Mandate of Heaven
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| Chinese | 天命 | ||||||||
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The Mandate of Heaven is a Chinese political doctrine that justifies imperial rule in terms of approval by the gods. The emperor was referred to as "Son of Heaven" to reflect such approval. The doctrine originated in the Zhou dynasty. Zhou historians explained that the preceding Shang dynasty lost its mandate due to the immoral behavior of its last ruler. The doctrine foreshadows Confucianism, which stresses the need for a ruler to set a good moral example. Traditional historians claimed that the Shang overthrew the Xia dynasty when the later lost its mandate. However, it is unlikely that the Shang thought of themselves as the successor of any earlier dynasty.
One popular saying rephrases the mandate doctrine in cynical terms: "The winner becomes king, the loser becomes outlaw" (chéng zhě wéi wáng, bài zhě wéi kòu).