===In
Oracle bone inscriptions === Shi Gui is invoked around 50 times in oracle bone inscriptions, half as many times as
Shi Ren. None of these take place during his reign, as they predate the
Late Shang in which these inscriptions were made. On the
bingshen day,
scapulimancy was performed. Should we perform a
you-sacrifice to the Three Baos (
Bao Yi,
Bao Bing, and
Bao Ding and the Two Shis? X惟𫹉于二示 [Charge:] Is it a
you sacrifice that we should perform for the Two Shis?
Sacrifices Like all ancestral deities, Shi Gui received sacrifices, gave consultations, and protected the Shang, among other duties. Given the name, Shi Gui only received sacrifices on
gui days, unless it was being conducted alongside
Shi Ren. On the
guiyuou day,
Yi performed
scapulimancy. The King charges: "If we perform the
bin ritual for Shi Gui and then a
rong sacrifice, will there be no misfortune on the eleventh month? ===In
Guoyu=== In
Guoyu (), a
Zhou dynasty text attributed to
Zuo Qiuming (), Shi Gui is mentioned by a minister of the
State of Lu alongside other
Predynastic Shang rulers in comparison to
Tang of Shang, discussing the importance of ancestral order in the context of
filial conduct. 夏父弗忌為宗，蒸將躋僖公。宗有司曰：「非昭穆也。」曰：「我為宗伯，明者為昭，其次為穆，何常之有！」有司曰：「夫宗廟之有昭穆也，以次世之長幼，而等胄之親疏也。夫祀，昭孝也。各致齊敬于其皇祖，昭孝之至也。故工、史書世，宗、祝書昭穆，猶恐其逾也。今將先明而後祖，自玄王以及主癸莫如湯，自稷以及王季莫如文、武，商、周之蒸也，未嘗躋湯與文、武，為不逾也。魯未若商、周而改其常，無乃不可乎？」弗聽，遂躋之。 Xiafu Fuji was serving as temple officer. At the winter sacrifice, he wanted to elevate Duke Xi. Another officer warned: "This is not in the proper arrangement of our other dukes (
Zhaomu)." Fuji responded, "I am the temple officer. The illustrious ones are dubbed
Zhao, the respected are called
Mu. What is "fixed" about this order?" The contending officer said: "The
Zhaomu order in the ancestral temple exists to rank generations by seniority and determine closeness by blood. Sacrifice manifests
filial conduct. Each person offers reverence to their ancestors - that is the ultimate expression of this conduct. This is why the scribes and the workers record genealogies, and why temple officers and liturgists document the generational order. They fear of overstepping their boundaries. Now you wish to place an illustrious (
Zhao) ruler before his ancestor. From the Dark King (
Xie) down to
Shi Gui, none surpassed
Tang; from
Hou Ji down to Wang Ji, none surpassed Kings
Wen and
Wu. Yet neither Shang nor Zhou, at their winter sacrifices, ever elevated Tang, Wen, or Wu above their predecessors, as they did not violate that order. Lu is not equal to Shang or Zhou, yet it hopes to change this established practice. This can't be right. Fuji would not listen, and elevated Duke Xi." ==Notes==