TERMBASES
The ancient Chinese believed that virtuous men followed the will of heaven in establishing a political regime and becoming its sovereigns; hence their success came from the mandate of heaven. This thought is similar to the Western notion of the divine right of kings; but it also emphasizes the wishes and will of the people, or people-centered thinking. In ancient China, this phrase was often used in praise of the founding of a new dynasty, and the implementation of major social reforms to justify its legitimacy.
Tian (天) is a sacred and fundamental concept in ancient Chinese philosophy. It has three different meanings. The first is the physical sky or the entirety of nature (not including human society), the operations of which manifest certain laws and order. The second refers to a spiritual being, which possesses an anthropomorphic will and governs everything in the universe. The third denotes the universal law, which is observed by all things and beings, and which is also the basis of human nature, morality, and social and political orders.
The Chinese character for human being (人) has been imbued with Chinese humanistic spirit since it was created. In its ancient form, it resembled a man standing with his body slightly bending forward, his hands on his sides, looking modest and polite. Because humans have the ability to think, they understand that an individual is too weak to survive alone and, therefore, they need to cooperate with each other. Ancient Chinese thinkers believed that human beings were one of the three elements of the universe, the other two being heaven and earth. Humanity was the soul of the world; therefore, human beings were the most distinguished among all things. Many ancient concepts, particularly in the political and ethical spheres, were based on this humanistic spirit.
The term means order and bestowment from Heaven. “Mandate of heaven” mainly contains three different meanings: The first is the order of heaven over human affairs. Such order first of all focuses on a change of the supreme ruler’s authority: Heaven empowers the virtuous to attack and replace a ruler who has lost his virtue, and thus enjoy the highest and unsurpassed power and benefits. Secondly, mandate of heaven means fate, which is irresistible and imposes limit on human power. Thirdly, the term indicates the natural disposition bestowed by heaven upon human being. According to The Doctrine of the Mean, “Mandate of heaven endows one with his nature.” Song-dynasty Confucian scholars developed this idea, proposing that human nature was the “nature of mandate of heaven,” that is, the inherent pure and good nature one receives from heaven.
The term means taking power from a ruler. Ge (革) means to change or remove. Ming (命) first referred to the mandate of heaven and later came to mean a ruler’s decrees and his mandate to rule. Changing the mandate usually involves replacing a ruler and a change of dynasty, in other words, overthrowing an old regime and establishing a new one. People in ancient China believed that a ruler’s mandate to rule was ordained by Heaven and therefore any change of the mandate should in essence be carried out in response to the will of Heaven. However, change is a basic law of the universe, and the removal of a ruler’s mandate is a specific expression of this law. The legitimacy and success of such change depend on whether those who lead the change do so in response to the will of heaven and the popular desire of the people. In modern times, the term is used as an expression meaning revolution, denoting major social, political or economic changes.
This term refers to the evaluative judgment or view of the people in a country or region, on an issue, phenomenon or incident which touches on their common interest and which has broad societal meaning. Ancient Chinese often took the “mandate of heaven” to be the basis and highest concept for the legitimacy of political authority and for policymaking, but in fact they often regarded the “will of the people” to be the principal source, content, and manifestation of the “mandate of heaven.” They also considered it to be the fundamental principle of a country’s governance, and thought that having or losing the will of the people determined the rise or fall of a country and political power as well as the development of state affairs. It is the core of the Chinese concept of the people as the foundation of the state. All enlightened Chinese statesmen past and present have regarded the “will of the people” to be the most important factor in governance.
The notion of the people’s will being the foundation, or the “roots,” of government comes from a dialogue between a king of the Shang Dynasty and Houfu (in a text found on bamboo slips of the Warring States Period). Houfu said to the king, “The people’s will is like the roots of a tree: they support the leaves.” By that he meant that public support was the foundation of the state, and without it the state or political power would perish. The ancients believed that a government was legitimate so long as it “followed the mandate of heaven and complied with the wishes of the people.” The people’s wishes were a prerequisite of heaven’s will, and only if the state complied with the people’s wishes, would it enjoy lasting stability. This notion is identical to the concept that "people are the foundation of the state".
This term means that the people are the essence of the state or the foundation upon which it stands. Only when people live and work in peace and contentment can the state be peaceful and stable. This saying, which first appeared in the “Old Text” version of The Book of History as an instruction by Yu the Great, can be traced to Mencius’ (372?-289 BC) statement: “The essence of a state is the people, next come the god of land and the god of grain (which stand for state power), and the last the ruler,” and Xunzi’s (313?-238 BC) statement, “Just as water can float a boat, so can water overturn it.” This idea gave rise to the “people first” thought advocated by Confucianism.
One should face reality calmly and follow its natural course. This is an attitude to life espoused by the ancient philosopher Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC). He believed that all things undergo spontaneous transformations independent of man’s will and that humans should face the changes of life and death calmly. However, this does not mean passivity or resignation. It means that people should look upon life with detachment, be at ease with changes and follow life’s natural path. This is an extension of Laozi’s principle that “Dao operates naturally.”
Things grow or wither as time goes by, or advance or retrogress as circumstances change. This term comes from The Book of Changes. Ancient Chinese believed that the world evolved with time, nothing remained unchanged and that people should act in keeping with the circumstances. They stressed that people should observe the way of heaven and “go with the times.”
The notion of adjusting one’s actions to the “times” comes from The Book of Changes. The “times” refer to the opportunities or chances that present themselves as human activities progress. In the circumstances determined by the times, one should choose correspondingly suitable methods of handling affairs. The appearance and disappearance of opportunities and chances, and their impact on human affairs reflect the principles of the way of heaven and human affairs. People should recognize and keep pace with the change of the times and adapt in agreement with the times.
“Opportune time,” which originally referred to the favorable weather at the time of war, now generally refers to various temporal advantages, including weather, timing, opportunity, and so on. “Geographic advantage,” which originally referred to advantageous positions in battle, now refers to generally various favorable spacial conditions, including terrain, position, location, and such. “Unity of the people,” which originally referred to popular support, unity of all ranks, and societal solidarity, now refers in general to advantages in personnel. Ancient Chinese believed that these three were the most important factors for success. Among them, “unity of the people” is decisive because “opportune time is not as valuable as geographic advantage, and geographic advantage is not as valuable as unity of the people.” The saying reflects the three fundamental dimensions of a problem the Chinese people take into consideration: time (opportunity), space (environment), and people. It reflects the basic notion of putting people at the center of everything.
The Chinese phrase dedao (得道) or “obtaining Dao” here refers to having “a just cause.” Since ancient times Chinese people have had a high esteem for justice and have thought of justice as a decisive factor determining success or failure in war and other enterprises. Only by upholding justice can one achieve internal unity and popular support, which are essential for the success of a war or a cause； otherwise, popular support is lost and the ruler or leader becomes too isolated and helpless to succeed. This is a specific expression of the Chinese notion of “governance based on virtue” and the spirit of “civilization.”
The term means that those who win the hearts of the people or get the service of the talented will rise while those who lose the hearts of the people or fail to get the talented people will perish. Ren (人) stands for people’s hearts as well as people’s talents. This saying, which comes from Records of the Historian, has two connotations. First, the rise and fall of a country or government depend on winning people’s hearts. Only by winning people’s hearts and responding to their wishes can a country or government continue to thrive. This is in accord with the philosophy that “people’s will is the foundation of the state” and “people are the foundation of the state.” Second, talents are critical to the rise and fall of a country or government. Only by identifying and recruiting the most capable and most upright people, and by suitably employing them can a great cause be completed and a country and its government remain stable and secure. Winning people’s hearts is closely related to attracting the talented. Winning people’s hearts will eventually draw in the talented, and recruiting the talented will eventually help win people’s hearts. All leaders, be they heads of states, groups or teams, should follow this notion of ruling.
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