astronomy

Shang Jia

Shang Jia is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shang Jia rather than just read about it. In short: Shang Jia (Chinese: 上甲), also known as Shang Jia Wei (Chinese: 上甲微), is one of the 14 predynastic Shang Kings cited in Records of the Grand Historian. He was worshipped by the Shang kings as a sun deity and one of the Six Spirits (六示 (lìushì)).

Key takeaways

Shang Jia belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shang Jia to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shang Jia from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shang Jia (Chinese: 上甲), also known as Shang Jia Wei (Chinese: 上甲微), is one of the 14 predynastic Shang Kings cited in Records of the Grand Historian. He was worshipped by the Shang kings as a sun deity and one of the Six Spirits (六示 (lìushì)).

Family According to the Shang family tree, Shang Jia was a pre-dynastic ancestor of the Shang. He is listed in Records of the Grand Historian as one of the 14 Predynastic Shang kings, being the son of Wang Hai and the father of Bao Yi.

Veneration by the Shang According to the sinologist Li Feng, Shang Jia was probably important for the Shang's rise to power, as he was the "first pre-dynastic ancestor to whom the late Shang kings made frequent sacrificial offerings". He was the first of the Shang descendants to be named after one of the 10 Heavenly Stems, symbolizing the day of the week he was worshipped. The cult of Shang Jia grew on the year si (ਘ), and all the kings claimed to be his direct ancestor. He was the spirit of the sun and deemed to be very powerful, as he was one of the oldest descendants of the kings. Sacrifices for him were made for wars and harvests. The rituals involving Shang Jia are extensive, with over 800 mentions across oracle bones. One example details the Xingfang sending Qiang tribe members to be used as sacrifices for the Six Spirits, in which Shang Jia will always be mentioned first:

壬寅卜𬆩貞興方以羌用自上甲至下乙 On the renyin day, plastromancy was performed. Diviner Nan charges: If the Xingfang bring Qiang people for use, should we use them in sacrifices from Shang Jia down to Xia Yi?

Even you 侑 sacrifices, which involve beckoning an ancestor to eat with the Shang, Shang Jia would receive extensive sacrifices:

貞來甲寅侑于上甲十牛 Charge: On the coming jiayi day, should we perform a you sacrifice to Shang Jia of 10 oxen?

Posthumous accounts According to the Bamboo Annals, Shang Jia's father Wang Hai was killed by Mianchen of the Youyi Tribe in the 12th year of Xie of Shang's reign. Shang Jia would go on to avenge him four years later, leading an army with the support of the river deity Hebo. Later, during the reign of Wu Ding, it is said that Wu Ding paid respects to Shang Jia with a bao 報 sacrifice in the 12th year of his reign. In Guoyu, Shang Jia is cited as having followed Xie's example during a speech by Zhan Qin (展禽), thus leading to his veneration.

Legacy

In Confucianism In the Kongcongzi, Duke Ding of Lu discusses the Book of Documents with Confucius. He brings up the Shang people venerating Shang Jia with bao 報 sacrifices, which Confucius describes as being given to those who are of the ancestral line but did not do enough to be considered a zu 祖 ancestor; this would preserve their innate power. The Duke asked if this would mean Duke Xi of Lu could or otherwise should be venerated in this way, but Confucius replies that while the Youyu-shi, Xia, and Shang did this, he did not know whether this would apply to Duke Xi. This narrative notably contradicts the extensive veneration Shang Jia documented as occurring during the Late Shang period.

Notes

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shang Jia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shang Jia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shang Jia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shang Jia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shang Jia

In research: Shang Jia appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shang Jia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shang Jia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Deified Chinese monarchs, Founding monarchs in Asia, Kings of the Shang dynasty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shang Jia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shang Jia in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shang Jia means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shang Jia out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shang Jia in simple terms?

Why does Shang Jia matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shang Jia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shang Jia.