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Jul 25, 2017 The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), also known as Heaven’s Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China’s early kings and emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky had selected this particular individual to rule on its behalf on earth.
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The Mandate of Heaven (天命) was a Chinese political and religious used to justify the rule of the. According to this belief, heaven (天, ) stands for the natural order and will of the universe. Heaven will give a mandate to a, the. If a ruler was overthrown, this was interpreted as an indication that the ruler was unworthy, and had lost the mandate. It was also a common belief that natural disasters such as famine and flood were signs of heaven's displeasure with the ruler, so there would often be revolts after major disasters as citizens saw these as signs that the Mandate of Heaven had been withdrawn.The Mandate of Heaven does not require a legitimate ruler to be of noble birth, and dynasties such as the and were founded by men of common origins. The Mandate of Heaven had no time limitations, depending instead on the just and able performance of the rulers and their heirs. The concept is in some ways similar to the European concept of the; however, unlike the European concept, it does not confer an unconditional right to rule.
The concept of Mandate of Heaven also included the against an unjust ruler. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that Heaven had withdrawn its mandate from the ruler.
Throughout, times of and were often taken as signs that heaven considered the current ruler unjust and in need of replacement. The Mandate of Heaven was often invoked by philosophers and scholars in China as a way to curtail the abuse of power by the ruler.The concept of the Mandate of Heaven was first used to support the rule of the of the (1046–256 BCE), and legitimize their overthrow of the earlier (1600–1046 BCE). It was used throughout the to support the rule of emperors, including non- ethnic monarchs such as the. This concept was also used by monarchs in neighboring countries like Korea and Vietnam.
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A similar situation prevailed since the establishment of Ahom rule in the of Southeast Asia.References.
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