Shang Jia
| Shang Jia 上甲 | |
|---|---|
Shang grapheme for Shàngjiǎ 上甲 (Supreme Ancestor) | |
| Leader of the Predynastic Shang | |
| Successor | Bao Yi (报乙) |
| Predecessor | Wang Hai (王亥) |
| Part of a series on |
| Religion of the Shang dynasty |
|---|
Shang Jia (Chinese: 上甲), also known as Shang Jia Wei (Chinese: 上甲微), is one of the 14 predynastic Shang Kings cited in the Shiji. He was worshiped by the Shang kings as a spirit of the sun.
History
According to the Shang family tree, Shang Jia was a pre-dynastic ancestor of the Shang.[1] He is listed on Shiji as one of the 14 Predynastic Shang kings, being the son of Wang Hai (王亥) and the father of Bao Yi (报乙).[2]: 229
Shang Jia cult
According to the sinologist Li Feng, he was probably important for the raise of Shang people to power, as he was the "first pre-dynastic ancestor to whom the late Shang kings made frequent sacrificial offerings".[1] He was the first of the Shang descendents to be called with one of the 10 cyclical hanzis, symbolizing the day of the week he was worshiped.[3] The cult of Shang Jia grew on the year si (ਘ), and all the kings claimed to be his direct ancestor.[4] He was the spirit of the sun[5] and deemed to be very powerful, as he was one of the oldest descendents of the kings. Sacrifices for him were made for wars and harvests.[6]
References
- ^ a b Feng, Li (2013). Early China: A Social and Cultural History (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-521-71981-0.
- ^ Childs-Johnson, Elizabeth (2020). The Oxford Handbook of Early China. Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-932837-6.
- ^ Allan, Sarah (1981). "Sons of suns: myth and totemism in early China". Bulletin of SOAS (2). Cambridge University Press: 290–326. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00138984.
- ^ Goldin, Paul R. (2017). "Some Shang Antecedents of Later Chinese Ideology and Culture". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 137 (1). American Oriental Society: 121–127. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.1.0121. JSTOR 10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.1.0121.
- ^ Childs-Johnson, Elizabeth (2018). "Urban daemons of early Shang: Urbanism in ancient China". Archaeological Research in Asia. 14. Elsevier: 135–150. doi:10.1016/j.ara.2016.08.001.
- ^ Youngsun, Back (2017). "Who Answered the Shang Diviner?: The Nature of Shang Divination" (PDF). Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture. 27. Sungkyunkwan University.