Mystical and monotheistic motives in ancient Chinese “Book of Songs”

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to explore main mystic and monotheistic motives in Chinese ancient “Book of Songs”. The historical circumstances of its genesis, including the hypothetical reconstruction of ancient Chinese beliefs and the intellectual atmosphere of the studied period are observed. The article explores the main religious themes in ancient Chinese poetry, especially in the part of Hymns and part of Big and Small Odes in the “Book of Songs”.

This paper tries to systemize main mystic motives in ancient Chinese Poetry. Also one of the most important tasks of this article is to study ancient Chinese monotheistic believes. The focus is on the concept of Heaven as the reflection of the highest mystic power in ancient Chinese literature and the role of the cult of Heaven in ancient China. The heaven power is personalized by figure of the Heaven Emperor, who is believed to be the world ruler in cognitive conceptual system of the Book of Songs. The urgency of the paper concerns the analysis of the structure of the “Book of Songs” and the history of its current version (“Mao Shi”). In particular it is important to systematize all hymns and songs that include mystical motifs and monotheistic component of the classical ancient Chinese culture.

The Book of Songs contains the key monotheistic motives of the cult of Heaven and it’s emperor, the legend about the contact of ancient Chinese princes with higher heavenly powers, the heavenly emperor, which is the source of monotheistic and theistic beliefs in the culture of ancient China. Poetry “Book of Songs” greatly influenced the further development of Chinese literature, literature in the countries of the Far East, Central and Southeast Asia. The observing of this influence is a perspective direction for further scientific research.