Early Chinese civilization may have relied on supernatural monitoring despite the stereotype

Evidence

Big Gods are sometimes equated with monotheism, and are often creator gods, but they need not have either of these two features to be effective supernatural police. I think this is just a cultural bias that has crept into thinking about religion from an Abrahamic cultural perspective. A Big God need not be the only god (hence the emphasis on the plural), and need not be a creator god. Big Gods started as a rare cultural variant of supernatural agents, but the idea of a singular god is even rarer. It so happens that one of the most culturally successful Big Gods is the Abrahamic God (which over time became both a creator and only God), but in principle any Big God can take on the duties of supernatural monitoring. The Kwaio people in the Solomon Islands, for example, believe in ancestor spirits called adalo. The adalo are interventionist spirits who are constantly monitoring and meddling. They can bring good luck to those who are good and bring misfortune to those who violate group norms. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 425 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Chinese civilization may have scaled up through secular alternatives to religion; A supernatural moral code enabled the Zhou dynasty’s military expansion; Heaven in early China was an omniscient moralizing god from the Shang onward (+5 more)

Related

• Chinese civilization may have scaled up through secular alternatives to religion (similarity 0.83)
• Supernatural monitoring needs neither monotheism nor creator status (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Chinese civilization may have scaled up through secular alternatives to religion #contradicts (0.80)
• Supernatural watchers and rituals jointly forged large-scale moral communities #corroborates (0.80)
• Supernatural monitoring needs neither monotheism nor creator status #expands (0.78) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 425
• A supernatural moral code enabled the Zhou dynasty’s military expansion #exemplifies (0.75)
• Supernatural agents’ minimal counterintuitiveness explains their cultural advantage #expands (0.75)
• Belief in supernatural watchers evolved as an adaptive guard against selfishness #expands (0.72)
• Heaven in early China was an omniscient moralizing god from the Shang onward #complicates (0.70)
• Potent supernatural monitors must balance transcendence with human-like graspability #qualifies (0.70)