WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Zhou created the Mandate of Heaven: the idea that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China at a time, and that this ruler had the blessing of the gods. They used this Mandate to justify their overthrow of the Shang, and their subsequent rule.

Detailed explanation-2: -Around 1046 BC, King Wu, the leader of the Zhou (Chou), a subject people living in the west of the Chinese kingdom, overthrew the last king of the Shang Dynasty. King Wu died shortly after this victory, but his family, the Ji, would rule China for the next few centuries.

Detailed explanation-3: -In other words, the Zhou believed that the Shang kings had become immoral with their excessive drinking, luxuriant living, and cruelty, and so had lost their mandate. The gods’ blessing was given instead to the new ruler under the Zhou Dynasty, which would rule China for the next 800 years.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Zhou weakened and the Qin Dynasty took over, conquering most of what is now China and creating the first Chinese empire.

Detailed explanation-5: -How was the Zhou Dynasty able to overthrow the Shang Dynasty? The Shang Dynasty became cruel and corrupt, and the Zhou had alliances among the Shang nobility. Which of the following describes how the Shang Dynasty was similar to the Xia Dynasty? Both ended by being overthrown by a subsequent dynasty.