Early Chinese Shang religion had a supreme watching deity over ancestor worship

Evidence

Slingerland points out that surveillance by gods appears as a prominent theme in early China. Although there is some debate about the precise nature of the pantheon worshiped by the earliest Chinese culture for which there are written records—that is, the Shang (1600–1046 BCE)—it appears to have included both literal ancestors of the Shang royal line, as well as a variety of nature gods and cultural heroes that are treated as ancestors of a sort, all under the dominion of a supreme deity, the “Lord on High” (shangdi). — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 435

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies shangdi (Lord on High) and the Shang pantheon structure — useful anchor for the reader’s supernatural-monitoring comparison.