God of the Ancient Chinese

Dr Sim Tiong Peng

Recorded Chinese civilization is about 4500 years old. It is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. Together with the Hebrew language, it is one of only two of the oldest languages still in use. What are the roots of this ancient civilization? Who were the ancient Chinese? Who did they worship?

The Earliest Chinese Records

The earliest Chinese records were collated by Confucius (551-479 BC). He believed in the existence of God. In the introduction of one of them, the I-Ching (Book of Changes), he said that the purpose of this classic was to help people “pursue an exhaustive understanding of the universe in order to do God’s will.” In his compilation of the five-volume Classics of Poetry, there were 175 recitations to God (Shang Di). Therein God was described as the eternal Creator of the universe, righteous, holy, just, all knowing, faithful, wise, and merciful. This is most unusual considering the heathen world’s concept of deity. To the ancient Chinese, they knew Him as a God of love.

From the greatest Chinese historian, Sima Qian (145-86 BC), we know that the earliest Chinese emperor (the Yellow Emperor, 2400-2500 BC) worshiped God only. That is, the Chinese were monotheistic. There were no images made to represent God, only the name, 上帝.

The other ancient Chinese sages—Mencius and Lao Tze—all wrote about God and His dealings with the Chinese. Some of the writings will start with, “God said …”. Han Yu, the Tang dynasty literary scholar comparable to Shakespeare in stature, concluded that the ancients all gave a consistent picture of God and his instructions to the Chinese people.

The Chinese Classics point to the ancient Chinese worshipping 上帝during the first three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Chinese System of Writing

Chinese writing system was well developed very early in Chinese history but can only survive to the present day in the form of bone oracle and ritual vessel inscriptions. Each word is a combination of pictogram (picture of an object) and/or ideogram (picture of an idea).

The composition of each word suggests possible familiarity with the events of man’s beginnings, consistent with the biblical record in Genesis. These are some examples (best seen in Chinese traditional script):

The Chinese call their wife 内人 literally meaning “inner person”. In Genesis 2:22, God makes woman out of man’s rib. Strikingly, the Chinese word for flesh 肉has two 人persons in it.

The Chinese word for cruel 兇 and brother 兄has the same pronunciation in Pinyin: xiong. Genesis 4 describes the first murder in human history, occurring between two brothers, with God pronouncing judgment on the murderer by marking his forehead.

About 1600 years after the creation of the world and man, the Bible in Genesis 6 describes a global flood which destroyed all mankind save eight persons. They were placed in a huge vessel, the ark. The Chinese have recorded this event in their word for ship 船 = 舟 (boat) + 八 (eight) + 口 (mouth). After the flood receded, God told them to multiply and disperse to all the earth.

The Border Sacrifice (郊祭)

This is annual event, observed by all the emperors of China (except the first Qin emperor) to express thanks to God. It renews the covenant between the Chinese and their God. It was instituted by the first Chinese emperor, the Yellow Emperor (2697-2599 BC) according to the Historical Records of Sima Qian. Later, it was recorded, that in 2255 BC: “Emperor Sun sacrificed to 上帝”, the Book of History, Confucius. The location of the sacrifice occurred at Mt Taishan, in the northeastern fringe of China, not far from Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius. It was shifted to the Altar of Heaven 天壇 in Beijing in the 15th century AD by the Ming emperors. Then, after careful research of the old records, extraneous gods and rituals added since the Chin dynasty days were removed. It continued till 1911 AD, when the last emperor of China was deposed, an unbroken annual sacrifice for more than 4000 years.

In the Altar of Heaven, you will see in the main temple complex, the object of worship, an inscription 皇天上帝 or “Heavenly Supreme Ruler”, there are no idol images. This is consistent with the second commandment given by God in the Bible, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”

It involved the sacrifice of selected and kept lamb or calf on a raised altar. The emperor would have prepared himself reverentially for several days. During the sacrifice, an incantation praising上帝would be recited. From this recitation of the attributes of Shang Di, the attributes of上帝 mentioned coincides with the attributes of God of the Bible. The emperor was required to sacrifice the animal personally. This annual ritual is to renew the ties between上帝and the Chinese people in a blood covenant. This sacrifice is similar to the Hebrews’ sacrifice of a sheep or calf in their Temple during the Old Testament period, a sacrifice that points to the ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to pay for the sins of man.

Chinese Culture

The Hebrews are God’s chosen people. One of their earliest patriarchs, Moses, wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, detailing God’s dealings and instructions to the Hebrew people.

Interestingly, some Chinese cultural practices are strikingly similar to Hebrew practices especially. For example, both cultures celebrate new years that last approximately 14 days. At the start of the celebrations, the Hebrews would daub the blood of a sacrificed lamb across the door post of each house. This is in accordance with God’s instructions to them (Exodus 12). The Chinese would paste red paper with auspicious sayings across their door posts. This arose from the belief that it prevents calamity befalling the household. The Chinese fondness for the colour red as an auspicious colour has its roots in the Border Sacrifice which would involve the shedding of blood of a calf or lamb.

Ancient Chinese and Righteousness

In the word for righteous 義 the top radical 羊 is “lamb”. This is above 我 “me”. 我 is actually composed of two radicals, 手 for “hand” holding onto a 戈 “spear”. It may be that the lamb is sacrificed by my spear. This happens to be the biblical concept for righteousness before God. And this lamb has to be perfect. The word for sacrifice 犧is composed of 牜calf, 羊 lamb, 秀 beautiful or perfect, and 戈spear.

Conclusion

The ancient Chinese called their land 神州，or God’s Country. This was China’s earliest name. In the Classics of Poetry 詩經 and in the Book of Documents 尚書. In recent years, the Encyclopedia of Chinese History argues that the early Chinese dynasties of Shang and Zhou were inaugurated because of the judgment of 上帝 whom they worshipped upon the increasing incompetence and debauchery of the last emperors of the preceding dynasties.

The ancient Chinese worshiped 上帝. This state of affairs lasted from the inception of China at about 2250 BC till about 500 BC when proper worship became increasingly formalized and stylized. Instructions and teachings from 上帝 became a distant memory. In the ensuing disorder of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Warring States Period, ancestor worship and Daoism gained adherents, and Buddhism was introduced from India in about 67 BC.

We can possibly conclude that the ancient Chinese knew and worshipped the God of the Bible. Chinese words have their origin in the events surrounding the origins of man as recorded in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

References

(1) (“上帝在中国” 源流考) 杨鹏著。

(2) Faith of our Fathers by Chan Kei Thong.

(3) God and the Ancient Chinese by Samuel Wang and Ethel R Nelson.

(4) Relationship of Christianity and Chinese Culture by Samuel Ng Katz.

 

中国古人信仰

沈中平医生著、沈宇琛姐妹译

中华文明至今大约有4500年，世界上最古老的没有中断的文明之一。华语也是至今仍在使用的最古老的两种语言之一，另一种语言为希伯来语。那中华文明的起源是什么？谁是古中国人？他们敬拜谁？

1、最早的古代典藉的记载

在中国最古老的典籍中，我们发现古人早已认识神的存在，并将这神称为“上帝”，后来称“天”。最早的古文明记载是由孔子整理的，孔子相信神的存在。孔子在其中一本书《易经》的序言中指出，《易经》的目的是“穷理尽性，以至于命”；这意思就是“尽最大的力量追求真理，为的是遵循上帝的旨意”。在他汇编的五书中，有175处提到上帝。他描绘的上帝是宇宙永恒的创造者。他是公义的、圣洁的、公正的、无所不知的、忠实的、有智慧和怜悯的神。与其他古文明的人对神的认识相比，中国人最不寻常的之处在于，他们认为上帝是慈爱的。

从中国最伟大的历史学家司马迁（公元前145年到公元前86年）记载中，我们知道中国最早的帝王黄帝只崇拜上帝。也就是说，中国人是信独神论的。

其他中国古代先贤如孟子、老子也都写到上帝以及他对中国人的作为。一些文章是这样开始的，“上帝说……”。韩愈——中国唐朝可与莎士比亚向媲美的文学家——总结道，所有古人记载的都是关乎上帝以及上帝对中国人的教导。

2、中国的文字体系

中国的文字体系在中国历史的早期就得到了很好的发展。但是遗留到现在的只有甲骨文和礼器上加铸的铭文。每个字都是象形文字（物体的图画）和/或表意文字（抽象的概念）的组合。

汉字的结构显示中国人对圣经第一本书《创世纪》所记载的人类起源十分熟悉的可能性。以下是一些实例（最好参照繁体字）：

中国人称呼他们的妻子为内人，字面上的意思是里面的人。在《创世纪》2:22中，神用男人的肉体（肋骨）造了女人，而代表肉体的汉字“肉”有两个人在里面。

代表凶残的汉字“兇”以及代表兄长的汉字“兄”，在汉语中发音相同。《创世纪》第四章描述了人类历史上的第一起谋杀，发生在两兄弟之间，兄长谋杀了弟弟。神对凶手的审判是在他的额头上标记上X。

在神创建世界和人类之后大约1600年，圣经《创世纪》第六章描述由于人类在地上罪恶极大，神降下毁灭全人类的大洪水。只有8个人得救。他们在一艘大船（方舟）上。中国人用船这个字来记载这件事。船=舟+八+口。在洪水消退后，神叫他们繁殖增多，分散到全地。

3、郊祭

郊祭是一年一度的祭典，在国土的边界举行，由历代皇帝亲自主礼，表达人对上帝的感恩。它重申了中国人与他们崇拜的上帝之间的契约。司马迁在《史记》中记载，郊祭是由第一个帝王黄帝（公元前2697-2599）所设立的。之后在公元前2255年，孔子在他编辑的《书经》（《尚书》）中记载道：舜帝“肆类于上帝”。献祭的地点是在中国东北部，离孔府（孔子的出生地）不远的泰山顶上。献祭地点在15世纪由明朝皇帝迁到了位于北京的天坛。那时，明朝革除了秦以后自创的迷信，恢复到夏商周时代崇拜上帝的祭礼。直到1911年中国最后一个皇帝被废黜时，郊祭才中止。一共延续了4000多年。

在天坛祈年殿中可以看到敬拜的对象，写着[皇天上帝]。殿中没有任何其他神的偶像。这符合圣经所教导上帝所立的第二诫命，“…不可雕刻形象来代表他”。郊祭包括在祭坛上献祭捡选的完美无缺、纯色的羔羊或羔牛。皇帝在祭典前几天虔诚地准备。在祭典中，会吟唱赞美上帝的颂歌。颂歌中所吟唱的上帝的属性，和圣经中神的属性是吻的。郊祭的祭典与旧约时代希伯来人在圣殿中献祭牛或羊非常类似。希伯来人的仪式最终由神的独生子基督耶稣实现。他在十字架上把自己献为祭，为我们的罪付出代价。

4、中国文化

希伯来人是上帝所捡选的。其中一个大君王摩西在旧约摩西五经中详细描述了神对希伯来人的作为和指导。

有趣的是，一些中华文化习俗，譬如新年的习俗，与希伯来的习俗相似。两种文化都庆祝新年大约十四天。在新年的一开始，希伯来人将献祭的羔羊的血涂抹在每栋房子的门柱上。这是依据神对他们的指示（出埃及记第十二章）。与此习俗相似，中国人在门柱上贴上写着吉祥话的红纸——春联。中国人相信他们的习俗可以防止灾难降临到家庭。中国人喜爱红色，认为红色是吉祥的颜色。这起源于郊祭。郊祭中有献祭牛羊的血。

5、古中国人和义

在代表公义的“義”字，上半部是“羊”字，下半部是“我”字。“我”是由两个字组成。左边是“手”，持着“戈”（矛）。这很可能表示献祭的羊是被我的矛刺穿的。这恰好是圣经中的在神面前义的概念。让我们看一下代表祭品（犠牲）的“犠”字，它是由“牛”，“羊”，“秀”（美好、完美）和“戈”（矛）组成。

结论

古中国人称呼他们的国土为神州（神的国度）。这是中国最早的名字。在《诗经》和《尚书》，孔子宣称中国有神圣的起源。在《中国大百科全书》的中国历史卷承认，最早期的中国文献记载商与周朝由上帝创立。由于前朝最后一位皇帝的腐败和不忠，被他们崇拜的上帝弃绝他们，另立遵行主命的新君。

古中国人只崇拜上帝。这种状况从大约公元前2250年中国最初形成一直延续到大约公元前500年。在随后混乱的春秋和战国时代，本土的宗教如祖先崇拜、道教有了信徒。佛教是在大约公元前67年间从印度传入中国的。

因此，我们可能得到的结论是古中国人认识并崇拜圣经里的神。中国文字的起源可追述到圣经中第一本书《创世纪》记载的人类的起源。

参考书：

1）《“上帝在中国” 源流考》杨鹏著。
2）《先贤之信》唐振基著。
3）《上帝与中国古人》王敬之著。
4）《耶稣基督与中华文化》黄传导著。