Shangdi

Annual Sacrifice to Heaven (祭天 jìtiān) in honour of the Highest Deity the Heavenly Ruler (皇天上帝 Huángtiān Shàngdì) is held at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. State pomp and a variety of Confucian religious groups have contributed in the reviving of worship of the Highest Deity in the 2000s.

Shangdi (Chinese: 上帝; pinyin: Shàngdì; Wade–Giles: Shang Ti), also called simply Di (Chinese: ; pinyin: ),[1] is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tian ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou theology.[2]

Although the use of "Tian" to refer to the absolute God of the universe is predominant in Chinese religion today, "Shangdi" continues to be used in a variety of traditions, including certain philosophical schools,[3] certain strains of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism,[4] some Chinese salvationist religions (notably Yiguandao) and Chinese Protestant Christianity. In addition, it is commonly used by contemporary Chinese (both mainland and overseas) and by religious and secular groups in East Asia, as a name of a singular universal deity and as a non-religion translation for God in Abrahamic religions.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Eno (2008), p. 70.
  3. ^ Chang (2000).
  4. ^ Huang (2007), p. 457.
  5. ^ 放映週報 (23 April 2016). 《死期大公開》上帝一家難念的經 - The News Lens 關鍵評論網. thenewslens.com.