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Mandate Of Heaven Research Paper

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The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), which is the concept of legitimatizing a dynasty after it has conquered a previous dynasty, is a very interesting subject. Although I have studied Chinese history and have heard of the Mandate of Heaven the detail surrounding it origins eluded me. The Zhou dynasty which defeated the Shang dynasty used the Mandate of Heaven as a way to legitimize their reason for attacking the village/kingdom. There was some discussion about the last King of Shang being corrupt, unfair, and unvirtuous. He was a killer of virtuous ministers. Basically calling the last King of Shang a tyrant, dictator and every horrible thing one can think of even a cannibal. But this account of the last Shang King was written by the Zhou leaders and it stands to …show more content…

Tianming was a way of explaining why a dynasty that had been strong and prosperous is suddenly downtrodden and suffering corruption. Why it was necessary for the failing dynasty to be overthrown. It is interesting that the Mandate can only be used after the previous dynasty has been successfully overthrown. Although the Zhou overthrew the Shang, their dynasties still had many common elements. They both relied on the spiritual world and their deceased ancestors to dictate how they should handle their earthly affairs. The was still a tie between the heavenly world and the earthly realm, so much so that it decided which dynasty had the right to rule. Difference lie in the fact that there are more written records of the Zhou and a reader can see that not only the king and nobles follow ancestor worship. In the Shang, the turtle shells mostly came from the upper families like the King and noble houses. In the Zhou, the written come from the King to the common people. The Zhou also used different ways of divination. It is apparent that like the Shang, the Zhou was a bronze, warrior driving

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