9/6/22, 9:23 PM Mandate of Heaven - World History Encyclopedia

Mandate of Heaven
by Mark Cartwright
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published on 25 July 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. An important element of the
mandate was that although the ruler had been given great power he also had a moral obligation to use it for
the good of his people, if he did not then his state would suffer terrible disasters and he would lose the right
to govern.

Wen & the Responsibility of Rule

The first Chinese ruler to claim his position and authority came directly from Heaven, which was for the
Zhou the supreme divine force, was King Wen of Zhou, the pre-dynastic feudal state in the Wei river valley of
China. Building on a well-established tradition of ancestor worship, this legendary king was known, as his
successors would be too, as the 'Son of Heaven'. He was considered the head of the royal family, the nobility,
the state, the judiciary and religious hierarchy. The idea of a divine favour on Wen was further endorsed by
the conjunction of the five major planets in the night sky in 1059 BCE. When Wen and his successors died, it
was thought that they rose to Heaven and served at court there. Such exalted attachments, then, ensured that King Wen of Zhou
subsequent rulers and emperors were treated with great reverence and awe by any person fortunate enough Unknown Artist (Public Domain)
to ever come in physical contact with them.

Wen became a model for many subsequent kings, emperors, politicians and historians and a symbol of good and benevolent governance during
his long and peaceful reign during the 11th century BCE. The virtue of his reign was in strong contrast to the debauched reputation gained by his

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predecessor King Chou. In later Confucian thought, Wen would be idealised and he was often
cited by authors such as Mencius as the great example of a ruler whose every decision was
based on the best interests of his people and who even shared his pleasure park with them. WEN BECAME A MODEL FOR
Mencius pointed out that "Heaven does not create people for the sake of the sovereign. Heaven
made the sovereign for the sake of the people" (in Dawson, 8). The ruler must, therefore, at all
MANY SUBSEQUENT KINGS,
times be guided by the principle of benevolence or jen. He is both the mother and father of the EMPERORS, POLITICIANS &
people. Further, if there were suitable omens such as floods and droughts and the ruler was HISTORIANS & A SYMBOL OF
proving less capable of fulfilling his mandate than he ought to have been, then Mencius
considered it legitimate for the people, if not actually to overthrow their ruler and find a new
GOOD & BENEVOLENT
one, then at least to show their disapproval through rebellion and protest. GOVERNANCE.
Ancient Chinese historians would also later say that only because of the moral credit accrued
by Wen's reign was it possible for his successor Wu Wang to finally conquer the Shang dynasty
and establish the long-lasting Zhou dynasty. Indeed, the Duke of Zhou described the Mandate of Heaven along with its moral obligation to the
conquered Shang people and so explained the reversal of their fortunes in the following terms in his Announcement of Shao:

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Ah! August Heaven, High God, has changed his principal son and has revoked the Mandate of this great state of Shang.
When a king receives the Mandate, without limit is the anxiety of it. Ah! How can he fail to be reverently careful!

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Heaven has rejected and ended the Mandate of this great state of Shang. Thus, although Shang has many former wise
kings in Heaven, when their successor kings and successor people undertook their Mandate, in the end wise and good
men lived in misery…The king should have reverent care of his virtue.
Look at the former peoples of ancient times, the Xia. Heaven guided, indulged, and cherished them, so that they would
strive to understand what Heaven favors, but by this time they have let their Mandate fall to the ground. Now look at the
Shang; Heaven guided them, stayed near them, nourished them, so that they would strive to comprehend what Heaven
favors; but now they have let their Mandate fall to the ground.
Now a young son succeeds to the throne; let him not, then, neglect the aged and experienced. Not only do they comprehend
the virtue of our men of old - nay, more, they are sometimes able to comprehend counsels that come from Heaven.
Ah! Even though it be that the king is young, he is Heaven's principal son. Let him be grandly able to be in harmony with the
little people. (in Ebrey, 21)

Just as both the Xia and Shang had lost their mandate through misrule and immoral conduct so, too, the Zhou rulers who followed Wen's reign,
were acutely aware that if they did not perform their role with propriety then they too could lose the right to rule and, inevitably, they would be
conquered by a rival and more virtuous state. The other side of the coin was that if they ruled well then they had a divine justification for their
superiority over and conquest of the very same rival states, for they, through Wen, were the only inheritors of Heaven's Mandate.

The Evolution of the Mandate

Although the early rulers of the Qin state during the Warring States period claimed to have inherited the mantle of Heaven's representatives
from the Zhou, later rulers such as China's first emperor Shi Huangdi (r. 221-210 BCE) of the Qin and the Han Emperor Gaozu (r. 202-195 BCE)
were much less concerned with the moral aspect of their legitimacy as ruler. They were more inclined to consider their position was thanks to
their military supremacy and fate. This was understandable as they had gained their right to rule by the conquest of rival states. Later thinkers
such as the Neo-Confucianists Liu Zongyuan (d. 819 CE) and Zhu Xi (1130-1200 CE) went so far as to claim that the emperor was not an
instrument of the divine at all but rather a necessary functionary of the natural order. Still, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven continued to
be used as a useful legitimising argument for rule by emperors and even foreign conquerors of emperors right up to the 19th century CE.

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Shi Huangdi
Dennis Jarvis (CC BY-SA)

In addition to the shifting position on just what the source of the authority of the emperor was, and despite his absolute power, he still could not
do all that he wished. Such was the size of the state and its bureaucracy that he was reliant on advisors to keep him abreast of affairs and loyal
supporters to carry out his policies within the framework of traditional government. As the historian R. Dawson here summarises,

Even the most autocratic emperor was inevitably restricted by traditions, conventions, and precedents, and by the
pressures of relatives as well as by the need to rely on well-informed ministers. Although on occasion emperors could
behave with sudden harshness, their right to act in an arbitrary manner served as a threat which was rarely put into
practice. (15)

Finally, although the emperor remained a hugely influential figure and retained such rights as awarding appointments and giving favours,
punishments and pardons, his policies were also circumscribed by those of his predecessors, especially the founder of the dynasty who was
viewed as being particularly favoured by Heaven. This was a catch to being the instrument of the divine. If all rulers were thus mandated, then
their policies had to be respected. Consequently, even into the Ming Dynasty, a general policy of the founding emperor such as defending one's
borders but not actively pursuing the enemy into their territory had to be considered and often respected. Thus, even the 'Son of Heaven' had, at
least sometimes, to work within his limitations.

What exactly was the Mandate of Heaven?

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The Mandate of Heaven was the belief that the Chinese emperor had a divine right to rule given him by the god or divine force known as
Heaven or Sky. The emperor had absolute power but also a responsibility to rule for the good of his people.

Was the Mandate of Heaven the only authority by which an emperor ruled?
From the 3rd century, Chinese emperors not only claimed authority to rule because of the Mandate of Heaven. They also believed they had a
right to rule because of their military successes and fate. This helped justify one dynasty replacing another one.

Could an emperor lose the Mandate of Heaven?

Yes, a Chinese emperor could lose the Mandate of Heaven - their divine authority to rule - if their reign was immoral and they ruled badly and
against the good of the people. This was an argument used to justify changes in dynasties.

When did the Mandate of Heaven end?

The use of the Mandate of Heaven as a means to justify the rule of a Chinese emperor ended in the 19th century.

Bibliography
Dawson, R. The Chinese Experience. Phoenix Press - Orion, 2017.
Dillon, M. China. Routledge, 1998.
Ebrey, P.B. Pre-Modern East Asia. Wadsworth Publishing, 2013.
Feng, L. Early China. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Lewis, M.E. The Early Chinese Empires. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2010.
Sawyer, R.D. The Seven Military Classics Of Ancient China. Basic Books, 2007.

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About the Author

Mark Cartwright
Mark is a history writer based in France. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all
civilizations share in common. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at WHE.

Cite This Work

APA Style
Cartwright, M. (2017, July 25). Mandate of Heaven. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Mandate_of_Heaven/

Chicago Style
Cartwright, Mark. "Mandate of Heaven." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified July 25, 2017. https://www.worldhistory.org/Mandate_of_Heaven/.

MLA Style
Cartwright, Mark. "Mandate of Heaven." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 25 Jul 2017. Web. 06 Sep 2022.

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