論春秋天神崇拜中的帝 = Di in Religious Concepts during the Spring and Autumn period A View from the History of Ideas on the Comparison of Beliefs in Yin and Zhou Dynasty

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Structural forms of state political power and the pattern of lives in ancient times are inextricably linked to the theocracy. This paper is presented Emperor -God and its identity attribute, sphere of competence, role that plays in the ancient and primitive faith. The paper explores the vital role that theocracy and its discourse construction played in the process of demystification. As for the identity of Di, on the basis of analysis previous study, we think that there are three kinds of Di in Religious Concepts during the Spring and Autumn period -God, Emperors in Yin Dynasty and characters in classical myths. The first two are inherited ideas from Yin Dynasty; the last is represented by “Five Emperors”, which starts from the Spring and Autumn period, and embodies the political requirements of unification different countries after Emperor Ping’s of Zhou, who moved it capital to the East. As for the Di’s sphere of competence and its changing trend, according to the interpretation of ancient documents and further investigation, we can conclude a clear overall clue in this paper. During the period of the Yin Dynasty (it is also known as Shang or Yin-Shang Dynasty), the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn, from the view of primitive religious belief, Emperor Wen Wuang (or ancestral kings) is an agent or a performer of God that blesses the world. There are two changes in Di’s sphere of competence: first, Di has some unprecedented competence that it is Di’s right to allow or permit the action plan from the ancestors of the royal and the noble; second, Di’s sphere of competence hardly involves nature and living matters. The way which Di intervenes social activities in tribes tends to be at macro level. The power of Di imposes the clan’s fate rather than the fate of his own. Nevertheless the Di’s sphere of competence is not the same as before, people in Zhou Dynasty never neglect its donating competence for their lives. As a most important subject under discussion, the role of theocracy in the historical development process should be highlighted and paid much attention. We tried to discuss the issue in the view of demystification theory that was put forward by Max Weber. By its divinity and authority in that time, Di becomes a vital bond between all different vassal states, which are aligned with another one or more state. So to some extent, Di plays the role of maintaining the political stability. During the period of Yin-Shang Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn, the role that Di plays in the process of communicating between God and the men evolved from the person to carry out God’s order to the person who set up regulations and laws to the person who experience important events or changes as a witness. With the declining of theocracy power and rising of human rights, the character of Di becomes fresh and alive. The attitude towards God has gradually changed from fear to being respectful. There even appears some kind of integrity that indicates the value principle of equal relationship. Taking integrity as a moral norm that should be abided by in the activities that is held to worship their ancestors and the gods embodies that the God status decline in ancient people’s concept. Along with declining of the theocracy, clergies’ professional knowledge and skill are no longer monopolized by clergies. Most of so-called Junzis (an important class of public intellectuals in the Spring and Autumn period) have the knowledge and skill of clergies’, by which they can assist their superiors to gain people’s trust. Whence, Junzis frequently quote recordation in the written documents or legends about Di. The literary quotation is often preferred by Junzis at that time and it helps Junzis to gain discourse. It helps Junzis to expound their ideas and ideals in writing for the society. It also provides convenience to realize their ideology by interpretation the ancient classical texts.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

先秦時代 정치권력의 조직양식과 고대 사람들의 생활 방식은 종종 神權과 긴밀하게 연결되어 관계를 맺고 있다. 본 논문은 春秋시기의 帝(上帝)가 갖는 신분적 속성, 직권범위 및 이전 사람들의 신앙에서의 역할에 대해서 토의하고, 이를 통해 神權과 그 언어구조가 각성과정에 미치는 중요한 작용을 밝혔다.
春秋時期 신앙관념 가운데 “帝”라는 글자가 붙은 신령 또는 숭배대상은 세종류로 나눌 수 있는데, 바로 上帝와 殷代의 先王들과 신화 속의 인물이다. 앞의 둘은 殷代의 관념과 서로 이어지는 개념이고, 후자는 “五帝”로 대표되며, 춘추시기에 처음으로 출현하여, 주나라 平王의 東遷 이후 “協和万邦”이라는 정치적 필요에 따라 구현된 것이다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• [提要]
• 引言
• 一、“今之王，古之帝也”-論帝的身份屬性
• 二、“余得請於帝矣”-論帝的職權範圍
• 三、“所不唯……，有如上帝”-論帝與人神關係
• 結論