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By Root 970 0

person had two souls—one a “physical” soul, and one an “eternal” soul—that could be kept alive through sacrifices performed by a male family member. With proper sacrifice, the eternal soul became a deity of power and influence that could respond to divination requests or perform other heavenly favors. But if a deceased ancestor’s soul was neglected or treated poorly, that soul could become a demon and haunt the living. The vast majority of China’s people throughout history have been rural peasants, and this farmer class had little to do with these lofty beliefs, which were reserved for the landed wealthy. Instead, the religion of the peasant farmers centered on the worship of local deities of soil and water and shamanistic cults featuring spirit mediums—practices largely dismissed by the upper classes of China. Just as there was human sacrifice at the royal level, there was a grim side to these local rites. In many farming villages, there were river festivals in which beautiful girls were selected as the “bride of the river.” Set afloat in a boat, they were ultimately drowned as an offering to the river god.

Chinese religion developed without a powerful priestly class, and the sacrificial cult services were performed by the head of the family, or by state officials. The sacrifices included a variety of domesticated animals, or wine poured as a libation. The concept of proper sacrifice was so important, according to historians W. Scott Morton and Charlton Lewis, that the downfall of a kingdom would be attributed to times when “the sacrifices were interrupted.”

The methods of divination that produced the ancient oracle bones became more sophisticated over time, and were formalized in an important Chinese classic called the I Ching (also commonly called Yi Jing, among other various Romanized spellings), or Book of Changes. Counted among the earliest and most influential of the ancient Chinese texts called the Five Classics, the I Ching probably originated about 1122 BCE, early in the Zhou Dynasty, which ruled China for more than 800 years, including the period in which Confucius lived. Grouped together with the I Ching were The Classic of History, material about early kings of questionable authenticity; The Classic of Poetry, a collection of folk and ceremonial songs; The Collection of Rituals (or Rites); and The Spring and Autumn Annals, attributed to Confucius. This family of books constituted the basis of study for the imperial examination that had to be mastered by anyone wanting to advance in the Chinese imperial bureaucracy right up to the early twentieth century.

Like oracle bones, the I Ching was first used to predict the future. A person with a question followed a specific ritual that involved tossing special sticks or coins and then referencing the appropriate commentary in the I Ching. Over time, with the growing influence of Confucianism, the function of the I Ching evolved, and by the 500s BCE, the I Ching was viewed as a book of philosophy.

Traditionally, it was believed that the principles of the I Ching originated with Fu Hsi (Fu Xi), a creator god said to be one of China’s legendary early rulers. (Who’s Who of Chinese Gods.) It was also long accepted that Confucius himself had either written or edited the I Ching. During the past fifty years, however, discoveries in archaeology and linguistics have reshaped theories of the book’s history. Scholars have been helped immensely by the discovery in the 1970s of intact Han Dynasty–era tombs in Hunan Province. (The Han ruled China for roughly 400 years from about 200 BCE to 200 CE.) One of these tombs contained more or less complete second-century BCE texts of the I Ching that are centuries older than the previously discovered texts. Mostly similar to the well-known I Ching, these tomb texts include additional commentaries on the I Ching, previously unknown and apparently written as if they were meant to be attributed to Confucius. The bottom line is that, after considerable investigation, many modern scholars doubt the actual existence of the mythical ruler Fu