| Five Forms of the Highest Deity | |||||||||
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 Modern fresco representing the Five Deities | |||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 五方上帝 | ||||||||
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| Five Deities | |||||||||
| Chinese | 五帝 | ||||||||
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The Wǔfāng Shàngdì (五方上帝 "Five Regions' Highest Deities" or "Highest Deities of the Five Regions"[note 1]), or simply Wǔdì (五帝 "Five Deities") or Wǔshén (五神 "Five Gods")[3] are, in Chinese canonical texts and common Chinese religion, the fivefold manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven (天 Tiān, or equivalently 上帝 Shàngdì). This theology dates back at least to the Shang dynasty.[4] Described as the "five changeable faces of Heaven",[5] they represent Heaven's cosmic activity which shapes worlds as tán 壇, "altars", imitating its order which is visible in the starry vault, the north celestial pole and its spinning constellations.[note 2] The Five Deities themselves represent these constellations.[6] In accordance with the Three Powers (三才 Sāncái) they have a celestial, a terrestrial and a chthonic form. The Han Chinese identify themselves as the descendants of the Red and Yellow Deities.
They are associated with the five colors, the five phases of the continuous creation (Wuxing 五行), the five key planets of the Solar System and the five constellations rotating around the celestial pole, the five sacred mountains and five directions of space (their terrestrial form), and the five Dragon Gods (龙神 Lóngshén) who represent their mounts, that is to say the material forces they preside over (their chthonic form).[7][8] They have also been defined simply as five special forms of the worship of the God of Heaven, different "accesses" or perspectives, suitable for different situations, to serve Heaven.[9]
According to Zheng Xuan, the influence of their activity begets different categories of beings on earth. Explaining the ancient theology about the origins of kings from Heaven's impregnation of earthly women, he commented:[10]
王者之先祖, 皆感大微五帝之精以生 — Every ancestor of him who is the king was given birth to as the result of an influential movement [gǎn 感] made by the spirits of the Five Deities.
- ^ Sun & Kistemaker (1997), p. 121.
- ^ Pankenier (2013), pp. 112–113.
- ^ Medhurst (1847), p. 260.
- ^ Didier (2009), pp. 143–144, Vol. II.
- ^ Zhong (2014), p. 72.
- ^ Zhong (2014), p. 70.
- ^ Little & Eichman (2000), p. 250. It describes a Ming dynasty painting representing (among other figures) the Wudi: "In the foreground are the gods of the Five Directions, dressed as emperors of high antiquity, holding tablets of rank in front of them. [...] These gods are significant because they reflect the cosmic structure of the world, in which yin, yang and the Five Phases (Elements) are in balance. They predate religious Taoism, and may have originated as chthonic gods of the Neolithic period. Governing all directions (east, south, west, north and center), they correspond not only to the Five Elements, but to the seasons, the Five Sacred Peaks, the Five Planets, and zodiac symbols as well. [...]".
- ^ Sun & Kistemaker (1997), pp. 120–123.
- ^ Zhong (2014), p. 75.
- ^ Zhong (2014), p. 81.
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