Misplaced Pages

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article. There might be a discussion about this on the talk page. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Misplaced Pages's inclusion policy. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Tian
Chinese Bronze script character for Tian.
Chinese name
Chinese	天
Literal meaning	heaven, nature
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin tiān Bopomofo ㄊㄧㄢ Wade–Giles t'ien IPA [tʰi̯ɛn] Wu Romanization thi (T1) Gan Romanization tien Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization tīn Jyutping tin1 IPA Southern Min Hokkien POJ thiⁿ Middle Chinese Middle Chinese tʰen Old Chinese Zhengzhang /*qʰl'iːn/
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	thiên
Chữ Hán	天
Korean name
Hangul	천
Hanja	天
Transcriptions Revised Romanization cheon
Japanese name
Kanji	天
Kana	てん
Transcriptions Romanization ten

Part of a series on
Chinese folk religion
Concepts Tian—Shangdi Qi Shen Ling Xian ling Yinyang Hundun Mingyun Yuanfen Baoying Wu
Theory Chinese theology Chinese gods and immortals Chinese mythology Chinese creation myth Chinese spiritual world concepts Model humanity: Xian Zhenren Wen and wu
Practices Fenxiang Jingxiang Feng shui Miaohui Wu shamanism Jitong mediumship Precious scrolls
Institutions and temples Associations of good-doing Lineage associations or churches Chinese temple Ancestral shrine Chinese Folk Temples' Association
Festivals Qingming Zhongyuan Zhongqiu Jiuhuangye Qixi Duanwu Nian
Internal traditionsMajor cultural forms Chinese ancestral religion Chinese communal deity religion Chinese food therapy Chinese geomancy Chinese mother goddess worship Northeast China folk religion Traditional Chinese Medicine Qigong Main philosophical traditions: Confucianism (state rites) Taoism Other schools (Moism) Ritual traditions: Folk ritual masters' orders Jitong mediumship Nuo folk religion Chinese shamanism Devotional traditions: Mazuism Ong Yah worship Salvation churches and sects: De teaching Jiugongdao Luo teaching Maitreya teachings Tiandi teachings Tianxian miaodao Xia teaching Xiantiandao Yiguandao Zaili teaching Confucian churches and sects: Holy Confucian Church Indonesian Confucian Church Universal Church of the Way and its Virtue Phoenix churches Xuanyuanism Taigu school
Related religions Benzhuism Bimoism Bon Dongbaism Han Buddhism Miao folk religion Vietnamese folk religion Qiang folk religion Yao folk religion Zhuang folk religion
Religion portal
v t e

Tian (天) is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their highest god as Shangdi or Di (帝, 'Lord'). During the following Zhou dynasty, Tian became synonymous with this figure. Before the 20th century, worship of Tian was an orthodox state religion of China.

In Taoism and Confucianism, Tian (the celestial aspect of the cosmos, often translated as "Heaven") is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Dì (地, often translated as "Earth"). They are thought to maintain the two poles of the Three Realms of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Humanity (人, rén), and the lower world occupied by demons (魔, mó) and "ghosts", the damned, (鬼, guǐ). Tian was variously thought as a "supreme power reigning over lesser gods and human beings" that brought "order and calm...or catastrophe and punishment", a deity, destiny, an impersonal force that controls events, a holy world or afterlife containing other worlds or afterlives, or one or more of these.

Characters

The modern Chinese character 天 and early seal script both combine dà 大 'great; large' and yī 一 'one', but some of the original characters in Shāng oracle bone script and Zhōu bronzeware script anthropomorphically portray a large head on a great person. The ancient oracle and bronze ideograms for dà 大 depict a stick figure person with arms stretched out denoting "great; large". The oracle and bronze characters for Tian 天 emphasize the cranium of this 'great (person)', either with a square or round head, or head marked with one or two lines. Schuessler notes the bronze graphs for Tian, showing a person with a round head, resemble those for dīng 丁 "4th Celestial stem", and suggests "The anthropomorphic graph may or may not indicate that the original meaning was 'deity', rather than 'sky'."

Two variant Chinese characters for 天 are 二人 (written with 二 èr 'two' and 人 rén 'human') and the Daoist coinage 靝 (with 青 qīng 'blue' and 氣 'qi', cf. 'blue sky').

Etymology

Tian 天 reconstructions in Middle Chinese (c. 6th–10th centuries CE) include t'ien, t'iɛn, tʰɛn > tʰian, and then. Reconstructions in Old Chinese (c. 6th–3rd centuries BCE) include *t'ien, *t'en, *hlin, *thîn, and *l̥ˤin.

For the etymology of Tian, Schuessler links it with the Turkic and Mongolian word tengri 'sky', 'heaven', 'deity' or the Tibeto-Burman words taleŋ (Adi) and tǎ-lyaŋ (Lepcha), both meaning 'sky' or 'God'. He also suggests a likely connection between Tian, diān 巔 'summit, mountaintop', and diān 顛 'summit', 'top of the head', 'forehead', which have cognates such as Zemeic Naga tiŋ 'sky'. However, other reconstructions of 天's OC pronunciation *qʰl'iːn or *l̥ˤi reconstructed a voiceless lateral onset, either a cluster or a single consonant, respectively. Baxter & Sagart pointed to attested dialectal differences in Eastern Han Chinese, the use of 天 as a phonetic component in phono-semantic compound Chinese characters, and the choice of 天 to transcribe foreign syllables, all of which prompted them to conclude that, around 200 CE, 天's onset had two pronunciations: coronal *tʰ and dorsal *x, both of which likely originated from an earlier voiceless lateral *l̥ˤ. Further etymology is unknown. It is proposed that transcriptions of a Xiongnu word for "sky", haak-lin 赫連, is related.

Compounds

Tian is one of the components in hundreds of Chinese compounds. Some significant ones include:

• Mandate of Heaven
• Heavenly Questions, a section of the Chu Ci.
• Tiānzǐ (天子 'Son of Heaven'), an honorific designation for the Emperor;
• All under heaven
• Tiāndì (天地, lit. 'heaven and earth') 'the world; the universe'.
• Xingtian
• Tiānfáng (天房, lit. 'House of Heaven', a Chinese name for the Kaaba, from Bayt Allah (Arabic: بَيْت ٱللَّٰه, lit. 'House of God').

Chinese interpretations

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"Lord Heaven" and "Jade Emperor" were terms for a supreme deity in Confucianism and Taoism who was an anthropromorphized Tian, and some conceptions of it thought of the names as synonymous.

Tian was viewed as "the dwelling place of gods and other superhuman beings". It was also viewed as "the guardian of both the moral laws of mankind and the physical laws of nature...and is synonymous with the divine will."

In Chinese culture, heaven tends to be "synonymous with order", "containing the blueprints for creation", "the mandate by which earthly rulers govern, and the standards by which to measure beauty, goodness, and truth."

Zhou dynasty nobles made the worship of heaven a major part of their political philosophy and viewed it as "many gods" who embodied order and kingship, as well as the mandate of heaven.

Confucianism

"Confucianism has a religious side with a deep reverence for Heaven and Earth (Di), whose powers regulate the flow of nature and influence human events." Yin and yang are also thought to be integral to this relationship and permeate both, as well as humans and man-made constructs. This "cosmos" and its "principles" is something that "he ways of man should conform to, or else" frustration will result.

Many Confucianists, both historically and in current times, use the I Ching to divine events through the changes of Tian and other natural forces. Historical and current Confucianists were/are often environmentalists out of their respect for Heaven and the other aspects of nature and the principle that comes from their unity and, more generally, harmony as a whole, which is "the basis for a sincere mind." The Emperor of China as Tianzi was formerly vital to Confucianism.

Mount Tai is seen as a sacred place in Confucianism and was traditionally the most revered place where Chinese emperors offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth.

Confucius

The concept of Tian is pervasive in Confucianism. Confucius had a deep trust in Heaven and believed that Heaven overruled human efforts. He also believed that he was carrying out the will of Heaven, and that Heaven would not allow its servant, Confucius, to be dead until his work was done and complete. Many attributes of Heaven were delineated in his Analects.

Confucius honored Heaven as the supreme source of goodness:

The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!"

Confucius felt himself personally dependent upon Heaven: "Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!"

Confucius believed that Heaven cannot be deceived:

The Master being very ill, Zi Lu wished the disciples to act as ministers to him. During a remission of his illness, he said, "Long has the conduct of You been deceitful! By pretending to have ministers when I have them not, whom should I impose upon? Should I impose upon Heaven? Moreover, than that I should die in the hands of ministers, is it not better that I should die in the hands of you, my disciples? And though I may not get a great burial, shall I die upon the road?"

Confucius believed that Heaven gives people tasks to perform to teach them of virtues and morality:

The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."

He believed that Heaven knew what he was doing and approved of him, even though none of the rulers on earth might want him as a guide:

The Master said, "Alas! there is no one that knows me." Zi Gong said, "What do you mean by thus saying - that no one knows you?" The Master replied, "I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven - that knows me!"

Perhaps the most remarkable saying, recorded twice, is one in which Confucius expresses complete trust in the overruling providence of Heaven:

The Master was put in fear in Kuang. He said, "After the death of King Wen, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of Kuang do to me?"

Mozi

For Mozi, Heaven is the divine ruler, just as the Son of Heaven is the earthly ruler. Mozi believed that spirits and minor demons exist or at least rituals should be performed as if they did for social reasons, but their function is to carry out the will of Heaven, watching for evil-doers and punishing them. Mozi taught that Heaven loves all people equally and that each person should similarly love all human beings without distinguishing between his own relatives and those of others. Mozi criticized the Confucians of his own time for not following the teachings of Confucius. In Mozi's Will of Heaven (天志), he writes:

Moreover, 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 that so the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and rivers, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man's good or bring him evil. He appointed the dukes and lords to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked, and to gather metal and wood, birds and beasts, and to engage in cultivating the five grains and flax and silk to provide for the people's food and clothing. This has been so from antiquity to the present."

Schools of cosmology

There are three major schools on the structure of Tian. Most other hypothesis were developed from them.

• Gaitian shuo (蓋天說) "Canopy-Heavens hypothesis" originated from the text Zhoubi Suanjing. The earth is covered by a material Tian.
• Huntian shuo (渾天說) "Egg-like hypothesis". The earth surrounded by a Tian sphere rotating over it. The celestial bodies are attached to the Tian sphere. (See Zhang Heng § Astronomy and mathematics, Chinese creation myth.)
• Xuanye shuo (宣夜說) "Firmament hypothesis". The Tian is an infinite space. The celestial bodies were light matters floating on it moved by Qi. A summary by Ji Meng (郗萌) is in the astronomical chapters of the Book of Jin.

Tian schools influenced popular conception of the universe and earth until the 17th century, when they were replaced by cosmological concepts imported from Europe.

Sometimes the sky is divided into Jiutian (九天) 'nine sky divisions'—the middle sky and the eight directions.

Buddhism

The Tian are the heaven worlds and pure lands in Buddhist cosmology.

Some devas are also called Tian.

Taoism

The number of vertical heaven layers in Taoism is different. A common belief in Taoism is that there were 36 Tian "arranged on six levels" that have "different deities". The highest heaven is the "Great Web" which was sometimes said to be where Yuanshi Tianzun lived.

After death, some Taoists were thought to explore "heavenly realms" and/or become Taoist immortals. These immortals could be good or evil, and there were sometimes rivalries between them.

Some heavens in Taoism were thought to be evil, as in Shangqing Daoism, although Tian was mostly thought of as a force for good.

Heaven is sometimes seen as synonymous with the Dao or a natural energy that can be accessed by living in accordance with the Dao.

A Tao realm inconceivable and incomprehensible by normal humans and even Confucius and Confucianists was sometimes called "the Heavens". Higher, spiritual versions of Daoists such as Laozi were thought to exist in there when they were alive and absorb "the purest Yin and Yang", as well as xian who were reborn into it after their human selves' spirits were sent there. These spiritual versions were thought to be abstract beings that can manifest in that world as mythical beings such as dragons who eat yin and yang energy and ride clouds and their qi.

Chinese folk religion

Some Tian in Chinese folk religion were thought to be many different or a hierarchy of multiple, sphere-like realms that contained morally ambiguous creatures and spirits such as fox spirits and fire-breathing dragons.

The Tao realm was thought to exist by many ancient folk religion practitioners.

Ahom religion

Ahom religion ethnically originated from Dai people of Yunnan in Southwest China has a concept of Mong Phi (Heavenly Kingdom) which is often identified as Tian.

Yiguandao

In Yiguandao, Tian is divided into three vertical worlds. Li Tian (理天) 'heaven of truth', Qi Tian (氣天) 'heaven of spirit' and Xiang Tian (象天) 'heaven of matter'.

Japanese interpretations

In some cases, the heavens in Shinto were thought to be a hierarchy of multiple, sphere-like realms that contained kami such as fox spirits.

Myths about the kami were told "of their doings on Earth and in heaven." Heaven was thought to be a clean and orderly place for nature gods in Shinto.

Interpretation by Western sinologists

The sinologist Herrlee Creel, who wrote a comprehensive study called "The Origin of the Deity T'ien", gives this overview.

For three thousand years it has been believed that from time immemorial all Chinese revered T'ien 天, "Heaven," as the highest deity, and that this same deity was also known as Shangdi, Ti 帝, or Shang Ti 上帝. But the new materials that have become available in the present century, and especially the Shang inscriptions, make it evident that this was not the case. It appears rather that T'ien is not named at all in the Shang inscriptions, which instead refer with great frequency to Ti or Shang Ti. T'ien appears only with the Chou, and was apparently a Chou deity. After the conquest the Chou considered T'ien to be identical with the Shang deity Ti (or Shang Ti), much as the Romans identified the Greek Zeus with their Jupiter.

Creel refers to the historical shift in ancient Chinese names for 'god' from Shang oracles that frequently used Di and Shangdi and rarely used "Tian", to Zhou bronzes and texts that used "Tian" more frequently than Shangdi. The chapter "Tang Shi" (湯誓 'Tang's speech') illustrates how early Zhou texts used Tian in contexts with Shangdi. According to tradition, Tang of Shang assembled his subjects to overthrow King Jie of Xia, the infamous last ruler of the Xia Dynasty, but they were reluctant to attack.

The king said, "Come, ye multitudes of the people, listen all to my words. It is not I, the little child [a humble name used by kings], who dare to undertake what may seem to be a rebellious enterprise; but for the many crimes of the sovereign of Hsiâ [Xia] Heaven has given the charge [...] to destroy him. Now, ye multitudes, you are saying, 'Our prince does not compassionate us, but (is calling us) away from our husbandry to attack and punish the ruler of Hsiâ.' I have indeed heard these words of you all; but the sovereign of Hsiâ is an offender, and, as I fear God [shangdi], I dare not but punish him. Now you are saying, 'What are the crimes of Hsiâ to us?' The king of Hsiâ does nothing but exhaust the strength of his people, and exercise oppression in the cities of Hsiâ. His people have all become idle in his service, and will not assist him. They are saying, 'When will this sun expire? We will all perish with thee.' Such is the course of the sovereign of Hsiâ, and now I must go and punish him. Assist, I pray you, me, the one man, to carry out the punishment appointed by Heaven [tian]. I will greatly reward you. On no account disbelieve me; — I will not eat my words. If you do not obey the words which I have spoken to you, I will put your children with you to death; — you shall find no forgiveness."

Having established that Tian was not a deity of the Shang people, Creel proposes a hypothesis for how it originated. Both the Shang and Zhou peoples pictographically represented da 大 as 'a large or great man'. The Zhou subsequently added a head on him to denote tian 天 meaning 'king, kings' (cf. wang 王 'king', 'ruler', which had oracle graphs picturing a line under a 'great person' and bronze graphs that added the top line). From 'king', Tian was semantically extended to mean 'dead kings', 'ancestral kings', who controlled 'fate; providence', and ultimately a single omnipotent deity Tian 'Heaven'. In addition, Tian named both 'the heavens' (where ancestral kings and gods supposedly lived) and the visible 'sky'.

Another possibility is that Tian may be related to Tengri, hinting at an ultimate origin as a loan word from a prehistoric Central Asian language that contributed to the creation of the word.

Kelly James Clark argued that Confucius himself saw Tian as an anthropomorphic god that Clark hypothetically refers to as 'Heavenly Supreme Emperor', although most other scholars on Confucianism disagree with this view.

See also

• Amenominakanushi – the Japanese concept of God as the ultimate creator
• Haneullim – the Sky God of Cheondoism
• Hongjun Laozu
• Shen
• Taiyi Tianzun
• Tengri

References

Citations

1. Stefon, Matt (2010-02-03). "Shangdi". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
2. Woodhead, Linda; Partridge, Christopher; Kawanami, Hiroko (2016). Religions in the Modern World (Third ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-415-85881-6.
3. ^ Wilson, Andrew, ed. (1995). World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (1st paperback ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House Publishers. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-55778-723-1.
4. Woolf, Greg (2007). Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art. Barnes & Noble. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-4351-0121-0.
5. ^ "tian". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
6. Harari, Yuval Noah (2015). Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Translated by Harari, Yuval Noah; Purcell, John; Watzman, Haim. London: Penguin Random House UK. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-09-959008-8. OCLC 910498369.
7. ^ Storm, Rachel (2011). Sudell, Helen (ed.). Myths & Legends of India, Egypt, China & Japan (2nd ed.). Wigston, Leicestershire: Lorenz Books. p. 233.
8. Willard Gurdon Oxtoby, ed. (2002). World Religions: Eastern Traditions (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. p. 424. ISBN 0-19-541521-3. OCLC 46661540.
9. ^ Carrasco et al. 1999, p. 1096.
10. ^ "xian". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
11. ^ Carlson, Kathie; Flanagin, Michael N.; Martin, Kathleen; Martin, Mary E.; Mendelsohn, John; Rodgers, Priscilla Young; Ronnberg, Ami; Salman, Sherry; Wesley, Deborah A. (2010). Arm, Karen; Ueda, Kako; Thulin, Anne; Langerak, Allison; Kiley, Timothy Gus; Wolff, Mary (eds.). The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images. Köln: Taschen. p. 280. ISBN 978-3-8365-1448-4.
12. ^ Schuessler (2007), p. 495
13. Carrasco et al. 1999, p. 1068.
14. ^ Karlgren (1922)
15. Zhou (1972)
16. Pulleyblank (1991)
17. Baxter (1992), Baxter & Sagart (2014)
18. Zhou (1972)
19. Baxter (1992)
20. Schuessler (2007)
21. Baxter & Sagart (2014)
22. Schuessler (2007), p. 211; #6312 NEIA *t(s)iŋ celestial / sky / weath (provisional) at Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus
23. Zhengzhang (2003)
24. Baxter & Sagart (2011), p. 110
25. Baxter & Sagart (2014), pp. 113–114
26. Chen, Sanping (1998). "Sino-Tokharico-Altaica — Two Linguistic Notes". Central Asiatic Journal. 42 (1): 24–43. ISSN 0008-9192. JSTOR 41928134.
27. Willard Gurdon Oxtoby, ed. (2002). World Religions: Eastern Traditions (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. pp. 326, 393, 401. ISBN 0-19-541521-3. OCLC 46661540.
28. ^ Zaleski, Carol (2023-05-12). "Heaven". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
29. Pearson, Patricia O'Connell; Holdren, John (May 2021). World History: Our Human Story. Versailles, Kentucky: Sheridan Kentucky. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-60153-123-0.
30. Tucker, Mary Evelyn (1998). "Confucianism and Ecology: Potential and Limits". The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale. Yale University. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
31. Guangwei, He; Hualing, Tong; Wenzhen, Yang; Zhenguo, Chang; Zeru, Li; Ruicheng, Dong; Weijan, Gong, eds. (1999). Spectacular China. Translated by Wusun, Lin; Zhongping, Wu. Cologne: Könemann. p. 42. ISBN 978-3-8290-1077-1.
32. Analects 7.23
33. Confucius & Legge (1893), p.214, VIII, xix
34. Confucius & Legge (1893), p.193, VI, xxviii
35. Confucius & Legge (1893), pp. 220-221, IX, xi
36. Confucius & Legge (1893), p.146, book II, chapter iv
37. Confucius & Legge (1893), 288-9, XIV, xxxv
38. Confucius & Legge (1893), 217-8, 9.5 and 7.12
39. Dubs (1960), pp. 163–172
40. Mozi & Mei (1929), p. 145
41. ^ Liu, Shu-Chiu (2006-12-11). "Three early Chinese models". Asia-Pacific Forum on Science, Learning, and Teaching. Historical models and science instruction: A cross-cultural analysis based on students' views. Education University of Hong Kong.
42. Carrasco et al. 1999, p. 473.
43. Helle, Horst J. (2017). "Daoism: China's Native Religion". China: Promise or Threat?: A Comparison of Cultures. Brill. pp. 75–76. JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctt1w8h29s.12.
44. Carrasco et al. 1999, p. 691.
45. Dell, Christopher (2012). Mythology: The Complete Guide to our Imagined Worlds. New York: Thames & Hudson. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-500-51615-7.
46. Wilson, Andrew, ed. (1995). World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (1st paperback ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House Publishers. pp. 467–468. ISBN 978-1-55778-723-1.
47. ^ Minford, John (2018). Tao Te Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao. New York: Viking Press. pp. ix–x. ISBN 978-0-670-02498-8.
48. Hua, Sara Lynn (2016-06-28). "Difference Between A Chinese Dragon and A Western Dragon". TutorABC Chinese China Expats & Culture Blog. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
49. "Heaven is here Tien a part Yunnan In Southwest China." Gogoi, Padmeshwar (1976). Tai Ahom Religion and Customs. Publication Board, Gauhati, Assam. p. 14.
50. ^ Stevenson, Jay (2000). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-02-863820-1.
51. Creel (1970), p. 493
52. Legge (1865), pp. 173–5
53. Creel (1970), pp. 501–6
54. Müller (1870)
55. Jonathan Fuqua; Robert C. Koons, eds. (2023-02-10). "Searching for the Ineffable: Classical Theism and Eastern Thought about God". Classical Theism: New Essays on the Metaphysics of God. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-83688-2. OCLC 1353836889.

Sources

• Baxter, William H. (1992). A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter.
• Baxter, William; Sagart, Lauren (2011). "Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction" (pdf). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
• Baxter, William; Sagart, Lauren (2014). Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction (PDF). Oxford University Press. pp. 113–114. Supplemental materials available at their webpage.
• Carrasco, David; Warmind, Morten; Hawley, John Stratton; Reynolds, Frank; Giarardot, Norman; Neusner, Jacob; Pelikan, Jaroslav; Campo, Juan; Penner, Hans (1999). Wendy Doniger (ed.). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. United States: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
• Chang, Ruth H. (2000). "Understanding Di and Tian: Deity and Heaven From Shang to Tang". Sino-Platonic Papers. 108: 1–54.
• Creel, Herrlee G. (1970). The Origins of Statecraft in China. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-12043-0.
• Dubs, Homer H. (1960). "Theism and Naturalism in Ancient Chinese Philosophy". Philosophy East and West. 9 (3–4): 163–172. doi:10.2307/1397096. JSTOR 1397096.
• Feng, Yu-Lan (1952). A History of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. I. The Period of the Philosophers. Translated by Bodde, Derk. Princeton University Press.
• Karlgren, Bernhard (1922). "The reconstruction of Ancient Chinese". T'oung Pao. 21 (1): 1–42. doi:10.1163/156853222X00015.
• The Chinese Classics, Vol. III, The Shoo King. Translated by Legge, James. Oxford University Press. 1865 – via Internet Archive.
• Confucius (1893). The Chinese Classics, Vol. I, The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean. Translated by Legge, James. Oxford University Press – via Internet Archive.
• Mozi (1929). The Ethical and Political Works of Motse. Translated by Mei, Y. P. London: Probsthain.
• Müller, Friedrich Max (1870). Lectures on the Science of Religion. New York, C. Scribner and company.
• Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1991). A Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese and Early Mandarin. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0366-3.
• Schuessler, Axel (2007). ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. University of Hawaii Press.
• Zhengzhang, Shangfang 鄭張尚芳 (2003). 上古音系 [Ancient Phonology]. Shanghai Education Press.
• Zhou, Fagao 周法高 (1972). "Shanggu Hanyu he Han-Zangyu" 上古漢語和漢藏語 [Ancient Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Languages]. Journal of the Institute of Chinese Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (in Chinese). 5: 159–244.

External links

• Oracle, Bronze, and Seal characters for 天, Richard Sears

v t e Theology
Conceptions of God Theism Forms Deism Dystheism Henotheism Hermeticism Kathenotheism Nontheism Monolatry Monotheism Urmonotheismus Mysticism Panentheism Pandeism Pantheism Polydeism Polytheism Spiritualism Theistic finitism Theopanism Concepts Deity Divinity Gender of God and gods Goddess Numen Singular god theologies By faith Abrahamic religions Baháʼí Faith Judaism Christianity Islam Buddhism Hinduism Jainism Sikhism Zoroastrianism Concepts Absolute Brahman Emanationism Logos Supreme Being God as Sustainer Time Good (Ahura Mazda, Father of Greatness) Trinitarianism Athanasian Creed Comma Johanneum Consubstantiality Homoousian Homoiousian Hypostasis Perichoresis Shield of the Trinity Trinitarian formula Trinity Trinity of the Church Fathers Trinitarian universalism Eschatology Afterlife Apocalypticism Fate of the unlearned Fitra Heaven / Hell By religion Buddhist Christian Hindu Islamic Jewish Taoist Zoroastrian Feminist Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mormonism Goddesses Other concepts Attributes of God in Christianity / in Islam Binitarianism Demiurge Divine simplicity Divine presence Egotheism Exotheology Holocaust Godhead in Christianity Latter Day Saints Great Architect of the Universe Great Spirit Apophatic theology Olelbis Open theism Personal god Phenomenological definition Philo's view Process Tian Unmoved mover Names of God in Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism
By faith Christian History Outline Biblical canon Glossary Paterology Christology Pneumatology Cosmology Ecclesiology Eschatology Ethics Hamartiology Messianism Philosophy Political Practical Public Sophiology Soteriology Hindu Ayyavazhi theology Krishnology Islamic Oneness of God Prophets Holy Scriptures Angels Predestination Last Judgment Jewish Abrahamic prophecy Aggadah Denominations Kabbalah Philosophy Pagan Slavic Native Faith Wiccan
Religion portal

• Chinese gods
• Locations in Chinese mythology
• Conceptions of God
• Religious Confucianism
• East Asian traditional religion
• Heaven
• Names of God
• Sky and weather gods
• Taoist cosmology
• Relationship between Heaven and Mankind
• Deities in Chinese folk religion
• Kyōiku kanji
• Concepts in Chinese philosophy