To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice, and Self-Divinization in Early China

by Michael Puett

Evidence from Shang oracle bones to memorials submitted to Western Han emperors attests to a long-lasting debate in early China over the proper relationship between humans and gods. One pole of the debate saw the human and divine realms as separate and agonistic and encouraged divination to determine the will of the gods and sacrifices to appease and influence them. The opposite pole saw the two realms as related and claimed that humans could achieve...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674016432
• ISBN13: 9780674016439
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"