Christian Use
See also: Chinese Rites controversy and Christianity in China"Shangdi" has also been used to translate God the Father into Chinese by some Christian missionaries. The point has been contentious, with some preferring "Shangdi" and others "Shen" (神, " god"). British missionaries and some Catholics preferred Shangdi as a connection with a presumed ancient and primitive native monotheism, while American missionaries and other Catholics preferred to avoid it as such a specific term would associate the Christian God with actual Chinese polytheism.
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