To all Shang-han Lunnists/ now Gods

March 16, 2007

To quote Neal Stephenson on how one gets to be a god in China: " by coming from

an extremely pragmatic society "

The character " shen " as in mind/shen, is used to designate someone who is

masterful at what they do, and I believe it is translated as god or saint. For

instance, the movie " God of Cookery " starring the hilarious Stephen Chow uses

the character to imply his status as a living enlightened master of cooking.

There is an implied element of spiritual cultivation in the mastery of any craft

that is refected in this title. I believe Hua To and Sun Si Miao were both given

either immortal or god status in acupuncture.

Godhood is on a continuum, with other adjectives leading up to it, like sagely,

or immortal. Godhood in ancient China was an official status that was conferred

by the Emperor on individuals who merited special distinction above and beyond a

more nominal level, more or less like patron saints in Catholocism. I believe it

was frequently given to those (dead and not politically viable) who were already

worshipped by popular cults, typically within the context of Daoism, Buddhism

and in rare cases, Confucianism. As the heads of these religions in China were

appointed by the Emperor, he had broad discretion about how the faiths were

practiced, and much like the Christians as they spread through Europe, would

adopt local rites and rituals in order to ingratiate the local populations

(e.g., Easter eggs, Yule, etc).

Gods were rather thick on the ground in ancient China, with many localities

having multiple deities who governed various geological features, forrests,

wells, etc. Additionally there was a parallel Confucian bureaucracy in the

afterlife, which had local representatives, and a variety of heavenly courts,

headed up by the Jade Emperor.

The relationship of the living and dead was heavily legislated in China, and as

with feng shui burial practices, being able to gather the support of a spiritual

power base was important politically, think mandate of heaven. While " ancestor

worship " was encouraged by the Confucian doctrine, at times there were laws

saying that only one or two generations of ancestors could be worshipped,

presumably preventing lese majesty in regards to the power of the Emperor, who

had a much deeper bench of spiritual support. Interestingly, the Christians also

used this type of spiritual banking, apparently using the prayers and then the

spirits of Chinese orphans and foundlings who perished in their care as a

commodity back in Europe.

All that is meant to say that claiming godlike ability in China might be

slightly less cheeky than saying it in the West, though it's still a bit cheeky

in my opinion.

Par Scott, MAOM, Lic Ac

19 Belmont St

Cambridge MA 02138

617 499 2957

-

Alon Marcus

Thursday, March 15, 2007 3:06 PM

Re: Re: To all Shang-han Lunnists

What did the chinese mean when they talk about god? such as " I looked for and

found the Green Dragon Treasured Secret Medical Text Book3, and read the Secrets

in the Blue Bag4 in it. That is why I could treat like God

from Shinjiro web

-

Shinjiro Kanazawa

Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:36 AM

Re: To all Shang-han Lunnists

Dear Alon and all Shanghanlunnists:

My website is:

www.shanghanlun.us

it includes;

My translation of the whole Song Text Shang-han Lun (I have just completed

only the prefaces at the moment. Soon Chapter One Pulse Differentiation will be

added.)

My ideas on the original Shang-han Lun Text

My report on the recent Japanese studies on the Shang-han Lun

My translation of stories of Bian-que, Huatuo and Zhang Zhong-jing

Thank you for interest in.

Shinjiro

March 16, 2007

thanks

-

Par Scott

Friday, March 16, 2007 7:59 AM

Re: Re: To all Shang-han Lunnists/ now Gods

To quote Neal Stephenson on how one gets to be a god in China: " by coming from

an extremely pragmatic society "

The character " shen " as in mind/shen, is used to designate someone who is

masterful at what they do, and I believe it is translated as god or saint. For

instance, the movie " God of Cookery " starring the hilarious Stephen Chow uses

the character to imply his status as a living enlightened master of cooking.

There is an implied element of spiritual cultivation in the mastery of any craft

that is refected in this title. I believe Hua To and Sun Si Miao were both given

either immortal or god status in acupuncture.

Godhood is on a continuum, with other adjectives leading up to it, like

sagely, or immortal. Godhood in ancient China was an official status that was

conferred by the Emperor on individuals who merited special distinction above

and beyond a more nominal level, more or less like patron saints in Catholocism.

I believe it was frequently given to those (dead and not politically viable) who

were already worshipped by popular cults, typically within the context of

Daoism, Buddhism and in rare cases, Confucianism. As the heads of these

religions in China were appointed by the Emperor, he had broad discretion about

how the faiths were practiced, and much like the Christians as they spread

through Europe, would adopt local rites and rituals in order to ingratiate the

local populations (e.g., Easter eggs, Yule, etc).