Soil and grain was a common Chinese political term in the Sinosphere for the state.
Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremonies of soil and grain to affirm their sovereignty at the Beijing Shejitan.
During the Chinese Warring States period, ministers defied their rulers by claiming a greater loyalty to the "soil and grain".
[1] A similar concept to sheji is that of the earth deities Tudi and Houtu.
[3] It has also been rendered "gods of soil and grain" in English, owing to its associations of prayer and supernatural possibilities.