Shendao shejiao

Short description: Chinese philosophical idea on religion

This page is about the philosophy. For the Chinese Legalist philosopher, see Shen Dao. For ornate roads leading to Chinese dignitaries' tombs, see Spirit way.

Shendao shejiao

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Shendao teaching (Chinese: 神道设教 or 神道社教; pinyin: shéndào shèjiào; literally: 'by "theistic ways" establishing the [moral] teachings')[1][lower-alpha 1] is a Chinese philosophical perspective on religion. Originally it referred to conduct conforming and in harmony with the principles of Nature, following the subtlety of the path of Heaven's Way; it lays the basis for the teachings of tianxia, a worldview promoting social order and harmony, in which the commoners were unified and compliant, to the benefit of the whole society. It is also translated as "to educate by means of mysticism", the education here referring to moral education.[2]

The Chinese idea of "Shendao" arose in the early Western Zhou and later became a strategy and method of character education in the Confucianism ideological system, for strengthening integrity or virtue (德, dé) and other socially desirable traits. As it developed, concepts of gods, ghosts and demons were used as a means of character, or moral, education; such training included theories about karma including, cause and effect of fate or fortune, sin and merit, heaven or hell.[3]

The monotheist ideological basis of Shendao is considered instrumental in the later integration of Roman Catholicism in China.[1][4]

## Contents

* 1 Shang dynasty
* 2 Zhou dynasty
* 3 Belief, worship and ritual
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
* 6 References

## Shang dynasty

In the Shang dynasty system of polytheism, the supreme god, the "Shangdi", is only a natural manifestation of the "Tiandao" (天道 'way of heaven'). The "emperor" in the divination is similar to what Xunzi said during the Warring States period, "Heaven has its own course, not for Yao to exist, not for Jie to perish" (Xunzi - Treatise on Heaven), as a natural law without direct influence on earthly affairs. Shang sacrifices were never only to ancestral gods and nature gods, but also to the Heavenly Gods " these by extension were represented by the Emperial figure of the time. The Shang belief in ghosts and gods is not essentially different from historical beliefs, before there was any element of artificial political control or deception of later periods.[5][6][7]

## Zhou dynasty

In contrast to the primitive polytheism of the Yin (Shang), the Zhou strengthened the divinity of the Shangdi and weakened the many ancestral and nature gods. The King Wu of Zhou established a special "imperial registry" to worship God.[8] The god of the land was built with chestnut wood to "make the people tremble".[9] The Zhou also created the "imperial court" as the "office" of the Emperor. King Li of Zhou believed that the emperor could send down "a great Lu order to protect my house, my position, and the body of Hu". (Hu Gui, Zhonggui 4317). There are also Yi inscriptions that say, "The emperor is weary of the death of the wrecked emperor, and the pro-insurance of my (there is) Zhou, the summer of the people of the four directions, the death of not Kang Jing (Shi Xiang Gui, Zhonggui 4342), meaning that the glorious emperor was always looking down on and blessing our Zhou dynasty and the common people in the four directions, so that everything under the sky was safe and stable. The emperor of the Zhou dynasty not only "sends down virtue", but also monitors the words and deeds of his subjects.[10]

The world of the gods, mainly "emperor" and "heaven", became a strong backing for the kingship of the Zhou Dynasty, and established the concept of rule with "Mandate of Heaven" as the core, while the king of the Zhou was analogous to "heaven" as a father-son relationship, thus the term "Son of Heaven" began to appear.[6] This practice of the Zhou was Shendao's establishment of religion, which became a tool for political rule and adapted to the needs of patriarchal kingship.[11][12][6] Confucianism, on the other hand, asserts that "a gentleman has three fears: fear of heaven, fear of adults, and fear of the words of the saints and dismissed the idea of goasts and demons. When the words of saint are taken as the precepts of God, under these circumstances the practice of Shendao becomes a humanistic centralised practice or religion.[13]

## Belief, worship and ritual

Shendao is a religion based on the way of ghosts and gods, which is from the Tuan Chuan of the Zhou Yi (I Ching).[14][15][16] The common term for witchcraft and divination is "Shendao", which is different from the original meaning of the Zhou Yi. The ancient Chinese ruler's policy towards religious beliefs was to strengthen his rule by the divine right of "Heaven and Man", also known as Shendao. The use of Jesa (sacrifice), divination, and other mystical practices to convince people was slightly different from the original meaning of the Zhou Yi. However, there are some thinkers who do not believe in ghosts and gods: Fan Zhen completely denied the existence of ghosts and gods but affirmed the role of Shendao teaching. It is said that Shendao "can govern the country, compel the people, and change the customs",[This quote needs a citation] and is thus able to eliminate the less desirable behaviours in a society, and encourage beneficial ones.

## See also

* Philosophy:Noble lie - Untruth propagated to strengthen social harmony
* Religion:State Shinto - Imperial Japan's use of the Shinto religion
* Philosophy:Syntheism - New religious movement
* Battle of Qianmu (zh) and Battle of Mount Li (zh)

## Notes

1. ↑ 神道设教 and 神道社教 are homophones both pronounced as Shéndào shèjiào: 设 means 'set-up or arranged', while 社 means 'social'. The homophonic nature of them likely gives a dual meaning of both social organization, and intentional social organization.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Christian Meyer - Scholars | Institute for Advanced Study" (in en). 2019-12-09. https://www.ias.edu/scholars/christian-meyer.
2. ↑ Xiaohu, Cao (2021-12-17). "Trustworthiness Education in Ancient Chinese Beliefs". Advances in Vocational and Technical Education 3 (4): 70–73. doi:10.23977/avte.2021.030414. ISSN 2523-5834. http://www.clausiuspress.com/article/2753.html#abstract.
3. ↑ Book of the Later Han biography of Weixiao (zh)："You want to bear the sky and obey the people, to assist the Han and rise, in fact, there is no command, how will be able to see the faith in the public? It is appropriate to urgently set up a high temple, called the minister to the shrine, the so-called Shendao teaching, help people God also."
4. ↑ Fairbank, John King (2009). United States and China. American Foreign Policy Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-92438-3.
5. ↑ 晁福林《论殷代神权》，《中国社会科学》1990年第1期
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 晁福林, Chao Fulin (2015). "先秦社会最高权力的变迁及其影响因素". 中国社会科学 (2).
7. ↑ 晁福林《说商代的“天”和“帝”》,《史学集刊》2016年第3期
8. ↑ 《清华简·系年》：昔周武王监观商王之不恭上帝，禋祀不寅，乃作帝籍，以登祀上帝天神，名之曰千亩，以克反商邑，敷政天下。
9. ↑ 《Analects Eight rows of Dancers》：「哀公问社于宰我。宰我对曰："夏后氏以松，殷人以柏，周人以栗，曰：使民战栗。"子闻之，曰：“成事不说，遂事不谏，既往不咎。"」
10. ↑ Book of Documents, Book of Zhou, Lü Xing, God oversees the people.
11. ↑ Du Yong (杜 勇) (26 July 2021) (in zh), 千亩之战析疑, Central Plains Culture Research, Interim results from the National Social Science Fund major project "Multi-volume History of the Western Zhou Dynasty" (17ZDA179), http://www.zywhyj.cn/Uploads/PdfFile/2021-09-18/61459a0087227.pdf, retrieved 9 July 2022
12. ↑ 雷晓鹏:从清华简《系年》看周宣王"不籍千亩"的真相，《农业考古》，2014,(4)
13. ↑ "Religion in Global Civil Society" (in en). OUP Academic. 2005-12-22. doi:10.1093/acprof:o. https://academic.oup.com/book/36040?login=false.
14. ↑ 《周易·观卦·彖传》："观天之神道，而四时不忒，圣人以神道设教，而天下服矣。"
15. ↑ 《礼记·祭义》："明命鬼神，以为黔首则，百众以畏，万民以服。"
16. ↑ Kong Yingda《Correct Meaning of the Five Classics (zh)》："Shen Dao, subtlety, no direction, the reason is not known, the eye is not visible, do not know so however is called Shen Dao, and the four seasons of the season is seen."

* 《中国哲学大辞典》
* 《四书五经辞典》
* 《中国古代典章制度大辞典》

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Philosophy of religion

Concepts in religion|

* Afterlife
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Conceptions of God|

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Existence of God|

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|

Against|

* 747 gambit
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Theology|

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