It is widely claimed that notions of gods and religious beliefs are irrelevant or inconsequential to early Chinese ("Confucian") moral and political thought. Rejecting the claim that religious practice plays a minimal philosophical role, Kelly James Clark and Justin Winslett offer a textual study that maps the religious terrain of early Chinese texts. They analyze the pantheon of extrahumans, from high gods to ancestor spirits, discussing their various representations, as well as examining conceptions of the afterlife and religious ritual.

Demonstrating that religious beliefs in early China are both textually endorsed and ritually embodied, this book goes on to show how gods, ancestors and afterlife are philosophically salient. The summative chapter on the role of religious ritual in moral formation shows how religion forms a complex philosophical system capable of informing moral, social, and political conditions.

Kelly James Clark is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul.

List of Tables
Introduction

Part I. High Gods and their Critics
1. Heaven and the High God(s) in Early China
2. Heaven in the Xunzi, Mozi and Zhuangzi
3. The Depersonalization of Heaven?

Part II. Gods and "the Philosophers"
4. Was Confucius a Theist?
5. Mencius on Heaven

Part III. Ancestors and Afterlife
6. The Soul and the Afterlife
7. Sacrifice

Part IV. A Deeper Dive
8. The Evolutionary Psychology of Chinese Religion
9. Lesser Deities of the Pre-Imperial Era

Appendix: The Curious Case of Dong Shongshu

Notes
Bibliography
Index