Sacrifice to Heaven

The tradition & historical record

Sacrifice to Heaven (Chinese: 祭天; pinyin: Jìtiān) is an Asian religious practice originating in the worship of Shangdi in China. In Ancient Chinese society, nobles of all levels constructed altars for Heaven. At first, only nobles could worship Shangdi but later beliefs changed and everyone could worship Shangdi. Modern Confucian churches make this practice available to all believers and it continues in China without a monarch. It has been influential on areas outside of China including Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. The Jì (祭) in the Chinese name is the same Je as in Jesa. ¹

It first originated in the Shang dynasty. During the Zhou dynasty, Sacrifice to Heaven and Fen Shan, were privileges enjoyed exclusively by the Son of Heaven due to Shendao teachings. The rites have been performed at the Temple of Heaven since the Ming dynasty and are still performed today. Some scholars believe that Qing involvement with the ritual standardized Manchu rituals with the book of Manchu rites, but this is unsupported. Since the early years of the Republic of China, Kang Youwei's Confucian movement advocated the separation of Religious Confucianism from the state bureaucracy, allowing everyone to Sacrifice to Heaven according to the Christian model. In the 21st century, it is done without a monarch. It is sometimes done in other locations aside from the Temple of Heaven, such as in Fujian in 2015 ¹

In Korea, Sacrifice to Heaven is read as Jecheon (Hanja: 祭天). It is also identified with the word yeonggo 영고 (迎鼓) and has a history linked to Korean shamanism, in addition to Chinese influence. In Buyeo, during the yeonggo festival which was held in December, prisoners would be released and judgments given. It was used as a political tool in a manner similar to a jubilee. These ceremonies were typically characterized by communal and thanksgiving aspects and in Buyeo, it was done after the harvest. ¹

Mucheon (舞天), a religious ritual and a comprehensive art form of the Dongye, was an event held during the first month of the lunar calendar (October) in which offerings were made to the heavens and people climbed high mountains to have fun. According to a commentary called the Touyuan Booklet (兎園策府), included in the Dunhuang manuscripts during the Tang Dynasty in China, Mucheon was a custom in Gojoseon that was held in October. ¹

During the Goryeo Dynasty, there was a Jecheon event called Eight Gwanhoe (팔관회 / 八關會). It was a successor to Silla's Eight Gwanhoe, an event where sacrifices were made to the spirits of all things and the heavens. There was also an event called Weonguje (圜丘祭), which came from China. According to the Goryeo History, it was practiced from the time of Goryeo Seongjong, and it is said that the Weongudan (圜丘壇) was built to offer sacrifices to the sky. As a place to offer sacrifices to the heavens, Weongudan was repeatedly installed and abolished from the Goryeo Dynasty. ¹

During the early Joseon Dynasty, Sejo (世祖), a temple was built and the Sacrifices to Heaven were held, but it was discontinued after seven years. The reasoning was that only the emperor could offer sacrifices to the heavens, and Joseon, as an imperial state, had no such authority as per little China ideology. Later, after the country was renamed the Korean Empire, the practice was restored and a Hwangudan was built for the purpose. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sacrifice to Heaven”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Sacrifice to Heaven is Korean worship, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²