The world of symbolism in the religious poems of the Shi jing

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the cultural phenomenon of the Shi jing [Book of Poetry] (c.1100-600 BC) through the investigation of religious symbols and ethos of the Zhou people. An analysis of the major symbols in the religious poems of this ancient Chinese classic and an examination of archeological materials of this period reveal a spiritual world which had a dual nature of holiness and secularity. The Zhou people believed that supreme Heaven, being gracious and authoritative, granted blessings upon man, and that the ancestral spirits continually protected their descendants in the numinous world. On the one hand, the worshippers responded to the spirits by establishing communication with them, by expressing their gratitude, and, in a mystical sense, by seeking harmony with the divine. On the other hand, pious supplicants expected practical rewards, especially wealth, prosperity, and longevity in return. Such wishes were only realized when worshippers pleased the divinities by presenting rich offerings and by obeying Heaven’s moral rules. These considerations suggest that the symbolic order depicted in the Shi jing was so simple, rational, and sacred that it was unable to expand by incorporating sophisticated ontological quests, frenzied ritualistic practices, and practical humanistic concerns—elements which might have been found in the symbolic worlds of other cultures and in other belief systems of China.