ShangDi – China’s God of Creation

August 30, 2010

China is the oldest, continuous civilization on the earth. Ancient records date back to about  2500 B.C. and coincides with the Biblical timeline, which shows that the great flood took place around 2344 B.C. Source: Bible Study – Flood

Ancient Chinese myth has their first king, Fu-hi or Fohi (Chinese Noah) making his appearance on the Mountain of Chin surrounded by a rainbow after the world had been covered with water.  Myth says this Chinese Noah also sacrificed animals to God.

The Miao tribe of Southwest China has a similar myth. According to the Miao, God destroyed the world by flood because of the wickedness of man. The myth also says Nuah (Noah) had three sons: Lo Han (Ham), Lo Shen (Shem), and Jah-hu (Japheth). Source: Silvia Videler

“ShangDi, the Creator-God of the Chinese, surely appears to be one and the same as the Creator-God of the Hebrews.” Source: Answer in Genesis

“One of the earliest accounts of the Border Sacrifice is found in the Shu Jing (Book of History), compiled by Confucius (551 to 479 B.C.), where it is recorded that Emperor Shun (2256 to 2205 B.C.) sacrificed to ShangDi.” Source: Answer in Genesis

ShangDi is the High God of the ancient Chinese.  He was worshiped as the Creator God for thousands of years. ShangDi was known as the Heavenly Ruler and the Chinese emperors were known as the Sons of Heaven.  No other god was higher or more powerful.

Evidence says that the ancient Chinese understood the nature of God as the ancient Hebrews did after Abraham (1812 B.C. to 1637 B.C.), who is considered the father of the Jews (about 3,000 years old), Christians (about 2,000 years old) and Muslims (about 1,400 years old).

While the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans worshiped many gods, the Chinese worshiped one God above all others, ShangDi. If true, that would mean the Chinese might have believed in God longer than the Jews, Christians or Muslims.

In fact, it appears that the Chinese believed in God (ShangDi) without an organized religion for more than four thousand years.

Discover The Question of Religion

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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29 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Chinese minorities, Christianity, Islam, religion | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Misconceptions of China – The Chinese Government

August 20, 2010

This three-part series comes from a young Chinese man speaking on YouTube about Western misconceptions of China.

Larry says that one of the greatest misconceptions about China’s government is that people outside China believe it is completely Communist—a machine that gets rid of what it doesn’t like.  Even Larry’s Chinese-American friends feel this way.  That opinion is wrong.

Larry says that China does censor a few things like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The reason for that are because of Falun Gong, and Tibetan or Muslim (in Xingjian province) separatists.

Source: ShiWoLarry

Larry says many Westerners believe if you say bad things about the Chinese government, you will be arrested. The only instance where that might be true is if you used a loud speaker in the center of Tiananmen Square.  

Larry then talks about the few human rights violations Westerners hear so much about. The central government reacts the way it does toward the Falun Gong, Tibetan Separatists and the Muslims in Xingjian province because the Communists came to power through rebellion and want to avoid the same thing happening to them.  

After the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, China went through chaos and anarchy for decades—millions suffered and died.  Any rebellion would mean a return to those horrible times and regardless of any negativity one hears or reads about China, there is a lot of good things going on that we don’t hear about in the West.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Communism, cults, cultural differences, Islam, media, politics, Tibet | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China Securing Its Future (1/3)

August 14, 2010

This three part series is about the reasons behind a new weapon China is developing. This weapon is known as the DF21D, which will be described in part 3.

Suppose that the United States had just ended a century of conflict that started when several foreign nations sent naval/military power halfway around the world to force America to accept cocaine as a product to be sold to all Americans without restrictions.

The United States loses the struggle against this drug being sold to American citizens, and during the next century, more than fifty-million Americans die from more wars indirectly caused by the nations behind the drugs while a third of Americans becomes addicted to the drugs.

As this century of drug and wars end, the same nations invade Mexico and Canada. By the time the wars in Mexico and Canada end, 10 million Canadians and Mexicans have been killed by the invading armies.

For China, what I’m describing is not a “what if”.

Starting in 1839, China fought two Opium Wars and lost about 50,000 troops while the invading nations lost 3,000. The invaders were from the UK, France and, for a limited time, the US. 

These nations forced China’s emperor to allow them to sell opium to his people ruining millions of lives and wrecking families due to drug addiction. 

These invading nations also built enclaves and cities in China—Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and others.

Imagine China controlling San Francisco, Seattle and New York. How would most American’s feel?

In fact, Western nations are indirectly responsible for an 1850 rebellion started by a Chinese Christian convert who claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ. When the Taiping Rebellion ended, 20 million civilians and combatants were dead.

See more about The Opium Wars

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Leave a Comment » | America, capitalism, China, Chinese history, Christianity, Communism, history, Islam | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Question of Religion (2/2)

August 13, 2010

Think of the violence and wars that religions have caused—the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, genocide against the Cathars (see video), the wars between Catholics and Protestants, and the persecution of Jews by both Muslims and Christians.

Then there are Islamic fundamentalists and the suffering and death caused by their religious beliefs.

Although most people in China are not religious, religions have caused uprising and wars in China too.

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1643) came about due to a rebellion against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty led by a religious sect known as the “Red Turbans” or “Red Scarves”, which included elements from “White Lotus”, a Buddhist sect from the late Southern Song Dynasty. Source: New World Encyclopedia

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when the Manchu minority ruled China, there were a number of religious uprisings.

There was the White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) in the mountain region that separates Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. The White Lotus was a secret religious society promising salvation to its followers similar to the Falun Gong today.

A Christian convert claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ led the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and more than 20 million died.

The Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873) was a separatist movement led by the Hui people and Chinese Muslims.

There was also the Dungan revolt (1862-1877), led by Muslims in China’s Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang provinces. Chinese historians and officials believed that Islam played a role in causing that uprising.

Maybe the reason China survived for thousands of years without collapsing as Western civilization did when Rome fell was the absence of a major religious movement in China stirring the peoples’ emotions.

Instead of listening to God from the mouths of Popes, prophets and priests, the Chinese had a blend of Confucianism and Taoism, which the family taught by example.

Return to The Question of Religion – Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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6 Comments | America, Buddhism, Buddhist, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Confucianism, cults, cultural differences, history, Islam, religion, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Question of Religion (1/2)

August 12, 2010

I read a piece in the August National Geographic about Native Lands in America. The piece mentions the horrible atrocities committed by the European invaders against the natives who had lived on the land for more than ten thousand years.

As I read, I wondered if the reason Chinese civilization survived for thousands of years was because China had no organized religion to stir the emotions of the people and set them against each other in endless religious wars. 

When I brought this up with an old friend of mine who is a born again evangelical Christian, his response was that real Christians didn’t cause religious wars.

I question his right to decide who a real Christian is.  In fact, most Christians believe they will be forgiven since the cornerstone of Christian religion is Christ dying on the cross for their sins so killing all those nonbelievers must have been okay.

There are even influential and wealthy Christians (see above video) who support Israel rebuilding Solomon’s temple for the sole reason that it means the end of life on earth as we know it. However, those Christians believe they would be with God as His chosen few.

I wonder if early Christians may have been the reason the Roman Empire eventually collapsed.

See Cults and Christian Cannon Balls

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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1 Comment | America, Buddhism, Buddhist, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Confucianism, cults, cultural differences, Islam, religion, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
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