A Study On The Oracle Of Sacrificing Four Directions

The sacrifice in the four directions is a common sacrifice in Oracle Bone Inscriptions.By studying the contents of the four-way sacrifice sacrifices in Oracle Bone Inscriptions,we can understand the concepts of position deities and religious thoughts during the Yin and Shang Dynasties.According to the Oracle Bone Inscriptions,during the Shang Dynasties,the merchants believed that there were azimuth gods in the four positive directions,and each azimuth god had its own god name,mnd the merchant also sacrificed the four direction’s gods.In the Oracle Bone Inscriptions,the sacrificial verbs used by the merchants for the sacrifice of the four directions are:Di禘、Liao燎、(?)、Du度、(?)、(?)、Mao 卯、Qiang羌、Fen焚、Gang 刚、Yu御、彭、You(?)、Guan裸、Shi示、Ki宜.In his inscriptions,merchants worship the East and the West more frequently than the other two directions in the South and North.According to the scriptures,sacrificial offerings to the four direction’s gods will use sacrificial offerings such as Qiangren羌人,cow,sheep,pig,dog,Zhi廌,and jade.The merchants shown in the scriptures worship the orientation gods in a higher standard,but they are in line with the other two orientations.In contrast,when worshipping the East and the West,the specifications are higher,and the East is higher than the West.From this we can see that East and West are more important positions in the merchant’s concept.In his inscriptions,the purpose of the merchants sacrificing the four direction’s gods are to pray for rain,calm the wind,and harvest.In the Oracle Bone Inscriptions,"Fang" and "Sifang" are collective names of the four directions.In the Oracle Bone Inscriptions,the sacrificial verb commonly used to sacrifice the gods is"Di谛",and there are also burnt offerings,A number of evidences,such as glyphs and lexicons,show that the meaning of the "Fang Di方禘" in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the burnt offering to the gods.It can be seen from the quotations that the merchants used high standard for sacrifices to the gods,and the number of tartars was higher than that of the four-way gods.In addition,merchants worship Fangshen字神 for praying for rain,clam the wind,rain,and disease.The control of Fanghen方神 is wider than that of Sifang.It can be seen that the status of Fangshen was higher than that of four direction’s gods during the Shang Dynasty.In the Oracle Bone Inscriptions,there are also some gods related to orientation There are Dongwm 东母 and Ximu西母 in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions.The Dongmu东母and Ximu西母only appeared in the inscriptions of the Bin group宾组in the late Wuding武丁 period.It can be seen that the Dongmu东母 is a female god unique to the Wuding武丁 period.Looking at the meaning of the word,we can see that Dongmu东母and Xinu西母are goddesses of motherhood.From the frequency of sacrifice and the specifications of the animals used,it is known that the position of the Dongmu东母 and the Ximu西母 in the minds of the merchants is lower than that of the four direction gods.There are Dongwu东巫 and Beiwu北巫 seen in the inscriptions.In the inscriptions,the four-party witch gods are collectively called "Wu巫" or "Siwu四巫".The interpretation of the "Wudi巫禘" in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the four-party witch god,and the merchants worship the four-party witch god for the purpose of clam wind.By combing the situation of the animals,we can see that the status of the four-party witch gods in the Shang Dynasty is lower than that of the Dongmu and Ximu西母.The sacrifice of the gods related to the four directions in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions reflects the existence of a set of god systems related to the four directions in the Shang dynasties.In this god system,the positions of the gods related to the directions from high to low are:Fangshen方神,four directions gods,Dongmu东母,Ximu西母and SiWu四巫.