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“End of Earth and Heaven”: The national religious transformation of modern primitive religion in China
Author: Liu Wei (Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Politics and Public Governance, Qufu Master, Ph.D.)
Source: “Shenzhen Major Research (Humanities and Social Science Edition)” 2021 Issue 6
Abstract: “End of Earth and Heaven” is not about being a historical matter, but it is not only a long way to explore from the perspective of history and philosophy. We should go from the religious perspective and conduct comprehensive discussions based on myths and related documentary notes, so that we can truly understand the “End of Earth and Heaven”. The God, the Son of Heaven and Heaven touched by “Emperor Earth and Heaven” are “supernatural powers” and have the characteristics of “secret”. “God” and “Son of Heaven” refer to each other. “God” has a higher position than “Son of Heaven”. “Son of Heaven” refers to the throne, and “God” should be the supreme God. The military can set the ranking of gods in heaven, enforce all divine spirits, have the characteristics of half-human and half-god, and are respected as gods by future generations. Chong and Li can go to the whole country and are regarded as the God of Fire; witches can collect and spend the Yin and Yang for two lifetimes, and communicate with the Liuhe Divine Spirit. “From the Lord of God to the Lord of God, the Supreme God first saw his eyes.” “The witches have been descended from the Lord to the Lord, and the level of God’s rank has gradually been formed.” “Natural reverence is integrated into the bloodline, and the respect of ancestors begins to be revealed” are important manifestations of the innovation of “End of Earth and Heaven”. This is not only the starting point of the logic of the witchcraft’s specialization and sacred kingdoms, but also prompted the gradual formation and maturity of modern national religions focusing on the reverence of gods and ancestors. It also allowed the focus elements of primitive religion to be inherited and innovated, becoming the background of the worship of the Sakura and the common people and its continuous development of endogenous vitality. This may be the most basic place for the “witch and historical tradition”.
Keywords: The ultimate heavenly connection; the common divine relationship; witch history tradition; divinity; modern religion; religious theory
In modern China, “the ultimate heavenly connection” is often the main historical event, closely related to religion. Some scholars believe that this is the main mark of the modern religious structure of China [1] (P78), and it is also a very important religious transformation [1] (P85). Since it is a religious transformation, it must have undergone the process of inheriting the past and replacing the old, which has a profound impact on the subsequent development of modern religion. From now on, the academic community has mostly discussed the “Emperor of Heaven” from the perspective of history, philosophy and mythology, and has been discussed from the perspective of religious science. It is also a dragonfly, not deep or comprehensive., not systemic, lacking depth and broadness. Based on this, this article combines relevant research results from the current academic community, and conducts a comprehensive and systematic research on “Emperor Heavenly Pass” based on religious theories in order to expand the current research results.
1. “End Earth Heavenly Connect” research and question raising
From the current research on “End Earth Heavenly Connect”, there are two points worthy of negotiation in terms of data adoption and research and discussion perspectives. First, in terms of data adoption, we focus on historical literature and ignore mythological recording. There are three important notes about the pre-Qin literature on “The End of Earth and Heaven”: “Shangshu·Jiuzheng”, “Mandarin·Chu” and “Mountains and Seas·Big Desert West”. The “Shangshu·Jiuzheng” records are relatively simple, but they are just taken by the poem “It is a heavy life, and the earth and heaven are connected. There is no downgrade.” A few hundred years later, King Zhao of Chu asked his father for this record in unknown way, and then he had a more detailed record in “Mandarin·Chu”. Although the relevant records of “Shan Hai Jing·Big Desert West” are slightly more detailed than “Shang Shu·Jiu Xing”, because “Shan Hai Jing” is the “ancestor of strange genres from ancient and modern times” (Hu Yinglin’s “Shaoshi Shan Fang Zhuan”), it is regarded as a myth, but the degree of support is not high, and students have adopted it very well. Since “Shang Shu·Jiu Xing” and “Mandarin·Chu” belong to historical literature, Sima’s notes on “The End of Earth and Heaven” in “Historical Records” completely adopted the view of “The End of Earth and Heaven”. Based on this, the academic community’s discussion on “End of Earth and Heaven” is mostly based on “Shangshu·Jiuzheng” and “Mandarin·Chu” and the basis of “Shan Hai·Big Desolation” is neglected. Second, from the perspective of research and development, students have disputes over the authenticity of “Emperor of Heaven”, and mostly go from the perspective of history and philosophy, and have little research and development from the perspective of religious studies. There are many disputes over whether “Emperor Heavenly Connection” can be suitable for historical facts. One explanation is to deny it thoroughly, and it believes that the most basic “Earth and Heavenly Connect” does not exist. French Han Chinese scholar Ma Bole believes in “Mything in Books” that the Age of the Age of the Age of the Earth is a pure myth story, and his father’s explanation made the myth historic [2]. The reference to the fact that Sima’s “Fengshu” was “not recorded” for such major historical events, and believed that the “End of Earth and Heaven” was created by Liu Xin in the late Western Han Dynasty [3]. Huang Yutong believed that “End of Earth and Heaven” was not a practical historical event, but an imaginary historical event [4]. Another view is completely opposite, and it is believed that “End Earth and Heaven” is a historical fact. Through analysis of the unearthed cultural relics “Jade Cong”, Su Bingqi believed that “the Liangzhu civilization that began in the middle of the third thousand BC, was between the early and late periods of the Five Emperors’ period, that is, the era of “Estimate Earth and Heavenly Connect””[5]. Zhang Xun believes that “there is no doubt that there is a great religious transformation of the ‘Ending Heavenly Connect’ in China’s history” [1] (P85). Looking at it today, the academic community generally believes that “End Earth and Heavenly Pass” reflects the historical process from “God of God” to “God of God”.It is a specialized religious transformation affairs and a political affairs with centralized powers [6].
Because “End Earth and Heaven” focuses on the divine relationship, belonging to the religious field, it is not about saying it is a religious matter, but it is far from the perspective of history and philosophy. In terms of data selection, we should also pay attention to the importance of mythology recording. If we only examine it from the perspective of history and philosophy, myths are undoubtedly absurd. “A story that is portrayed in ancient times is the act of gods who are above human talents. Although it is absurd, modern people convey each other and believe it is true” [7] (P3). However, if we examine it from a religious perspective, myths and religion are obviously inseparable. “What myth says is what God or the superman of the demigod” [7] (P3). Myths are not unbelieving, “Myths are neither ‘the wisdom of the predecessors’ nor rude words, but rather a reaction to the primitive people’s life thinking” [7] (P14). Therefore, the discussion on “Emperor Heavenly Connection” cannot only explore its authenticity from the perspective of history. As Iliad said: “‘History’ can tell us how religious thinking and religious technology are spread… A ‘history’ of religious phenomena cannot only show us all the contents of its historical manifestation”[8] (P3-4). Therefore, combining mythological data and related records, using religious theories to explore the “End Earth and Heavenly Connect” from the religious field, can better understand and master the historical pictures and inner thoughts of “End Earth and Heavenly Connect”.
2. Analysis of the sacredness of the core molecules of “End Earth and Heaven”
In the late human society, people can go to heaven, gods can go to earth, and people and gods come to heaven and are more unrestrained. “At the beginning of man, the whole country is connected, and the man is connected, and the sky rises to heaven, and the sky rises to the evening, and the sky and people, there are words in the evening, and there are words in
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