person]. All living things are indebted to Your goodness, but who knows from whom his blessings come to him? You alone, O Lord, are the true parent of all things. … He sets fast forever the high heaven, and establishes the solid earth. His government is everlasting. … Your sovereign goodness cannot be measured. As a potter, You have made all living things.
These songs and traditions outdate Moses’ writings by more than 700 years. Could the Chinese have taken memories from after the flood as they dispersed to the east? I believe what may be more telling is the language they developed and still maintain in a simplified form today! That is for another post.
REF: Nelson, Ethel R. and Richard E. Broadberry. Mystery Confucius Couldn’t Solve. Ethel R. Nelson: 1994.
(See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangdi)
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 1:10 PM 
