Sup bozos, welcome back to Office Hours with the Brofessor: the Show
where I say things. This episode is about something we’ve already
talked about a little bit, but really deserves its own video: the
Mandate of Heaven. So, let’s get started.
The
year is 1046 BC. The corrupt Shang dynasty has fallen, and a new
dynasty, the Zhou, has risen in its place. The bloodthirsty Shang
regime’s victims could finally rest in peace.
But
not everyone was happy with the new management. There were still a
few Shang loyalists hanging around—probably guests at the last
Shang king’s epic pool parties. They weren’t too thrilled about
the new dynasty. “The Shang are ordained by heaven to rule,”
they said. “You guys have no right to overthrow them. And no right
to drain the beer pool. At least keep the beer pool.”
That’s
when the Zhou king’s brother, the Duke of Zhou, stepped up to the
mic. The Duke of Bro, as I like to call him, is not to be confused
with his brother, King Wu of Zhou, or with king Zhou of Shang, whom
they’d just overthrown. Confusing, I know. Sorry. Anyway, the
Duke of Bro defended his brother’s regime against the loyalists by
elaboration a doctrine that would shape the next three thousand years
of Asian history: the Mandate of Heaven(1).
Through
its excesses and depravity, the Duke claimed, the Shang dynasty had
lost heavenly favor—and with it, the right to rule. The heavenly
right—nay, the command—to
rule had passed to the most qualified candidates: the house of Zhou.
Therefore, the Zhou had simply carried out Heaven’s will in
supplanting the Shang, just as—five hundred years earlier—the
Shang had supplanted the Xia. The Mandate remained in effect only so
long as a dynasty governed responsibly—every dynasty, eventually,
would grow corrupt, wane, and be replaced(2).
The
Zhou dynasty would continue for eight centuries, the longest in
Chinese history, but even it was not immune. When it finally did
fall, it was to a mighty warlord who emphasised his heavenly
legitimacy by taking for himself the title of 帝di4
“emperor”.
This was a title previously used only to refer to the legendary
pre-Xia rulers of the distant past, and eschewed by Xia, Shang and
Zhou rulers in favor of the more modest wang2
“king”.
The new emperor, having overthrown Zhou, set up a powerful but
short-lived dynasty known as the Qin. It is this name, some scholars
posit, that entered Latin by way of Persian as “Sinae”--later
Anglicized as “China”.
So,
that’s the story of how China got started. Let me know what you
think, or if you feel like I left out anything important. Up next,
we’ll just be having a bit of a conclusion and summary of what
we’ve discussed in this video. So, everyone take care and I’ll
see you next time!
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