Bao Bing of Shang
| Bao Bing 匚丙 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruler of Predynastic Shang | |||||||||
| Predecessor | Bao Yi[1] | ||||||||
| Successor | Bao Ding | ||||||||
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| Father | Bao Yi[1] | ||||||||
| Bao Bing of Shang | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 匚丙 or 報(报)丙 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Bao III" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of a series on |
| Religion of the Shang dynasty |
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Bao Bing (Chinese: 匚丙; pinyin: Bào bǐng)[a] was the eleventh ruler of Predynastic Shang. Succeeding Bao Yi, he was the third of the Six Spirits (六示 (lìushì)) and venerated as an ancestral deity within the Religion of the Shang dynasty. After his death, he was succeeded by Bao Ding. He was only mentioned once in Records of the Grand Historian before oracular inscriptions revealed his historical deification, though comparatively little is known about his reign due to a lack of surviving records.
Name
Bao Bing is written as 匚乙 in Oracle Bone Script,[2] where 匚 is pronounced as bào rather than fāng. This is because it describes a bao-sacrifice (e.g. 匚于河 - To perform a bao sacrifice to the river deity He).[3] The bing 丙 in Bao Bing's name may correspond to the day in which sacrifices are made to him, as all sacrifices made to him are made on bing days, matching scholarship on the topic.[4][5]
In Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian writes Bao Bing as 報丙; because 匚 and 報 carry the same Shang ritual meaning, they can be considered direct synonyms.[1][3]
The name "Bao Bing" is unlikely to be the name used in life; it was likely a temple name applied based on the day in which his reign began, and signifies the day in which sacrifices were to be made to him posthumously.[6][7] Didier (2009) disputes that the bao in the names of Bao Yi, Bao Bing, and Bao Ding could have been kou 口 with its left stroke missing.[7]
Bao Bing predates the Late Shang period; therefore, all mentions are in the context of posthumous ancestor veneration. As one of the Six Spirits, Bao Bing would have received sacrifices and veneration through scapulimancy rituals performed by Shang dynasty religious practitioners.
The "Three Baos"
In the Religion of the Shang dynasty, Bao Bing was the middle of the "Three Baos" 三匚, the others being Bao Yi and Bao Ding.[8] They occasionally received sacrifices as a group entity, sometimes with the "Two Shis", Shi Ren and Shi Gui and/or Shang Jia:
三匚二示暨上甲𫹉王受祐 吉[9]
If the King performs the ritual of pouring wine for the Three Baos, Two Shis, and Shang Jia, will we receive their protection? Result: Auspicious!
In Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian ordered the Three Baos incorrectly, in the order of; Bao Ding, Bao Yi, and, finally, Bao Bing. This error was noticed and corrected by Wang Guowei upon reviewing oracle bone evidence; while this did confirm that Sima Qian had access to Shang dynasty records that are unavailable today, and that the names were legitimate, it cast doubt on their validity. This was also one of the first cases of classical sources being reviewed alongside oracular inscriptions.[10] The error in the ordering of the Baos is noticeable when comparing them to Heavenly Stems: In the correct order, it is the same as the standard ordering of the Stems: 报乙 (Bao 2)、报丙 (Bao 3)、报丁 (Bao 4).
Sacrifices
Unless sacrifices are made to the Three Baos as a group, every sacrifice made to Bao Bing was made on an bing day, corresponding to his temple name.[5][4] For example:
丙戌卜行貞王賓匚丙彡無尤在十一月[11]
On the bingxu day, Hang divinated. Test: If the King performs a bin ritual with Bao Bing and does a rong sacrifice, will there be no misfortune in the 11th month?
Notes
- ^ Also written as simplified Chinese: 报丙; traditional Chinese: 報丙
References
- ^ a b c Sima, Qian. "殷本紀". In Sturgeon, Donald (ed.). 史記 (in Literary Chinese). Chinese Text Project.
契卒，子昭明立。昭明卒，子相土立。相土卒，子昌若立。昌若卒，子曹圉立。曹圉卒，子冥立。冥卒，子振立。振卒，子微立。微卒，子报丁立。报丁卒，子报乙立。报乙卒，子报丙立。报丙卒，子主壬立。主壬卒，子主癸立。主癸卒，子天乙立，是为成汤。
- ^ Wang Guowei 王國維. "《殷卜辭中所見先公先王考》存". In Xi Zhe 晞輒 (ed.). 王國維集 (in Chinese). pp. 440, 441. ISBN 9787511376015.
- ^ a b HUMANUM (20 June 2017). "漢字甲骨部件分析" [Multi-function Chinese Character Database]. 漢語多功能字庫 (in Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 12 February 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
甲骨文讀作「報」，是一種祭名，《合集》14522：「㞢（侑）匚（報）于河」，意謂對河神進行侑祭和報祭。[...] 又用作祖先名，《合集》32349：「三匚」，即「三報」，指三個殷朝的先公之名，是報乙、報丙、報丁的合稱。
- ^ a b Wu 吳, Junde 俊德 (2016). "商王日名來源析辨" [Analysis of the Origin of the Name of the King of Shang]. 儒學研究論叢 (in Chinese). 7. Taiwan: 83–109.
- ^ a b "先秦甲骨金文簡牘詞彙庫". inscription.asdc.sinica.edu.tw. Archived from the original on 2026-02-04. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
- ^ Nivison, David S. (January 1999), The key to the Chronology of the Three Dynasties: The "Modern Text" Bamboo Annals (PDF)
- ^ a b Didier, John C. (2009). "In and Outside the Square: The Sky and the Power of Belief in Ancient China and the World, c. 4500 BC – AD 200". Sino-Platonic Papers (192). Victor H. Mair.
- ^ 甲骨文合集 Heji 32384
- ^ 小屯南地甲骨 2265.4
- ^ Wang, Guowei (1917). 戬寿堂所藏殷虚文字考释 [Yin Ruins characters collected from Jiashou Temple] (in Literary Chinese). Shanghai: 圣倉王氏.
- ^ 甲骨文合集 Heji 40932