Editing Shangdi (section)

== Worship ==

=== Rituals ===
[[File:CircularMound.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Sacred altar at the [[Temple of Heaven]], Beijing]]

As mentioned above, sacrifices offered to Shangdi by the king are claimed by traditional Chinese histories to predate the Xia dynasty. The [[Oracle bones#Discovery|surviving archaeological record]] shows that by the Shang, the [[scapula|shoulder blades]] of sacrificed oxen were used to send questions or communication through fire and smoke to the divine realm, a practice known as [[scapulimancy]]. The heat would cause the bones to crack and royal diviners would interpret the marks as Shangdi's response to the king. Inscriptions used for divination were buried into special orderly pits, while those that were for practice or records were buried in common [[midden]]s after use.<ref>Xu Yahui. Caltonhill, Mark & al., trans. ''Ancient Chinese Writing: Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the Ruins of Yin.'' [[Academia Sinica]]. [[National Palace Museum]] (Taipei), 2002. Govt. Publ. No. 1009100250.</ref>

During the Shang, it is observed that Di did not receive direct cult. Instead, his consular spirits would be manifested into the human world to be offered sacrifices. The Shang often identified these spirits as Di, and sometimes perform a "Di-sacrifice" to them, illustrating intimate connections of the recipients with the being.

Under Shangdi or his later names, the deity received sacrifices from the ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty annually at a great [[Temple of Heaven]] in the imperial capital. Following the principles of [[fengshui|Chinese geomancy]], this would always be located in the southern quarter of the city.{{NoteTag|For instance, the Classic of History records the Duke of Zhou building an altar in the southern part of Luo.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}}} During the ritual, a completely healthy bull would be slaughtered and presented as an animal sacrifice to Shangdi.{{NoteTag|Although the Duke of Zhou is presented as sacrificing two.}} The ''[[Book of Rites]]'' states the sacrifice should occur on the "[[summer solstice|longest day]]" on a round-mound altar.{{clarify|date=October 2012}} The altar would have three tiers: the highest for Shangdi and the [[Son of Heaven]]; the second-highest for the sun and moon; and the lowest for the natural gods such as the stars, clouds, rain, wind, and thunder.

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" ({{lang|zh|神位}}, shénwèi) inscribed with the name of Shangdi is stored on the throne, ''Huangtian Shangdi'' ({{lang|zh|皇天上帝}}). 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.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.jsdj.com/luyou/tp2/BJTT12.jpg |title = JSDJ |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051214105152/http://www.jsdj.com/luyou/tp2/BJTT12.jpg |archive-date = 2005-12-14 }}</ref>

===Conflation with singular universal God===
{{see also|Chinese Rites controversy|Chinese names for the God of Abrahamic religions|Unknown God}}

It was during Ming and Qing dynasty, when Roman Catholicism was introduced by [[Jesuit]] Priest [[Matteo Ricci]], that the idea of "Shangdi" started to be applied to the [[God in Christianity|Christian conception of God]].

While initially he utilized the term ''[[Tianzhu (Chinese name of God)|Tianzhu]]'' ({{zh|labels=no|c=天主|p=Tiānzhǔ}}), lit. "The Lord of Heaven", Ricci gradually changed the translation into "Shangdi" instead.<ref>“{{lang|zh|上帝給人雙目、雙耳、雙手、雙足，欲兩友相助，方爲事有成矣。”《交友論》}},1595</ref><ref>{{lang|zh|“上帝者，生物原始，宰物本主也。”《二十五言》}},1599</ref> His usage of Shangdi was contested by Confucians, as they believed that the concept of ''Tian'' and "Shangdi" is different from that of Christianity's God: Zhōng Shǐ-shēng, through his books,<ref>{{lang|zh|天学初征}}</ref><ref>{{lang|zh|天学再征}}</ref> stated that Shangdi only governs, while Christianity's God is a creator, and thus they differ.<ref>{{lang|zh|程小娟：《God的汉译史——争论、接受与启示》，[[Social Sciences Literature Press]]，2013年}}</ref> Ricci's translation also invited the displeasure of [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] and that of the Roman Curia: on March 19, 1715, [[Pope Clement XI]] released the Edict ''Ex Illa Die'', stating that Catholics must use "Tianzhu" instead of "Shangdi" for Christianity's God.

When [[Protestantism]] entered China in the middle of the 19th century, the Protestant missionaries also encountered a similar issue: some preferred the term "Shangdi", while some preferred the term ''Shen'' ("god"). A conference held in 1877 in Shanghai, discussing the translation-issue, also believed that "Shangdi" of Confucianism and the Christian concept of God are different in nature.<ref>{{lang|zh|艾約瑟譯《各省教師集議記略》，載李天綱編校《萬國公報文選》，北京：生活·讀書·新知三聯書店，1998年，第22頁。}}</ref>

However, by the 20th century, most British missionaries, some [[Catholics]], [[Chinese Orthodox Church|Chinese Orthodox Christians]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodox.cn/localchurch/200406ancientcnhist_en.htm|title=Ancient Chinese History in Light of the Book of Genesis|website=www.orthodox.cn}}</ref> and [[Evangelicals]] preferred 'Shangdi' as a connection with Chinese native [[monotheism]],<ref>[[James Legge|Legge, James]], The Religions of China, Hodder and Stoughton, 1880, p24-25: "'He sacrificed specifically, but with the ordinary forms, to ShangTi' -that is, we have seen, to God."</ref> with some furthering the argument by linking it with the [[unknown god]] as described in Biblical passage of {{bibleref|Acts|17:23-31|31}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rlhymersjr.com/Online_Sermons_Chinese/2012/092912PM_TheUnknownGod.html|title=Sermons in Traditional Chinese: THE UNKNOWN GOD|website=www.rlhymersjr.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzimxWlnh8YC&q=%E6%9C%AA%E8%AD%98%E4%B9%8B%E7%A5%9E%E4%B8%8A%E5%B8%9D&pg=PA43|title=Confucian Christian Theology|first=Tian|last=Tongxin|publisher=Academic Press Corporation|isbn=9781936040322|via=Google Books}}</ref> Catholics preferred to avoid it, due to compromises with the local authority in order to do their missions, as well as fear such translation may associate the Christian God to Chinese polytheism.<ref name=sg282211>{{citation | first = Archie CC | last = Lee | title = God's Asian Names: Rendering the Biblical God in Chinese | publisher = SBL Forum | date = Oct 2005 | url = http://sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=456}}</ref>

Nowadays, through the secular Chinese-language media, the Chinese word of "Shangdi" and "Tian" are frequently used to as a translation for the singular universal deity with minimal religious attachment to the Christian idea of God, while Confucians and intellectuals in contemporary mainland China and Taiwan attempt to realign the term to its original meaning. Catholics officially use the term ''Tianzhu'', while Evangelicals typically use ''Shangdi'' and/or ''Shen'' ({{lang|zh|神}}, "god" or "spirit").