地 on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''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
''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
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 ...
, Earth, and Humanity (, ), a phrase which originates from the Yijing
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou ...
.
Etymology
''Dì'' is the modern Mandarin Chinese pronunciation. The Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as ''*lˤej-s''.Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', pp. 20 & 176. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. The Chinese character is a phono-semantic compound, combining theradical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
("earth", "dirt") with the (former) sound marker ( Modern Chinese ''yÄ›'', Old Chinese ''*lajÊ”''). As , it was one of the characters briefly affected by Wu Zetian's short-lived character reforms.
Taoism
The relationship betweenHeaven
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 ...
and Earth is important to Taoist cosmology. They are among the "three realms" of the world presided over by the Three Great Emperor-Officials, and thought to maintain the two poles of the "three powers", with humanity occupying the pivotal position between them.
See also
* Agriculture (Chinese mythology) *Sheji __NOTOC__
Soil and grain was a common political term in the Sinosphere for the state. Shejitan, the altars of soil and grain, were constructed alongside ancestral altars. Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremonies of soil ...
* Houji
References
External links
* Chinese words and phrases {{China-philo-stub