﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  501 
  

  

  Fairly 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  Chou 
  period 
  a 
  tendency 
  arose 
  to 
  identify 
  T'ien 
  

   with 
  Shang 
  Ti, 
  chief 
  god 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs. 
  This 
  confusion 
  was 
  appar- 
  

   ently 
  facilitated 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  both 
  divinities 
  were 
  sky 
  gods, 
  just 
  as 
  

   were 
  the 
  Greek 
  Zeus 
  and 
  the 
  Roman 
  Jupiter, 
  also 
  eventually 
  identified. 
  

  

  The 
  Chous 
  also 
  had 
  a 
  Goddess 
  of 
  Earth, 
  Ti, 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  consort 
  of 
  

   T'ien 
  (Bishop, 
  1939c, 
  pp. 
  29-31) 
  ; 
  thus 
  the 
  Confucian 
  "Classics" 
  tell 
  

   us 
  that 
  "T'ien 
  and 
  Ti 
  are 
  the 
  father 
  and 
  mother 
  of 
  all 
  things 
  living." 
  8 
  

   In 
  the 
  religion 
  of 
  the 
  Chous, 
  in 
  marked 
  contrast 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs, 
  

   goddesses 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  played 
  a 
  very 
  minor 
  part. 
  They 
  are 
  found 
  

   more 
  particularly 
  among 
  the 
  coastal 
  populations, 
  not 
  yet 
  fully 
  Chinese, 
  

   and 
  also 
  among 
  the 
  insular 
  and 
  other 
  peripheral 
  peoples 
  of 
  eastern 
  

   Asia. 
  

  

  The 
  Chou 
  pantheon, 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  only 
  in 
  late 
  form, 
  comprised, 
  

   in 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  gods 
  brought 
  with 
  them 
  by 
  the 
  Chou 
  and 
  including 
  

   of 
  course 
  the 
  royal 
  ancestors, 
  other 
  divinities, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  taken 
  

   over 
  from 
  the 
  Shangs 
  and 
  perhaps 
  also 
  from 
  the 
  aboriginal 
  peoples 
  

   of 
  eastern 
  Asia. 
  Thus 
  there 
  were 
  local 
  gods 
  (not 
  goddesses) 
  of 
  the 
  

   soil, 
  the 
  She, 
  already 
  mentioned 
  (Bishop, 
  1933c, 
  pp. 
  32-34) 
  ; 
  these 
  we 
  

   know 
  existed 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  far 
  back 
  as 
  Shang 
  times, 
  and 
  theirs 
  was 
  a 
  

   primitive 
  concept 
  with 
  many 
  archaic 
  features. 
  There 
  was 
  also 
  a 
  Rain 
  

   God 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  frog. 
  

  

  The 
  dragon 
  was 
  regarded, 
  if 
  not 
  actually 
  as 
  a 
  divinity, 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  

   a 
  supernatural 
  being, 
  benevolent 
  in 
  nature 
  — 
  not, 
  as 
  in 
  Europe, 
  malefi- 
  

   cent. 
  The 
  original 
  of 
  this 
  concept 
  dates 
  back 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  Shang 
  

   times, 
  and 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  founded 
  in 
  part 
  on 
  the 
  Chinese 
  alligator, 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  a 
  rain 
  bringer, 
  and 
  therefore 
  as 
  a 
  friend 
  of 
  man. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  real 
  basis 
  of 
  aristocratic 
  religion 
  under 
  the 
  Chous, 
  as 
  most 
  

   probably 
  under 
  their 
  predecessors 
  the 
  Shangs, 
  was 
  the 
  cult 
  of 
  an- 
  

   cestors. 
  Whether 
  the 
  Chous 
  were 
  ancestor 
  worshipers 
  before 
  their 
  

   conquest 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs 
  is 
  unknown 
  ; 
  but 
  after 
  that 
  event 
  the 
  deceased 
  

   forbears 
  of 
  their 
  kings 
  became 
  the 
  patron 
  divinities 
  of 
  their 
  kingdom. 
  

   Hou 
  Chi, 
  "Prince 
  Millet," 
  was 
  at 
  once 
  an 
  ancestor 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  royal 
  

   line 
  and 
  also 
  its 
  official 
  God 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  (Bishop, 
  1933c, 
  pp. 
  37 
  et 
  

   seq). 
  

  

  Souls 
  of 
  nobles 
  after 
  death 
  became 
  Shen; 
  those 
  of 
  plebeians, 
  kuei. 
  

   The 
  latter 
  term 
  was 
  also 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  gods, 
  demons, 
  and 
  ghosts 
  of 
  

   non-Chinese 
  peoples. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  little 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  divinities 
  in 
  Chou 
  times 
  were 
  regarded 
  

   as 
  having 
  human 
  form, 
  or 
  even 
  of 
  their 
  being 
  represented 
  by 
  images. 
  

   Rather, 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  indicated 
  by 
  symbols. 
  That 
  of 
  T'ien, 
  

   for 
  example, 
  was 
  a 
  circle 
  or 
  disk 
  ; 
  that 
  of 
  Earth, 
  a 
  square. 
  This 
  sym- 
  

   bolism 
  persisted, 
  officially 
  at 
  least, 
  down 
  to 
  very 
  recent 
  times. 
  

  

  In 
  general, 
  ancient 
  Chinese 
  divinities 
  and 
  supernatural 
  beings 
  were 
  

  

  8 
  The 
  notion 
  of 
  marriage 
  between 
  Sky 
  and 
  Earth 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  common 
  and 
  widespread 
  one. 
  

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