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: -The government of the Zhou was based on the feudal system. The emperor divided the land into fiefs that were usually ruled by his relatives. The nobles who ruled the fiefs basically owned the farmers who worked their lands.

Detailed explanation-3: -The ‘Mandate of Heaven’ established the idea that a ruler must be just to keep the approval of the gods. It was believed that natural disasters, famines, and astrological signs were signals that the emperor and the dynasty were losing the Mandate of Heaven.

Detailed explanation-4: -In the political theory of the Zhou, legitimate authority flowed directly from Heaven to their founding dynasty, King Wen.

Detailed explanation-5: -The “Mandate of Heaven” is an ancient Chinese philosophical concept, which originated during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.E.). The Mandate determines whether an emperor of China is sufficiently virtuous to rule.

Detailed explanation-6: -tianming, Wade-Giles romanization t’ien ming (Chinese: “mandate of heaven”), in Chinese Confucian thought, the notion that heaven (tian) conferred directly upon an emperor, the son of heaven (tianzi), the right to rule. The doctrine had its beginnings in the early Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 bce).

Detailed explanation-7: -At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty’s rule, the Duke of Zhou, a regent to the king, held a lot of power, and the king rewarded the loyalty of nobles and generals with large pieces of land.