How did Winter Solstice begin? There are connected to the Hebrew's God?

Winter Solstice
(22.12.2018)
How did Winter Solstice begin? There are connected to the Hebrew's God.

In looking at the Chinese history in light of the Book of Genesis, it will be helpful to look first at the earliest known religion in China. Later, we will see how this ancient religion fits in with the Biblical account of ancient history.

The earliest account of religious worship in China is found in the Shu Jing (Book of History of Book of Documents), the oldest Chinese historical source. This book records that in the year 2230 B.C., the Emperor Shun “sacrificed to Shangdi.” That is, he sacrificed to the supreme God of the ancient Chinese, Shangdi meaning Supreme Ruler. This ceremony came to be known as the “Border Sacrifice,” because at the summer solstice and Emperor took part in ceremonies to the earth on the northern border of the country, and at the winter solstice he offered a sacrifice to heaven on the southern border.

The Chinese have been called one of the most history-conscious and tradition-conscious peoples of the world. This is seen in many aspects of Chinese culture. Perhaps it is seen most of all in this very Border Sacrifice which the Emperor performed twice a year. This ceremony, which goes back at least to 2230 B.C. was continued in China for over four thousand years, up until the fall of the Manchus in A. D. 1911. Even though the people gradually lost an understanding of what the ceremony was all about, and Shangdi was obscured behind all kinds of pagan deities in China, nevertheless the worship of the one God, Shangdi, was continued faithfully by the Emperor up into modern times.

The oldest text of the Border Sacrifice that we have dates from the Ming Dynasty. It is the exact text of the ceremony that was performed in A. D. 1538, which was based on the existing ancient records of the original rituals. Let us look at portions of the recitation script that the Emperor used


Above: The Circular Mound Altar of the Temple of Heaven
in Beijing, built in A. D. 1420, where the Emperor
would offer sacrifice. Temple of Heaven Photo and caption
courtesy of Hieromonk Damascene

The Emperor, as the high priest, was the only one to participate in the service. The ceremony began: “Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements [planets] had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and the moon to shine. In the midst thereof there existed neither forms for sound. Thou, O spiritual Sovereign, camest forth in Thy presidency, and first didst divide the grosser parts from the purer. Thou madest heaven; Thou madest earth; Thou madest man. All things with their reproductive power got their being.” This recitation praising Shangdi as Creator of heaven and earth sounds surprisingly like the first chapter of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1: 1- 2).

So, in the earliest records of Chinese religion, we see that the people worshiped One God, Who was Creator of all. We also see that the original people of China looked at Shangdi with a sense of love and a filial feeling. The Emperor continued his prayer: “Thou hast vouchsafed, O Di, to hear us, for Thou regardest us as a Father. I, Thy child, dull and unenlightened, am unable to show forth my dutiful feelings.”

As the ceremony concludes, Shangdi is praised for His loving kindness: “Thy sovereign goodness is infinite. As a potter, Thou hast made all living things. Thy sovereign goodness is infinite. Great and small are sheltered [by Thee]. As engraven on the heart of Thy poor servant is the sense of Thy goodness, so that my feeling cannot be fully displayed. With great kindness Thou dost bear us, and not withstanding our shortcomings, dost grant us life and prosperity.”

These last two recitations, taken together, bear the same simile as found in the Prophecy of Isaiah in the Bible: “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter and we all are the work of Thy hand” (Isaiah 64: 8).

In general, reading the text of the Border Sacrifice reminds one strongly of the prayers of the ancient Hebrews as found in the Old Testament: the same reverent awe before God, the same selfabasement, humility and gratitude before His greatness. For us Christians, these most ancient of Chinese prayers to God are strangely familiar. Why is this? It seems that the most ancient Chinese religion and the ancient Hebrew religion are drawn from the same source. And that is indeed the case, as we will see. Please click the link below to continue more detail reading

http://www.orthodox.cn/localchurch/200406ancientcnhist_en.htm

冬至
（2018年12月22日）
Winter Solstice是如何开始的？与希伯来的上帝有关。

根据“创世记”看中国历史，首先看看中国最早的已知宗教是有帮助的。后来，我们将看到这个古老的宗教如何符合圣经对古代历史的描述。

中国最早的宗教崇拜记载在中国最古老的历史资料“书记史书”中。这本书记载，在公元前2230年，舜帝“牺牲到上帝。”也就是说，他牺牲了至中国古代的至高神，上帝意为最高统治者。这个仪式后来被称为“边境牺牲”，因为在夏至和皇帝参加了在该国北部边界的地球仪式，并在冬至，他在南部边界向天堂献祭。

中国人被称为世界上最具历史意识和传统意识的人民之一。这可以从中国文化的许多方面看出来。也许最重要的是在这个非常边境的牺牲中，皇帝每年进行两次。这个仪式至少可以追溯到公元前2230年。在中国继续存在了四千多年，一直到1911年满族人的沦陷。尽管人们逐渐对这个仪式的概念失去了理解，但上帝在中国的各种异教神灵背后被掩盖了，尽管如此，皇帝仍然忠实地继续崇拜上帝，即上帝。

我们可以追溯到明朝最古老的边境牺牲文本。这是在A. D. 1538中进行的仪式的确切文本，该文本基于原始仪式的现有古代记录。让我们看一下Emperor使用的朗诵脚本的部分内容


上图：天坛的圆形土坛
在北京，建于A. D. 1420，皇帝在哪里
会提供牺牲。天坛照片和标题
由Hieromonk Damascene提供

作为大祭司的皇帝是唯一参与这项服务的人。仪式开始了：“一开始就是古老的，有着巨大的混乱，没有形式和黑暗。五行星[行星]没有开始旋转，太阳和月亮也没有开始旋转。在其中间既没有声音形式。你是一位属灵的君主，在你的总统任期内出现了，并且首先将更粗糙的部分从更纯洁的部分中分离出来。你创造了天堂;你创造了地球;你是个男人。所有具有生殖能力的东西都得到了存在。“这种背诵称赞上帝作为天地的创造者听起来像创世记的第一章一样惊人地说：”起初，上帝创造了天地。地球没有形状和空虚，黑暗面临着深深的“（创世记1：1-2）。

因此，在最早的中国宗教记录中，我们看到人们崇拜一位上帝，他是所有人的创造者。我们也看到中国原始人以一种爱和孝顺的心情看待上帝。皇帝继续他的祈祷：“你有誓言，奥迪，要听我们说，因为你使我们像父一样畏惧我们。我，你的孩子，沉闷和无知，我无法表现出我的尽职尽责。“

在仪式结束时，尚迪因其慈爱而受到称赞：“你的主权善良是无限的。作为一个陶工，你创造了所有生物。你的主权善良是无限的。大大小小的人都被庇护。因为祢可怜的仆人心中的镌刻是你的善良感，所以我的感觉无法完全展现出来。你非常善良地承担了我们的责任，并且不能承受我们的缺点，因此给予我们生命和繁荣。“

这最后两个背诵，一起，与圣经中以赛亚的预言中所见的相同：“但是现在，主啊，你是我们的父亲;我们是泥土，你是我们的波特，我们都是你手中的工作“（以赛亚书64：8）。

一般来说，阅读边境牺牲的文字会让人强烈地想起旧约中发现的古希伯来人的祈祷：在上帝面前同样的敬畏敬畏，在他伟大之前的同样的自卑，谦卑和感激。对我们基督徒来说，这些最古老的中国人对上帝的祈祷是非常熟悉的。为什么是这样？似乎最古老的中国宗教和古希伯来宗教来自同一个来源。事实确实如此，正如我们将要看到的那样。