Editing Shangdi (section)

===Shang dynasty===
[[File:Shang-Orakelknochen excerpt adjusted for contrast.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Oracle bone script]], the earliest known form of [[Chinese characters|Chinese]].]]
The earliest references to Shangdi are found in [[oracle bone]] inscriptions of the [[Shang dynasty]] in the 2nd millennium BC, although the later work ''[[Classic of History]]'' claims yearly sacrifices were made to him by [[Emperor Shun]], even before the [[Xia dynasty]].

Shangdi was regarded as the ultimate spiritual power by the ruling elite of the [[Huaxia]] during the [[Shang dynasty]]: he was believed to control victory in battle,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stefon |first=Matt |date=2010-02-03 |title=Shangdi |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shangdi |access-date=2023-05-01 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> success or failure of harvests,<ref name=":0" /> weather<ref name=":0" /> conditions such as the floods of the [[Yellow River]], and the fate of the [[capital city]]<ref name=":0" /> and kingdom. Shangdi seems to have ruled a [[Chinese pantheon|hierarchy of other gods]] controlling nature, as well as the [[Chinese ancestor worship|spirits of the deceased]].<ref name="Zhao, Yanxia 2010. p. 154">Zhao, Yanxia. ''Chinese Religion: A Contextual Approach.'' 2010. p. 154</ref> These ideas were later mirrored or carried on by the [[Taoism|Taoist]] [[Jade Emperor]] and his [[celestial bureaucracy]], and Shangdi was later syncretized with the Jade Emperor.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Stark |first=Rodney |title=Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief |publisher=[[HarperOne]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-06-117389-9 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=252 |author-link=Rodney Stark}}</ref>

Shangdi was probably more [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] than [[immanence|immanent]], only working through lesser gods.<ref name="Zhao, Yanxia 2010. p. 154"/> Shangdi was considered too distant to be worshiped directly by ordinary mortals.<ref name=":0" /> Instead, the Shang kings proclaimed that Shangdi had made himself accessible through the souls of their royal ancestors,<ref>Jeaneane D. Fowler, Merv Fowler, 2008, Chinese religions: beliefs and practices, Sussex Academic Press.</ref> both in the legendary past and in recent generations as the departed Shang kings joined him in the afterlife. The kings could thus successfully entreat Shangdi directly.<ref>Wu, 8</ref> Many of the oracle bone inscriptions record these petitions, usually praying for rain<ref>Wu, 173</ref> but also seeking approval from Shangdi for state action.

Shangdi was seen as somewhat human or at least anthropomorphic<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Szostak |first=Rick |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003013518/making-sense-world-history-rick-szostak |title=Making Sense of World History |date=2020-10-22 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781003013518 |location=London |pages=321 |doi=10.4324/9781003013518}}</ref> and the "greatest [[Ancestor veneration in China|ancestor]]" by some worshippers during this time.<ref name=":0" />