Was there a theocracy higher than kingship in ancient China?

The political characteristics of the slave period (that is, the Xia and Shang Dynasties) are as follows:

1. With blood relationship as the link

The supreme ruling group has not realized the high concentration of power.

3. The combination of theocracy and kingship

The politics of Shang dynasty obviously depended on theocracy and divination, but there was not much hierarchical difference between imperial power and theocracy.

With the establishment of the Qin Dynasty and the development of later dynasties, the theocracy gradually weakened and the imperial power gradually strengthened.

In feudal times, theocracy was higher than kingship, because people at that time were backward and feudal, and always thought that God was in charge of everything. For example, emperors believed that people could live forever by taking elixirs, and they could rule the country like God.

Starting from the Five Dynasties, including after the Five Dynasties, kings and ministers of all dynasties began to concentrate their rights in their own hands, indicating that people no longer take the concept of monarch = God in their minds. As long as they offend the monarch, they will be offended by God!