History 110: Pre-Modern

  • 221

    Mandate of Heaven

    What: Idea that legitimizes the supreme ruler
    Time: 221 BCE - 820 CE
    location: China, Japan, Korea
    Historical significance:
    - It deemed revolution acceptable
    -It is a continuous cycle that China has seen throughout every Dynasty
    - When unstable rulers become complacent, the mandate of Heaven places the ordinary citizen responsible to change this fate. For example when the Sui dynasty became unstable in its economie and its empreror the tang dynasty rose through a revolution,