Tianming (Mandate of Heaven)

 Tianming (The Mandate of Heaven): 

Religion: Confucianism

Definition: Developed in the power shift when the Shang dynasty fell to the Zhou about 1040 BCE. The mandate of heaven appears in the Class of Documents in the form of a public announcement legitimating the Zhou overthrow of the Shang. The Mandate of Heaven is the right to rule claimed by ancient Chinese rulers and supposedly bestowed by heaven. It says that heaven would bless the authority of a just ruler but would be displeased with a tyrannical ruler and would withdraw its mandate, leading to the overthrow of that ruler. The Mandate of Heaven would then transfer to those who would rule best. The fact that a ruler was overthrown was taken as indication that he had lost the Mandate of Heaven.

Significance: In this political transition, the term ‘god’ became increasingly associated with the earthly political ruler, while Heaven came to be portrayed as an impartial universal being or power, an intelligent cosmic moral force that cares for human welfare and so gives the people a wise and good king. (mila)