ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Wufang Shangdi

Wufang Shangdi is a term that comes from ancient Chinese religion. Imagine a really, really long time ago, people in China believed in many gods and goddesses who they thought controlled different parts of the world around them.

Wufang Shangdi was one of these gods, and people saw him as the leader of all the other gods. They believed he was responsible for everything, like making the sun rise and set or making the rain fall from the sky.

The name Wufang Shangdi, which sounds pretty fancy, actually just means "supreme ruler of the five directions.” Imagine standing in the middle of a map of China and facing north, south, east, and west - those are the four directions. But since ancient people believed in a lot of magic, they also believed in a fifth direction, which was up and down.

So when people talked about Wufang Shangdi, they were talking about a really powerful god who they believed could control everything in the world around them. Nowadays, not as many people in China believe in these ancient gods and goddesses, but talking about them can be an interesting and fascinating way to look back into history!