The name ‘Tien’ was introduced by the Zhou people who overthrew the Shang dynasty in 1122 BC. ShangDi is frequently referred to as ‘Heaven’ (Tien, ) in the book of Shang Shu ( ) and Shi Ji ( ), and less frequently in Shi Zing ( ). It was a tradition that only the worthy emperors, who also functioned as high priests to ShangDi, were allowed to perform the most magnificent sacrifice ( ).
1 HuangDi ( ), the emperor during the Legendary Period, as recorded in the Shi Ji ( ), built an altar so that a sacrifice could be made periodically to ShangDi. Long before the birth of Moses (1500 BC), in the ‘Legendary Period’ (preceding 2205 BC), the Chinese were already offering sacrifices to ShangDi ( ) at Mount Tai in Shandong Province, at the eastern border of China (Shang Shu).