Heaven worship is a Chinese religious belief that predates Taoism and Confucianism, but was later eventually incorporated into both Taoism and Confucianism. Religious belief refers to a faith or creed concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine. ... Taoism (pronounced and often written as Daoism (dow-ism)) is the English name for a cluster of Chinese religious and philosophical traditions. ... Confucian temple in Jiading district, Shanghai. ...

Ancient Chinese believed in a non-corporeal entity called Shangdi, an omnipotent, just, monotheistic supreme God. Over time Shangdi became synonymous with Tian, or Heaven. Worship of Heaven is highly ritualistic, and the emperor has to hold official sacrifices and worship at an altar of heaven, the most famous of which is the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. There are no idols allowed in Heaven worship. Shangdi or Shang Ti (Wade-Giles) (上帝, pinyin Shàngdì), literally translated, Lord Above or Sovreign Above, in Chinese culture, is the name used both in traditional Chinese religion as well as Christianity for a supreme deity. ... Omnipotence (literally, all power) is the power to do absolutely anything. ... JUST JUST is a rock band based out of Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. ... Monotheism (in Greek monon = single and Theos = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. ... Tian (天 Pinyin Tiān) is the Chinese character for heaven or sky. ... Hall of Annual Prayer, the largest building in the Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven (Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , pinyin: Tiāntán; Manchu: Abkai mukdehun) is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing, in Xuanwu District. ... Beijing [English Pronunciation] (Chinese: 北京 [Chinese Pronunciation]; Pinyin: Běijīng; IPA: ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... An idol is a man-made object that is venerated in some way. ...

Heaven worship is closedly linked with ancestor veneration, as ancestors are seen as the medium between Heaven and humans. Rulers of China, also known as Sons of Heaven, derived their Mandate of Heaven, and thus legitimacy, from their supposed ability to commune with Heaven on behalf of his nation. Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ... The king or wang (王 wang2) was the Chinese head of state from the Zhou to Qin dynasties. ... The Mandate of Heaven (天命 PÄ«nyÄ«n: Tiānmìng) was a traditional Chinese concept of legitimacy used to support the rule of the kings of the Zhou Dynasty and later the Emperors of China. ...

Early Abrahamic missionaries saw similarities between Shangdi/Tian and the Abrahamic God, and therefore translated their God into "Shangdi" in Chinese. Some Chinese Christian scholars assert that the Christian God and Chinese Shangdi are in fact the same entity. The three so-called Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have in common many beliefs about God. ...

See also

• History of the Jews in China
• Lost Ten Tribes