Soil and grain

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Soil and grain (Chinese: 社稷; pinyin: shèjì; Japanese: 社稷; rōmaji: shashoku; Korean: 사직; romaja: sajik) was a common political term in the Sinosphere for the state. Altars of soil and grain (millet) were constructed alongside ancestral altars. Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremonies of soil and grain to affirm their sovereignty at the Beijing Shejitan, while Korean monarchs of the Joseon dynasty did so at the Seoul Sajikdan.[1] It has also been rendered "gods of soil and grain" in English, owing to its associations of prayer and supernatural possibilities.[2]

During the Chinese Warring States period, ministers defied their rulers by claiming a greater loyalty to the "soil and grain".[3]

Tu Di[]

A similar concept to sheji is that of Tu Di, the Earth Deity.[4]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ A comparative study of thirty city states
  2. ^ Hymes: Way and Byway (Google Books)
  3. ^ Envisioning eternal empire: Chinese political thought of the Warring States era
  4. ^ Yang, 97

References[]

  • Yang, C. K.. Religion in Chinese Society : A Study of Contemporary Social Functions of Religion and Some of Their Historical Factors (1967 [1961]). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
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