THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN:
A DETERMINING COMPONENT IN ANCIENT CHINA'S CIVILIZATION TRANSITION FROM THE AGE OF MAGIC TO THE AGE OF RELIGION?
INTRODUCTION
Chinese civilization had many pivotal events, the Mandate of Heaven is one of them since King Wu grabbed power in 1046 BC and implemented it. Beyond the fact Tianming is a constant factor in Dynastic cycles, it is as well a precocious Mandate, preceding Europe's Divine right of kings of almost 2640 years. Discussing its role in Chinese civilization will help us understand better China's evolution as a whole up to today. With the following analysis we are attempting to articulate both sociopolitical perspectives of Tianming's influences and comparative history of Mandates of Heaven around the world, to define it as a major component in Chinese civilization transitioning from the Age of Magic to the Age of Religioni from Later Bronze Age. The following study will outline the predominant and associative influences of Tianming on Chinese society, moving on to analyze other Mandates of Heaven, contrasting with China's. Finally, I outline the process of overall rationalization of the Mandate of Heaven, articulating both sociopolitical and comparative history perspectives, to support the claim of its determining role in China's civilization evolution.
THE CONVOLUTED ASSOCIATION OF RELIGIOUS, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SPHERES UNDER THE HEAVEN
Tianming´s concept is metaphysical, it does not convey anything political primarily, but simply the continuous effort of an harmonious life. No explicit declarations should be expected from Heaven but the order of nature and cosmological occurrences. The “opaque” concept of the Heaven is very flexible when observed, it does not have a set doctrine, it is an infinite force which choose a human to convey its authority on Earth.(Mortley 2020) Since the beginning of Zhou dynasty the Heaven had the front place, the highest authority. This transcendental authority of Tianming permitted to unify China's diverse ethnics and provinces, as well as their regional deities and doctrines under the Heaven's cosmological order. (Yang 1961, p.136-137) Also Yang analyses the notion of divinity of the Mandate, and especially the divinity placed upon the king or emperor's power. This divinity would give the ruler total supremacy over the masses, this in turn translated into the State political organization: a centralized power. (p.129-131) To support this divine-political power, Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism were the consolidating philosophies, through millennia, to help the application and widen the influence of the Mandate of Heaven. Those philosophies helped create more stable social structures, and enforced a hierarchical structure of society at an earlier stage. Confucianism would bring moral concepts to the Mandate, creating as Yang mentioned: an ethico-political order, this philosophy was applicable at a domestic and political level, implying The State was like an extended family and the divine ruler was the father. (p.139). The people's recognition of the Heaven was complete and they believed in all its manifestations; this Heaven-Man interactions theory described by Yang, combined with hierarchical social order, gave supreme political, religious and social power to the Son of Heaven. (p.137-138) This intricate association of those three spheres of Chinese society and its evolution under the Heaven, is the manifest of Tianming influences on the Chinese civilization.
CONTRASTS OF THE SON OF HEAVEN'S CONCEPTS, FAR AND NEAR
China´s Mandate of Heaven gave full religious, social and political power to the ruler. But there are other kinds of Mandates of Heaven which does not let the ruler have such powers, those mandates would call upon Sacrificial Kings. The Son of Heaven or God King is an incarnation of Heaven´s divinity on earth linked to the fate of the universe. (Frazer 1994) The course of nature and other people's lives would depend on the Son of Heaven's well being and in many cases a king showing any sign of physical weakness would be put to death, as his condition would unbalance the order of nature, those concepts applications taking place in Cambodia and Upper Nile areas in Africa up until the 1800's. (p.235) Also many mandates were limited to a certain number of years, those rulers would be sacrificed in their prime, as would happen in Ancient Greece, Babylon and Siam. (p.245, p.251) Frazer argued those methods were to have royals and divine mortal vessels subdued by heavy daily ritual routines (those being the reflection of the harmonious universe´s balance) and taboos to control their lives, and by this control the masses with superstition, leaving the actual ruling and political power to the ministers or other princes. The Imperial Mikados of Japan are the specific description of subdued royalty, being described like the host of a powerful divinity but needed to be isolated and restrained in timely daily rituals and ceremonies for the benefit of the cosmological order. (p.173) Finally, the Sacrificial King's role will take place in many civilizations during the Age of Magic were the community will think the safety of the universe depended on the Son of Heaven by a law of similarity and contact. (p.27) Those superstitions will lead them to think they can still meddle with the will of nature, by imposing taboos and tribal rituals to royal family members or person holding the divine power of Heaven on Earth.
TIANMING'S RATIONALIZATION PROCESS
Introducing the Mandate of Heaven as determining component of China's transition from the Age of Magic to the Age of Religion is rather daring, because it applies in a larger scope, associating sociopolitical, anthropological, theological and comparative history analysis. My present analysis is the very essence of this association and could be easily extended. Yangii and Frazeriii analysis are limited to their own field of studies but associated, they obtain the key to understand China's civilization evolution.
The influences of Tianming indicate that the humans endeavored to adapt themselves to live under the Heaven, thus justifying and making sense of the cosmological order. This process of rationalization has for consequences to build a more structured and complex society. For instance, during Zhou dynasty a new and more elaborated divination tool and study of the cosmos philosophy appeared: Yi-Jing called as well the Book of Changes wrote by FuXi, using a cleromancy type of divination using numbers and patterns, the process has very lengthy instructions, perceiving the communication with Ancestors and philosophy around the cosmological order as a science. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2019) This rationalization of divination goes jointly with the evolution of Chinese social structures, deepening the bonds with the ancestors but also deepening the bonds of hierarchical order from the family to the State. This rationalization of doctrines could be coupled with the dissipation of tribalism, blood rituals (Oracle Bones) and sacrifices after the fall of Shang Dynasty. (Buckley Ebrey, p.31)
Asmuch as the people were subdued by the authority of Heaven and its divine vessel on earth, it was not subdued by a higher degree of tribal indoctrination, but a Heaven-Man interaction theory, it would be used by a ruler to take control of the masses, rationalizing political and secular decisions for the State. By association under the Heaven, all spheres of society were rationalized, and the use of Confucianism and Taoism would be standards, socially and politically. The “opaque” nature of the Mandate of Heaven put Chinese scholars on a perpetual search to support and justify its presence, and help rulers gain political power, extending social, political and religious possibilities and capacities. This process was a singular occurrence for a Mandate of Heaven, following Frazer's studies on others around the world, this singularity could be explained by the fact China's Mandate of Heaven was primarily not a tool to take over the masses yet, but at first a legitimization and self-divination tool for King Wu to take down Shang Dynasty. (Book of Historical Documents, p.68) We can outline the argument; the position, value and role of a divine king under the Mandate of Heaven is in correlation with the degree to which tribal indoctrination was imposed to the masses by the higher class. The divine ruler has supremacy in the Age of Religion, in opposition to the Sacrificial Son of Heaven during the Age of Magic. Following this argument,Tianming was a notable Mandate leading Ancient China towards its Age of Religion.
CONCLUSION
It is not unreasonable to argue China went through Ages with a different dynamic and pace compared to the West, due to its long-term agrarian habits and own predicaments. Tianming's implementation was a transitional point for Ancient China's civilization, a point where the Heaven took over as a higher authority unifying the communities and tribes, under Zhou Dynasty eight centuries of ruling and further in the future. The juxtaposition of the convoluted association of the Chinese society's diverse spheres under Tianming, its rationalization process leading to build more complex sociopolitical structures and the dissipation of tribalism, sacrificial rituals and people's will to meddle with nature, indicate the Mandate of Heaven as the determining component of China's civilization transitioning to an Age of Religion from 1046 BC, making the Chinese Mandate of Heaven a singularity in a historical perspective, the oldest and rarest Mandate inducing an Age of Religion.
M.M Wennerhov
References
Buckley Ebrey P (June 13, 1996) Cambridge Illustrated History of China. United kingdom, Press Syndicate of The University of Cambridge.
Frazer J.G & Frazer R (1994) The Golden Bough A new abridgment from the second and third editions. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press Inc.
Legge J (2001) Translation of the Book of Historical Documents
Retrieved from: http://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/87/29.pdf
Mortley R (July, 9 2020) The Confucian Way 14,
The Mandate of Heaven and Confucius. Retrived from:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (March 29, 2019), Yi-Jing Article. Retrieved from:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-change/
Yang C.K (1961) Religion in Chinese Society. United Sates, University of California Press.
i-The Ages of Magic, Religion and Science in civilizations: The Age of Magic will be defined in civilizations where tribalism, smaller communities and blood rituals happen, giving humans a sense of control over nature. The Age of Religion would be the fading of tribalism where humans defeated by Nature's might, realize they can not control it but only pray to it. The Age of Science would see a partition between politic and religion, civilization will be supported by institutions build on rational thoughts and not lead by a higher divine authority. Innovations and progress will have the front place. (Frazer 1994)
ii-Yang's theory of “diffusion” is the most well known, China per se never had a religion such as Islam and Christianity. But a set of accumulated traditions, social rituals and ancestor worship, which influenced institutions and Chinese society, without being dominant, called “diffused religions”.
iii-Frazer's comparative history analysis of the Ages of Magic and Religion worldwide to support its Lake of Nemi theory regarding the rules of succession of priesthood at Diane's sacred place in Alban Hills, Italy.