Editing Chinese mythology (section)

====Tian====
{{Main|Tian}}
Tian can be either a sky deity by that name or [[Heaven#Chinese faiths|Heaven]] – the Sky itself. Tian appeared in literature c. 700 BCE, possibly earlier as dating depends on the date of the [[Shujing]] (''Book of Documents''). There are no creation-oriented narratives for Tian. The qualities of Tian and Shangdi appear to have merged in later literature and are now worshiped as one entity ("{{lang|zh|皇天上帝}}", Huángtiān Shàngdì) in, for example, the Beijing's [[Temple of Heaven]]. The extent of the distinction between Tian and Shangdi is debated. The sinologist [[Herrlee Creel]] claims that an analysis of the [[Oracle bone|Shang oracle bones]] reveals Shangdi to have preceded Tian as a deity, and that Zhou dynasty authors replaced the term "Shangdi" with "Tian" to cement the claims of their influence.