''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology,

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, 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 A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...

of China. In Taoism and Confucianism, ''Tiān'' (the celestial aspect of the cosmos, often translated as "

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

") is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of ''

Dì ''Di'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the earth and a key concept or figure in Chinese philosophy and religion, being one of three powers (', ) which are Heaven, Earth, and Humanity (, ), a phrase which originates from the Yijing. Ety ...

'' (, often translated as " Earth"). They are thought to maintain the two poles of the

Three Realms Trailokya ( sa, त्रैलोक्य; Kannada: ತ್ರೈಲೋಕ್ಯ; pi, tiloka, Tibetan: khams gsum; Chinese: 三界) literally means "three worlds"Fischer-Schreiber ''et al.'' (1991), p. 230, entry for "Triloka." Here, synonyms f ...

() 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 Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest kno ...

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 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 In traditional Chinese culture and the East Asian cultural sphere, ''qi'', also ''ki'' or ''chi'' in Wade–Giles romanization ( ), is believed to be a vital force forming part of any living entity. Literally meaning "vapor", "air", or ...

", 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 Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

''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'', ''t'iɛn'', ''tʰɛn'' > ''tʰian'', and ''then''. Reconstructions in Old Chinese (ca. 6th–3rd centuries BCE) include *''t'ien'', *''t'en'', *''hlin'', *''thîn'', and *''l̥ˤin''. For the etymology of ''tiān'', Schuessler 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". He 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 Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...

''tiŋ'' "sky". However, other reconstructions of 天's OC pronunciation *''qʰl'iːn'' or *''l̥ˤi ' reconstructed a voiceless lateral onset, either a cluster or a single consonant, respectively. Baxter & Sagart 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 In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of breath that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. In English, aspirated consonants are allophones in complementary distribution with t ...

'' & 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: *''Tiānmìng'' ( "

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, ''Tian'') – which embodies the natural ...

") "divine mandate, God's will; fate, destiny; one's lifespan" *''Tiānwèn'' (), the '' Heavenly Questions'' section of the '' Chǔ Cí''. *''Tiānzĭ'' ( "

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...

"), an honorific designation for the "Emperor; Chinese sovereign" (''Tiānzǐ'' accounts for 28 of the 140 ''tiān'' occurrences in the ''Shī Jīng'' above.) *''Tiānxià'' (, lit. " all under heaven") "the world, earth; China" *''Tiāndì'' (, lit "heaven and earth") "the world; the universe." *'' Xíngtiān'' () An early mythological hero who fought against Heaven, despite being decapitated. *''Tiānfáng'' () Chinese name for Mecca, the Islamic holy city. (Tiān is used as translation of

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

)

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 The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

''. 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!"

Confucius felt himself personally dependent upon Heaven: "Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!" Confucius believed that Heaven cannot be deceived:

The Master being very ill, Zi Lu wished the disciples to act as ministers to him. During a remission of his illness, he said, "Long has the conduct of You been deceitful! By pretending to have ministers when I have them not, whom should I impose upon? Should I impose upon Heaven? Moreover, than that I should die in the hands of ministers, is it not better that I should die in the hands of you, my disciples? And though I may not get a great burial, shall I die upon the road?"

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."

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!"

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?"

Mozi

For

Mozi Mozi (; ; Latinized as Micius ; – ), original name Mo Di (), was a Chinese philosopher who founded the school of Mohism during the Hundred Schools of Thought period (the early portion of the Warring States period, –221 BCE). The ancie ...

, Heaven is the divine ruler, just as the

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. 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."

Schools of cosmology

There are three major schools on cosmology. Most other hypothesis were developed from them. *''Gaitian shuo'' () "Canopy-Heavens hypothesis" originated from the text Zhoubi Suanjing. The earth is covered by a material tian. *''Huntian shuo'' () "Egg-like hypothesis". The earth surrounded by a tian sphere rotating over it. The celestial bodies are attached to the tian sphere. (See , Chinese creation myth.) *''Xuanye shuo'' () "Firmament hypothesis". The tian is an infinite space. The celestial bodies were light matters floating on it moved by '' Qi''. A summary by Ji Meng () is in the astronomical chapters of the Book of Jin. 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 land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

s in

Buddhist cosmology Buddhist cosmology describes the planes and realms in which beings can be reborn. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a hori ...

. Some

deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

s 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 The ''Hanyu dazidian'' () is a reference work on Chinese characters. Overview A group of more than 400 editors and lexicographers began compilation in 1974, and it was published in eight volumes from 1986 to 1989. A separate volume of essays do ...

'', an historical dictionary of Chinese characters, lists 17 meanings of ''tian'' 天, translated below. # Human forehead; head, cranium. # Anciently, to tattoo/brand the forehead as a kind of punishment. # The heavens, the sky, the firmament. # Celestial bodies; celestial phenomena, meteorological phenomena. # Nature, natural. A general reference to objective inevitability beyond human will. # Natural, innate; instinctive, inborn. # Natural character/quality of a person or thing; natural instinct, inborn nature, disposition. # A reference to a particular sky/space. # Season; seasons. Like: winter; the three hot 10-day periods [following the summer solstice]. # Weather; climate. # Day, time of one day and night, or especially the time from sunrise to sunset. Like: today; yesterday; busy all day; go fishing for three days and dry the nets for two [a '' xiehouyu'' simile for "unable to finish anything"]. # God, heaven, celestial spirit, of the natural world. # Heaven, heavenly, a superstitious person's reference to the gods, Buddhas, or immortals; or to the worlds where they live. Like: go to heaven ["die"]; heavenly troops and heavenly generals ["invincible army"]; heavenly goddesses scatter blossoms [a

Vimalakirti Sutra The ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa'' (Devanagari: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देश) (sometimes referred to as the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' or ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra'') is a Buddhist text which centers on a lay Buddhist meditat ...

reference to "Buddha's arrival"]. # Anciently, the king, monarch, sovereign; also referring to elders in human relationships. # Object upon which one depends or relies. # Dialect. A measure of land [''shang'', about 15 acres]. # A family name, surname. The Chinese philosopher

Feng Youlan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung ...

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 Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...
''], 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 Xun Kuang (; BCE), better known as Xunzi (; ), was a Chinese philosopher of Confucianism who lived during the late Warring States period. After his predecessors Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi is often ranked as the third great Confucian philosop ...
''] (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 The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originall ...
''] (Doctrine of the Mean) refers to in its opening sentence when it says: "What ''T'ien'' confers (on man) is called his nature."

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 Herrlee Glessner Creel (January 19, 1905June 1, 1994) was an American Sinologist and philosopher who specialized in Chinese philosophy and history, and was a professor of Chinese at the University of Chicago for nearly 40 years. On his retirement ...

, who wrote a comprehensive study called "The Origin of the Deity T'ien", 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 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", 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 King Jie (; traditionally 1728–1675 BC) was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty.劉煒/著. 002(2002) Chinese civilization in a n ...

, 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 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.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * Supplemental materials available a
their webpage
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Oracle, Bronze, and Seal characters for 天
Richard Sears {{Names of God Chinese deities Chinese gods Locations in Chinese mythology Conceptions of God Religious Confucianism East Asian traditional religion Heaven Names of God Sky and weather gods Taoist cosmology God Relationship between Heaven and Mankind