Tian

Tian (天 Pinyin Tiān) is the Chinese character for heaven or sky. As such, it holds an important place in many Chinese belief systems such as Mohism, Taoism and Confucianism. The ideograph itself suggests the expanse of sky above the earth on which humans dwell, thereby giving rise to the term "Tianxia" (天下 All under heaven); the phrase is often used to describe the earthly domicile in Chinese literature.

Tian sometimes seems to be God itself, or Heaven, or the entire celestial bureaucracy. Therefore, it is often difficult to ascertain whether Tian is being used to mean a personal force or an impersonal one.

Although the Zhou Dynasty claimed that their deity, Tian, originated with the Xia Dynasty, modern historians believe that Tian was originally a deity worshipped only by the Zhou people. In the beginning, Tian likely referred to esteemed ancestors. After conquering the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty merged their deity, Tian, with that of the Shang, Di (Shangdi). By the time of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Tian acquired the ability to alter the Mandate of Heaven and was linked to the Zhou Emperor, who was considered to be the "Son of Heaven".

See also

• Chinese mythology
• Emperor of China

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• The Analects of Confucius. Translated and with an introduction by Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998.
• Berthrong, John H. Transformations of the Confucian Way. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998. ISBN 0813328047
• Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
• Ching, Julia. Mysticism and Kingship in China: The Heart of Chinese Wisdom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-521-46293-2.
• Creel, Herrlee G. The Origins of Statecraft in China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. ISBN 0226120430.
• Graham, A.C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. LaSalle, IL: Open Court Press, 1993. ISBN 0812690877.
• Fitzgerald, C. P. China: A Short Cultural History. London: The Cresset Library, 1986. ISBN 0-09-168751-9.
• Schwartz, Benjamin. The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, MS and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985.
• Tu Wei-ming. "The Way, Learning, and Politics in Classical Confucian Humanism" in Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993. 1-12. ISBN 0-7914-1755-1.
• Tu Wei-ming. "The Structure and Function of the Confucian Intellectual in Ancient China" in Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993. 13-28. ISBN 0-7914-1755-1.

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