 Instead, an intermediary such as an ancestor was necessary to convey to Di the offerings of the living.According to some prominent scholars, including Guo Moruo, Shangdi was originally identical to Ku (or Kui) or Diku (""Divus" Ku"), the progenitor (first ancestor) of the Zi () lineage, the founders of the Shang dynasty, attested in the "Shiji" and other texts.According to this interpretation, this identification had profound political implications, because it meant that the earthly Shang kings were themselves by birth aspects of divinity.