Mandate Of Heaven

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The Mandate of Heaven 1) The speaker was the chief minister Yi Yin. He was an early minister of the Shang dynasty, and gave this to King Tai Jia. Yi Yin was the one to choose the next king after the first king had died, and wrote out his duties found here in the Mandate of Heaven. 2) The text dates back to 6th century BCE. The intended audience could be future rulers or sons of those who are currently ruling and they want their descendants to be able to see how they came to their right of power. It’s almost as if it is rules regarding how a ruler is chosen, and/or what ruler’s roles are after they have been chosen. 3) The purpose of the text seems to be rules and regulations, but like the text says it was a way for the Zhou to overthrown the Shang. I also think it was to scare future rulers, because it mentions that the good-doer it sends blessing, whereas the evil-doer heaven sends down all miseries, and if the ruler results in poverty or miseries on their people, they can be overthrown. The source is a primary source, but it also says it is a collection of myths and recollected texts, and that being said when it says ‘myths’ I have doubts about this text. 4) How did catastrophic events affect a ruler’s authenticity? How often were rulers replaced because of signs from Heaven? What does this text suggest about Chinese society then? Is the Mandate of Heaven still used or referenced currently in China? How often were rulers passed down from father to son? How many rulers were overthrown in China because of the Mandate of Heaven? Did the Europeans get the idea of the divine right of Kings from the Mandate of Heaven? 5) The authors do agree with certain ideas of the source, such as virtue. The authors said that eventually all dynasties will fall, because of loss of virtue, and a new ruler would be chosen which results in the ‘dynasty circle’
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