structural:reformatting, structural:summarization, linguistic:translation, stylistic:tone
Metaphysical antecedents

According to He Guanghu, Confucianism may be identified as a continuation of the Shang - Zhou (c. 1600 –256 BCE) official religion, or the Chinese aboriginal religion which has lasted uninterrupted for three thousand years. Both the dynasties worshipped a supreme "godhead", called Shangdi ('Highest Deity') or Di by the Shang and Tian ('Heaven') by the Zhou. Shangdi was conceived as the first ancestor of the Shang royal house, an alternate name for him being the "Supreme Progenitor" (上甲; Shàngjiǎ). Shang theology viewed the multiplicity of gods of nature and ancestors as parts of Di. Di manifests as the Wufang Shangdi with the winds (風; fēng) as its cosmic will. With the Zhou dynasty, which overthrew the Shang, the name for the supreme godhead became tian. While the Shang identified Shangdi as their ancestor-god to assert their claim to power by divine right, the Zhou transformed this claim into a legitimacy based on moral power, the Mandate of Heaven. In Zhou theology, Tian had no singular earthly progeny, but bestowed divine favour on virtuous rulers. Zhou kings declared that their victory over the Shang was because they were virtuous and loved their people, while the Shang were tyrants and thus were deprived of power by Tian.

John C. Didier and David Pankenier relate the shapes of both the ancient Chinese characters for Di and Tian to the patterns of stars in the northern skies, either drawn, in Didier's theory by connecting the constellations bracketing the north celestial pole as a square, or in Pankenier's theory by connecting some of the stars which form the constellations of the Big Dipper and broader Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). Cultures in other parts of the world have also conceived these stars or constellations as symbols of the origin of things, the supreme godhead, divinity and royal power. The supreme godhead was also identified with the dragon, symbol of unlimited power (qi), of the protean primordial power which embodies both yin and yang in unity, associated to the constellation Draco which winds around the north ecliptic pole, and slithers between the Little and Big Dipper.