At this point in our study many would ask, "If all this is true about Shang-ti then why did the Chinese stop worshiping Him as the one true supreme God who alone deserved their complete allegiance?"
Five negative elements have influenced the distortion of the worship of the Supreme Being in China. First of all, mankind is in rebellion against God (Rom. 5:12-21). Secondly, mankind degenerates into deifying the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Thirdly, mankind suppresses the truth revealed to him by God (Rom. 1:18-32). Fourthly, mankind is uniformly described as without a personal relationship with God which can only result from special revelation (Eph. 2:1, 12; Gal. 4:8). Lastly, mankind is subject to demonic influences (2 Thess. 2:9,10; Eph. 6:11,12).

Such a reality reminds us of our failure as human beings.
We all have a desperate need to return to our roots in the one true God to find His saving grace as revealed through His special revelation in Holy Scripture. Let’ s take a look now at how China fell away from her roots in Shang Ti.
The Corruption that Began in the Chou Dynasty Ended up Blinding China to the Truth of Shang -Ti

We find an interesting parallel between the children of Israel of the Old Testament and the people of China. The following scripture could very easily be applied to China. "And all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." (Judges 2:10) So also in China we find there occurred a gradual corruption of the simplicity that is in Shang Ti (2 Cor. 11:3-4). There was an intellectual march into darkness from the end of the Chou Dynasty up until the Ming Dynasty that blinded the minds of the Chinese to the truth of God (2 Cor. 3:14; Rom. 11:7-8).

It does appear that throughout China's history there was always some worship of Shang Ti or Heaven by the common people. Even though there is no record that they ever had a pure form of worship, free from idolatrous practices, it is very certain they knew who the one true Creator God was. Even in Israel idolatrous practices were sometimes found alongside the worship of the one true God (Deut. 32:16-18). All mankind has fallen into the sin of idolatry and needs a savior!

In the Li Ki !] A§ °O) we are told that "Orders were given to the grand recorder to make a list of the princes of the states. . . and of the victims required from them to supply the offerings for the worship of God dwelling in the great heaven. . ." The same passage also tells us "All the people under the sky, within the nine provinces, must, without exception, do their utmost to contribute to the sacrifices: - to God dwelling in the great heaven; at the altars of the (spirits of the) land and grain; in the ancestral temple. . . and of the hills, forests and famous streams." With such statutes being part of "the law" in China a knowledge of Shang Ti would easily have been kept alive among the masses. In the Shoo King, Books of Chou (RN ﹐g cP RN), we are told "great importance was attached to teaching the people about sacrifice" among other things.

Exactly how the corruption in the worship and knowledge of Shang Ti took place is still uncertain. It is known, however that it began to occur during the Chou dynasty and was well on its way by the time of Confucius. Concerning the border sacrifice, Confucius is quoted in the Li Chi as saying,

Ah! Alas! I look at the ways of Kau (Chou). (The Kings) Yu and Li corrupted them indeed, but if I leave Lu, where shall I go (to find them better)? The border sacrifice of Lu, (however), and (the association with it of) the founder of the line (of Kau) is contrary to propriety; - how have (the institutions of) the duke of Kau fallen into decay! The rule is that (only) the son of Heaven sacrifices to heaven and earth, and the princes of states sacrifice at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain. We know that by the time of Confucius so much knowledge of the worship of Shang Ti had been lost that even Confucius admits, "I do not know the meaning of the great sacrifice. He who knew its meaning would find it as easy to govern the kingdom as to look on this; - pointing to his palm."

Just a few centuries later the Chin Dynasty would make major changes in the worship of Shang Ti and try to remove Him as sole Sovereign of China. We quote James Legge's research on this subject.

Two committees were appointed at the commencement of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1366), to investigate all subjects pertaining to rites and music, and by their advice, 'all sacrifices to the heavenly sovereign T'ae-yih, the six heavens, and five Tes, (Tis) were entirely abolished.' These sacrifices, they maintained, had been foisted in upon the old ritual of the three dynasties, Hsia, Shang, and Chow, which knew only two great border sacrifices - those namely to heaven and earth. 'It was the family of Chin which erected four altars to offer sacrifices to the White, Green, Yellow, and Red Tis. The founder of the Han dynasty adopted the practice, and even added the northern altar for the worship of the Black Ti. In the time of the emperor Woo the sacrifice to ShangTi dwelling in the expansive heavens was altogether neglected.'

Even where the five Tis are mentioned in the "Ritual of Chow" (Chou- Le) (cP A§) they are clearly distinguished from Shang Ti and evidently quite inferior to Him.

Historians of the T'ang Dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.) also described the process of corruption of the worship and knowledge of Shang Ti. They wrote "When the Chow dynasty was in its decline, rites and music became corrupted amid the contending states, (300 - 240 B.C.), and perished at last under Chin. From this time discussions about the border sacrifice on the round altar, and the hall of Intelligence became a chaos, and no one knew where to stop (in his rash assertions)."

It is because of the confusion created by the corruption from the Eastern Chou Dynasty (770 - 256 B.C.) until the founding of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.) that we have focused our research on China's ancient religious belief from its earliest recorded beginnings up until Confucius (500 B.C.). We also include some research from the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) for some very relevant reasons. It was the Ming who researched their ancient beliefs and restored the emperor's worship of Shang Ti, as close as they could, to its original form as it was under the Hsia, Shang, and Chou Dynasties. The Qing Dynasty left the worship of Shang Ti virtually unchanged from the Ming when they came to power. Because of this we can learn a lot from these two dynasties about the original concepts of the Chinese concerning the person of Shang Ti or Heaven. It becomes very clear from observing the emperor's worship, as it was performed in China from 1368 to 1911, that they had a very clear understanding of Shang Ti as the one and only Supreme God.

It would be wise to remind ourselves at this point that not every Emperor from 1368 - 1911 was faithful in honoring Shang-ti as the one true supreme God. Many fell victim to the idolatrous practices that surrounded them and polluted the clear revelation of who Shang-Ti really was. In China, just as in Israel, there were good and bad Kings. Some were faithful in their worship of God and some were not. Nevertheless, Shang-Ti never left Himeself without a witness to China (2 Tim. 2:13; Acts 14:15-17).

We find an interesting parallel between the children of Israel of the Old Testament and the people of China. The following Scripture could very easily be applied to China. "And all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10). So also in China we find there occurred a gradual corruption of the simplicity that is in Shang Ti (2 Cor. 11:3-4). There was an intellectual march into darkness from the end of the Chou Dynasty up until the Ming Dynasty that blinded the minds of the Chinese to the truth of God (2 Cor. 3:14; Rom. 11:7-8).

It does appear that throughout China's history there was always some worship of Shang Ti or Heaven by the common people. Even though there is no record that they ever had a pure form of worship, free from idolatrous practices, it is very certain they knew who the one true Creator God was. The many proverbs we find in use among the common people proves they had at least a basic knowledge about Heaven and Shang Ti. Even in Israel idolatrous practices were sometimes found alongside the worship of the one true God (Deut. 32:16-18). All humankind has fallen into the sin of idolatry and needs a savior (Rom. 3:23)!

In the Li Chi !] A§ °O) we are told that "Orders were given to the grand recorder to make a list of the princes of the states. . . and of the victims required from them to supply the offerings for the worship of God dwelling in the great heaven. . ." The same passage also tells us "All the people under the sky, within the nine provinces, must, without exception, do their utmost to contribute to the sacrifices: - to God dwelling in the great heaven; at the altars of the (spirits of the) land and grain; in the ancestral temple. . . and of the hills, forests and famous streams." With such statutes being part of "the law" in China, a knowledge of Shang Ti would easily have been kept alive among the masses. In the Shu King, Books of Chou (RN ﹐ g cP RN), we are told "great importance was attached to teaching the people about sacrifice" among other things.

Exactly how the corruption in the worship and knowledge of Shang Ti took place is still uncertain. It is known, however, that it began to occur during the Chou Dynasty and was well on its way by the time of Confucius. Concerning the border sacrifice, Confucius is quoted in the Li Chi as saying,

Ah! Alas! I look at the ways of Kau (Chou). (The Kings) Yu and Li corrupted them indeed, but if I leave Lu, where shall I go (to find them better)? The border sacrifice of Lu, (however), and (the association with it of) the founder of the line (of Kau) is contrary to propriety; - how have (the institutions of) the duke of Kau fallen into decay! The rule is that (only) the son of Heaven sacrifices to heaven and earth, and the princes of states sacrifice at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain.

We know that by the time of Confucius so much knowledge of the worship of Shang Ti had been lost that even Confucius admits, "I do not know the meaning of the great sacrifice. He who knew its meaning would find it as easy to govern the kingdom as to look on this; - pointing to his palm."

Just a few centuries later the Chin Dynasty would make major changes in the worship of Shang Ti and try to remove Him as sole Sovereign of China. We quote James Legge's research on this subject.

Two committees were appointed at the commencement of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1366) to investigate all subjects pertaining to rites and music, and by their advice, 'all sacrifices to the heavenly sovereign T'ae-yih, the six heavens, and five Tes, (Tis) were entirely abolished.' These sacrifices, they maintained, had been foisted in upon the old ritual of the three dynasties, Hsia, Shang, and Chow, which knew only two great border sacrifices - those namely to heaven and earth. 'It was the family of Chin which erected four altars to offer sacrifices to the White, Green, Yellow, and Red Tis. The founder of the Han dynasty adopted the practice, and even added the northern altar for the worship of the Black Ti. In the time of the Emperor Woo the sacrifice to ShangTi dwelling in the expansive heavens was altogether neglected.'

Even where the five Tis are mentioned in the "Ritual of Chow" (Chou- Le) (cP A§) they are clearly distinguished from Shang Ti and evidently quite inferior to Him.

Historians of the T'ang Dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.) also described the process of corruption of the worship and knowledge of Shang Ti. They wrote, "When the Chow dynasty was in its decline, rites and music became corrupted amid the contending states (300 - 240 B.C.), and perished at last under Chin. From this time discussions about the border sacrifice on the round altar and the Hall of Intelligence became a chaos, and no one knew where to stop (in his rash assertions)."

It is because of the confusion created by the corruption from the Eastern Chou Dynasty (770 - 256 B.C.) until the founding of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.) that we have focused our research on China's ancient religious belief from its earliest recorded beginnings up until Confucius (500 B.C.). We also include some research from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 A.D.) and the Qing Dynasty (1644 -1911 A.D.) for some very relevant reasons. It was the Ming who researched their ancient beliefs and restored the emperor's worship of Shang Ti, as close as they could, to its original form as it was under the Hsia, Shang, and Chou Dynasties. The Qing Dynasty left the worship of Shang Ti virtually unchanged from the Ming when they came to power. Because of this we can learn a lot from these two dynasties about the original concepts of the Chinese concerning the person of Shang Ti or Heaven. It becomes evident from observing the emperor's worship, as it was performed in China from 1368 to 1911, that they had a very clear understanding of Shang Ti as the one and only supreme God.

It would be wise to remind ourselves at this point that not every emperor from 1368 - 1911 was faithful in honoring Shang Ti as the one true supreme God. Many fell victim to the idolatrous practices that surrounded them and polluted the clear revelation of Shang Ti. In China, just as in Israel, there were good and bad kings. Some were faithful in their worship of God and some were not. Nevertheless, Shang Ti never left Himself without a witness to China (2 Tim. 2:13; Acts 14:15-17).

What an exciting discovery we have made from a careful review of the facts of China's ancient religious faith in Shang Ti. One thing for sure is that religion did not evolve from lower to higher forms as many promoters of the theory of evolution in the social realm would have us believe. This eternal, sovereign God, Shang Ti, is not something that people thought up. Shang Ti (Tien) is a good, merciful, and just Creator who revealed himself to the founding fathers of the nation of China. He is the only eternal God that has been revealing Himself throughout all history. He is the only omnipresent God who has revealed Himself to all peoples around the world. He is the same God that Christians worship through Jesus Christ. He has most clearly and powerfully revealed Himself through the Holy Bible. If you really want to get to know Shang Ti on a personal level, you must study His word. As the author of this booklet, I can honestly tell you that my own life has been greatly enriched by the truth I have learned about Shang Ti. I am sure if you will seek a closer relationship with Shang Ti through the study of His word in the Bible, your life will also be immeasurably blessed (Jeremiah 29:12-13).

We have already learned a lot about Shang Ti and His attributes from what we have studied so far. This alone would be enough to prove Shang Ti is the same God we worship as Christians. But we will present even more evidence as we chart some of the natural and moral attributes of Shang Ti as they are found in the Shu Jing and She Jing.

The She Jing is a book of poetry and is one of the most venerated of the Chinese Classics. All our quotes are taken from the Chinese Classics (with English translation) by James Legge.