Tian
Tiān () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as "Shàngdì" (, "Lord on High") or "Dì" (,"Lord"). During the following Zhou dynasty, "Tiān" became synonymous with this figure. Before the 20th century Heaven worship was an orthodox state religion of China. In Taoism and Confucianism, "Tiān" (the celestial aspect of the cosmos, often translated as "Heaven") is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of "Dì" (, often translated as "Earth"). They are thought to  maintain the two poles of the Three Realms () of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Humanity (, "Rén"), and the lower world occupied by demons (specifically sorcery); (, "Guǐ") and "ghosts," the damned, specifically (, "Mó"). Characters. The modern Chinese character and early seal script both combine "dà" "great; large" and "yī" "one", but some of the original characters in Shāng oracle bone script and Zhōu bronzeware script anthropomorphically portray a large head on a great person. The ancient oracle and bronze ideograms for "dà" depict a stick figure person with arms stretched out denoting "great; large". The oracle and bronze characters  for "tiān" emphasize the cranium of this "great (person)", either with a square or round head, or head marked with one or two lines. Schuessler (2007:495) notes the bronze graphs for "tiān", showing a person with a round head, resemble those for "dīng" "4th Celestial stem", and suggests "The anthropomorphic graph may or may not indicate that the original meaning was 'deity', rather than 'sky'." Two variant Chinese characters for "tiān" "heaven" are (written with "er" "two" and "ren" "human") and the Daoist coinage (with "qīng" "blue" and "qì", i.e., "blue sky"). Pronunciation and etymology. The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation  of "sky, heaven; heavenly deity, god" is "tiān" in level first tone. The character is read as Cantonese "tin1"; Taiwanese "thiN1" or "thian1"; Vietnamese "thiên"; Korean "cheon" or "ch'ŏn" (천); and Japanese "ten" in "On'yomi" (borrowed Chinese reading) and "ama-" (bound), "ame" (free), or "sora" in "Kun'yomi" (native Japanese reading). "Tiān" reconstructions in Middle Chinese (ca. 6th–10th centuries CE) include "t'ien" (Bernhard Karlgren), "t'iɛn" (Zhou Fagao), "tʰɛn" > "tʰian" (Edwin G. Pulleyblank), and "then" (William H. Baxter, Baxter & Sagart). Reconstructions in Old Chinese (ca. 6th–3rd centuries BCE) include *"t'ien" (Karlgren), *"t'en" (Zhou), *"hlin" (Baxter), *"thîn" (Schuessler), and *"l̥ˤin" (Baxter & Sagart ). For the etymology of "tiān", Schuessler (2007:495) links it with the Mongolian word "tengri" "sky, heaven, heavenly deity" or the Tibeto-Burman words "taleŋ" (Adi) and "tǎ-lyaŋ" (Lepcha), both meaning "sky". Schuessler (2007:211) also suggests a likely connection between Chinese "tiān" , "diān" "summit, mountaintop", and "diān" "summit, top of the head, forehead", which have cognates such as Zemeic Naga "tiŋ" "sky". However, other reconstructions of 天's OC pronunciation *"qʰl'iːn" (Zhengzhang) or *"l̥ˤi[n]" (Baxter-Sagart), reconstructed a voiceless lateral onset, either a cluster or a single consonant, respectively. Baxter & Sagart (2014:113-114) pointed to attested dialectal differences in Eastern  Han Chinese, the use of 天 as a phonetic component in phono-semantic compound Chinese characters, and the choice of 天 to transcribe foreign syllables, all of which prompted them to conclude that, around 200 CE, 天's onset had two pronunciations: coronal *"tʰ" & dorsal *"x", both of which likely originated from an earlier voiceless lateral *"l̥ˤ". Compounds. "Tiān" is one of the components in hundreds of Chinese compounds. Some significant ones include: Chinese interpretations. Confucius. The concept of Heaven (Tian, ) is pervasive in Confucianism. Confucius had a deep trust in Heaven and believed that Heaven overruled human efforts. He  also believed that he was carrying out the will of Heaven, and that Heaven would not allow its servant, Confucius, to be killed until his work was done. Many attributes of Heaven were delineated in his "Analects". Confucius honored Heaven as the supreme source of goodness: The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the  elegant regulations which he instituted!" (VIII, xix, tr. Legge 1893:214) Confucius felt himself personally dependent upon Heaven (VI, xxviii, tr. Legge 1893:193): "Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!" Confucius believed that Heaven cannot be deceived: Confucius believed that Heaven gives people tasks to perform to teach them of virtues and morality: The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the  reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right." (II, iv, tr. Legge 1893:146) He believed that Heaven knew what he was doing and approved of him, even though none of the rulers on earth might want him as a guide: The Master said, "Alas! there is no one that knows me." Zi Gong said, "What do you mean by thus saying - that no one knows you?" The Master replied, "I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But  there is Heaven - that knows me!" (XIV, xxxv, tr. Legge 1893:288-9) Perhaps the most remarkable saying, recorded twice, is one in which Confucius expresses complete trust in the overruling providence of Heaven: The Master was put in fear in Kuang. He said, "After the death of King Wen, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of  Kuang do to me?" (IX, v and VII, xxii, tr. Legge 1893:217-8) Mozi. For Mozi, Heaven is the divine ruler, just as the Son of Heaven is the earthly ruler. Mozi believed that spirits and minor demons exist or at least rituals should be performed as if they did for social reasons, but their function is to carry out the will of Heaven, watching for evil-doers and punishing them. Mozi taught that Heaven loves all people equally and that each person should similarly love all human beings without distinguishing between his own relatives and those of others (Dubs , 1959-1960:163-172). Mozi criticized the Confucians of his own time for not following the teachings of Confucius. In Mozi's "Will of Heaven" (), he writes: Moreover, I know Heaven loves men dearly not without reason. Heaven ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars to enlighten and guide them. Heaven ordained the four seasons, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer, to regulate them. Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk that so the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and rivers, ravines and valleys, and arranged  many things to minister to man's good or bring him evil. He appointed the dukes and lords to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked, and to gather metal and wood, birds and beasts, and to engage in cultivating the five grains and flax and silk to provide for the people's food and clothing. This has been so from antiquity to the present." (tr. Mei 1929:145) Schools of cosmology. There are three major schools on cosmology. Most other hypothesis were developed from them. Sometimes the sky is divided into "Jiutian" () "the nine sky divisions", the middle sky and  the eight directions. Buddhism. The Tian are the heaven worlds and pure lands in Buddhist cosmology. Some devas are also called Tian. Taoism. The number of vertical heaven layers in Taoism is different, the most common saying is the 36 Tian developed from Durenjing (). I-Kuan Tao. In I-Kuan Tao, Tian is divided into three vertical worlds. "Li Tian" () "heaven of truth", "Qi Tian" () "heaven of spirit" and "Xiang Tian" () "heaven of matter". Meanings. The semantics of "tian" developed diachronically. The "Hanyu dazidian", an historical dictionary of Chinese characters, lists 17 meanings of "tian" 天, translated below. The Chinese  philosopher Feng Youlan differentiates five different meanings of "tian" in early Chinese writings: (1) A material or physical "T'ien" or sky, that is, the "T'ien" often spoken of in apposition to earth, as in the common phrase which refers to the physical universe as 'Heaven and Earth' ("T'ien Ti" ). (2) A ruling or presiding "T'ien", that is, one such as is meant in the phrase, 'Imperial Heaven Supreme Emperor' ("Huang T'ien Shang Ti"), in which anthropomorphic "T'ien" and "Ti" are signified. (3) A fatalistic "T'ien", equivalent to the concept of Fate ("ming" ), a term applied to all those events in  human life over which man himself has no control. This is the "T'ien" Mencius refers to when he says: "As to the accomplishment of a great deed, that is with "T'ien"" (["Mencius"], Ib, 14). (4) A naturalistic "T'ien", that is, one equivalent to the English word Nature. This is the sort of "T'ien" described in the 'Discussion on "T'ien"' in the ["Hsün Tzǔ"] (ch. 17). (5) An ethical "T'ien", that is, one having a moral principle and which is the highest primordial principle of the universe. This is the sort of "T'ien" which the ["Chung Yung"] (Doctrine of the Mean ) refers to in its opening sentence when it says: "What "T'ien" confers (on man) is called his nature." (1952:31) The "Oxford English Dictionary" enters the English loanword "t'ien" (also "tayn", "tyen", "tien", and "tiān") "Chinese thought: Heaven; the Deity." The earliest recorded usages for these spelling variants are: 1613 "Tayn", 1710 "Tien", 1747 "Tyen", and 1878 "T'ien". Interpretation by Western Sinologists. The sinologist Herrlee Creel, who wrote a comprehensive study on "The Origin of the Deity T'ien" (1970:493–506), gives this overview. Creel refers to the historical shift in ancient Chinese names for "god"; from Shang oracles that frequently used "di  and shangdi" and rarely used "tian" to Zhou bronzes and texts that used "tian" more frequently than its synonym "shangdi". First, Creel analyzes all the "tian" and "di" occurrences meaning "god; gods" in Western Zhou era Chinese classic texts and bronze inscriptions. The "Yi Jing" "Classic of Changes" has 2 "tian" and 1 "di"; the "Shi Jing" "Classic of Poetry" has 140 "tian" and 43 "di" or "shangdi"; and the authentic portions of the "Shu Jing" "Classic of Documents" have 116 "tian" and 25 "di" or "shangdi". His corpus of authenticated Western Zhou bronzes (1970:464–75) mention "tian" 91 times and  di or "shangdi" only 4 times. Second, Creel contrasts the disparity between 175 occurrences of "di" or "shangdi" on Shang era oracle inscriptions with "at least" 26 occurrences of "tian". Upon examining these 26 oracle scripts that scholars (like Guo Moruo) have identified as "tian" "heaven; god" (1970:494–5), he rules out 8 cases in fragments where the contextual meaning is unclear. Of the remaining 18, Creel interprets 11 cases as graphic variants for "da" "great; large; big" (e.g., "tian i shang" for "da i shang" "great settlement Shang"), 3 as a place name, and 4 cases of oracles recording sacrifices  yu tian "to/at Tian" (which could mean "to Heaven/God" or "at a place called Tian".) The "Shu Jing" chapter ""Tang Shi"" ( "Tang's Speech") illustrates how early Zhou texts used "tian" "heaven; god" in contexts with "shangdi" "god". According to tradition, Tang of Shang assembled his subjects to overthrow King Jie of Xia, the infamous last ruler of the Xia Dynasty, but they were reluctant to attack. Having established that "Tian" was not a deity of the Shang people, Creel (1970:501–6) proposes a hypothesis for how it originated. Both the Shang and Zhou peoples pictographically represented "da" as  a large or great man. The Zhou subsequently added a head on him to denote "tian" meaning "king, kings" (cf. "wang" "king; ruler", which had oracle graphs picturing a line under a "great person" and bronze graphs that added the top line). From "kings", "tian" was semantically extended to mean "dead kings; ancestral kings", who controlled "fate; providence", and ultimately a single omnipotent deity "Tian" "Heaven". In addition, "tian" named both "the heavens" (where ancestral kings and gods supposedly lived) and the visible "sky". Another possibility is that "Tian" may be related to "Tengri" and possibly was a loan word  from a prehistoric Central Asian language (Müller 1870).