The Zhou Dynasty: The Mandate Of Heaven

China during the classical period, a span of time stretching from 1000 B.C.E.-500 C.E., was ruled by many families, each having their own dynasty. The very first dynasty of this period was the Zhou, coming into power after overthrowing the Shang. The last Shang emperor, Di Xin, had essentially abandoned matters of the state in favor of hedonistic activities, using tax money to fund them and therefore becoming very unpopular. This caused the Zhou uprising which led to the establishment of the Mandate of Heaven, a concept that not only allowed the Zhou to gain and maintain cultural power of the Chinese people, but led to widespread notions in Chinese society of the validity of autocracy and a need for extremely centralized government that would

During the Zhou Dynasty, there were mant developments, and how and why those develpoments happened. There was also many changes and continuities that was caused because of these additions. Some developments were that supporters supported a central governmentwith tax revenues amd troops. This development happened because since large estates were too big, they were controlled by family members/ supportters of the emperor. These supporters lacked cintrol of their territory which

They granted land to others in return for loyalty, military support, and other services. The Zhou King was at the highest level. (Mayer and Shek 189) He gave himself the title Shi Huandi which means "first emperor."(194) Liu Bang, a peasant, was able to become

The Zhou people were not invaders; they were Chinese-mumble relations descendant from the Longshan Neolithic culture. During the manner of several centuries, the Zhou moved aroint from barbarian distress, emigrate towards the westernmost agricultural sink of North China, the lower Wei River vale, coincident-day Shaanxi province. Here they set about to develop Shang-style geoponics, and they also built a city in an area named Plain of Zhou, which gave its name to the possession and the dynasty. The Shang ruling

Within the years of 221-206 BCE, the Qin Dynasty rose as a superpower. During this time period, the Warring States Era, Chinese civilization was impacted tremendously in almost every aspect. These hallmarks in history vary from the spreading of Legalism to the birth of the Great Wall of China. Through these countless contributions, the Qin Dynasty was able to revolutionize the Chinese civilization in such a short period of time.

The first ever knowing emperor of china was Shi Huangdi, His named applied to the country, while in Zhou’s dynasty he created the feudal system Shi abolished it was no more. Shi was a strong emperor and he expanded the country of Vietnam, during his reign he built the Great wall and a lot of different things that china is revolved around. During the Shi dynasty there where strict laws. If you didn’t go to school you were killed.

Around the year 1046 BCE, King Wu, of the province of Zhou, rebelled against King Zhou of Shang and defeated his forces at the Battle of Muye, establishing the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046- 256 BCE). 1046-771 BCE marks the Western Zhou Period while 771-226 BCE marks the Eastern Zhou Period. The Mandate of Heaven was invoked by the Duke of Zhou, King Wu’s younger brother, to legitimize the revolt as he felt the Shang were no longer acting in the interests of the people. The Mandate of Heaven was thus defined as the gods’ blessing on a just ruler and rule by divine mandate. When the government no longer served the will of the gods, that government would be overthrown. Further, it was stipulated that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China

Nonetheless, the Zhou justified their leadership by establishing the Mandate of Heaven (to show that they were virtuous to rule by the gods). The Zhou primarily began the unification of China by building the massive capital city of Xi’an (which was twice the size of any Shang capitol) and establishing a new form of government (with Feudalism being the governing principle). Nevertheless, despite the drive of unification aimed by the Zhou, there were fragmented states with their own currency, laws, and so on. They had a population of roughly 20 million people that was recorded in the “The Book of Documents.” In addition, the Zhou established a class system: education at the top, the farmers being the second most important, the artisans being the third, the merchants and the military being non-important because they either produced nothing for society or destroyed what was

Ancient China’s rich history has a direct influence on the China of the 21st century. First, the immense importance of the cultivation of rice, which became a staple source of food in China for centuries. Next, the primary source of accounts of ancient china comes from the Shujing, which spanned the Xia, Shang, and Zhou empires. Furthermore, The power women could hold reached its heights during the Shang empire, and underwent a downward trajectory during the Zhou empire. Moreover, regime changes have had a unique outcomes in China due to the “Mandate of Heaven” which gave new regimes the control over the civilians of the conquered empires. Lastly, the decline of the Zhou came about from the power of local rulers who began to seek their own interests. Ultimately, the mandate of heaven bears responsibility for keeping China intact for centuries regardless of conflicts and shifts in power.

The Mandate of Heaven focuses on tranquility. The idea to rule a civilization/dynasty was based on the fairness and moral rights. The purpose of the spread of this document was to show that this document was “an invention of the Zhou to justify their overthrow of the Shang (Yi Yan).” Leadership in this dynasty was based on who could take charge; the document at the time was used for the overthrowing of unfair

What were the people who received land from the ruler supposed to give the government in return for the land?

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

The Qin Dynasty is one of the most famous dynasty in ancient Chinese history. It was formed under the principles of Legalism. Legalists were people who were fearful that their states would listen to political theorists who would try to lure the states into gathering more power. These Legalists agreed on a philosophy of, requiring very strict laws to keep the provinces in check rather than relying on thoughts of the kings and his executives. This lead to a system of bureaucracy that kept a watch on everyone in the provinces/districts.

Chinese Dynasties: 1. Shang: Also called Yin, dynasty that was China's earliest historically verifiable state 1766 B.C. to 1122 B.C. A. Reason's for Rise: Unlike the early accounts of history by the Chinese, there is archaeological evidence of the Shang, who built their cities in northern China around the eastern parts of the Yellow River. For this reason they are called the Yellow River civilization. They were a bronze age people; bronze-working seems to have entered China around 2000 BC (about one thousand years after its invention in Mesopotamia). B. Territorial Location & size at height of power (map): The Shang ruled the area from the North China Plain northward into present-day Shantung Province and westward to the tip of Honan

Before the Qin Dynasty, China was composed of a network of city states that were loyal to the Chinese king. The seven Warring States had their own institutions that were run by aristocrats. The Qin Dynasty took initiative to expand their territory and to unite the Chinese empire together. Through their ruthless military techniques the Qin Dynasty was able to conquer the city states in China. The Qin Dynasty ruled from 221 BCE – 206 BCE; during their regime, Emperor Qin’s primary goal was to unify the Chinese people. Even though the Qin Dynasty was a short-lived empire, it played a major role in unifying the Chinese empire and provided a foundation for succeeding regimes through a centralized government, standardized systems, and through infrastructure.