Chinese History: Nature and Legitimacy in the Chinese Empire

This essay delves into the historical development of legitimacy and the concept of nature within the Chinese Empire, spanning from the Qin Dynasty and the early Bronze Age. It examines how ancient Chinese kings asserted their right to rule, tracing the evolution of their claims from the Bronze Age through to the Qin Dynasty. The essay explores the significance of the "Mandate of Heaven," the role of ancestral spirits, and the importance of warfare and sacrificial policies in establishing political authority. It highlights the rulers' reliance on religious contexts and the use of bronze as a technological tool, while also touching upon the ways the Chinese encountered and treated enemies in the battlefield. The analysis draws upon ancient texts, including the writings of Confucius, to illustrate the rulers' methods of claiming legitimacy and fulfilling their responsibilities as rulers.

Running head: CHINESE HISTORY
Chinese History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CHINESE HISTORY
Introduction
The legitimacy in the Chinese Empire is one of the most useful factors of history. It is
very much evident from the ideas of legitimacy and nature from the earlier years. Rulers of
China had been very much concerned about the legitimacy of their rule within the realms of
nature. The religious contexts are very much important in this matter as well. The warfare and
sacrificial policies within the domain of the Chinese Empirical policies are crucial factors as
well. It can be said in this context that political authorities of the emperors used to be derived
from worshipping the ancestral spirits and Gods of the local regions. Chinese rulers believed that
sacrifice and warfare were potentially the main factors for providing the public service. This is
why, Chinese rulers had to focus on legitimacy over the nature of ruling on their region. In this
essay the development of nature and legitimacy in the Chinese Empire from the Qin Dynasty or
early Bronze Age will be discussed.
The purpose of this essay will determine and describe how and in what order the
ancient Chinese kings claimed their legitimacy and also will determine the legitimacy of
their rule which developed from the Bronze Age all through to the Bronze Dynasty.
Discussion
Before analyzing the manner in which the Chinese emperors used to claim their
legitimacy to the throne itself, it should be known by the readers that the early Chinese rulers
were both monarchs as well as priests who had ascended to the throne. It was a common belief of
the Chinese people that the rulers who had ascended to the throne based on the “mandate of the
heaven”, which meant that the ruling family would be deemed worthy if ascending to the throne
based on their demonstration to do so (Granet, 2013). The emperor was considered to be acting

2CHINESE HISTORY
as a mandate between the heaven and the Earth. This also means the fact that when an emperor
was overthrown from his rule, it was because of the fact that the emperor had lost the “mandate
of the heaven” i.e. he no longer is deemed to be worthy of ruling the people of the country.
Therefore, it was believed by the early people of China that the gods in the heavens were
responsible for the worth of the Chinese kings to rule over the kingdom of China. As stated by
Ching (2015), it is with this belief that the emperors of China used to prepare themselves to be
deemed worthy so that they would be able to rule the country.
It is stated from the articles presented in the essay that the early Chinese rulers indeed
have different ways of owning the legitimacy of the throne that they would like to rule the
country. These information, are brought to the attention of the audience through the ancient texts
that are available to the readers in the forms of writings by those of Confucius and other Chinese
philosophers of the past. In the article written by Confucius, it is seen by the readers when
Confucius punished an individual and was questioned for the reason for the punishment, he
stated the reason for the punishment is because of the fact that Confucius stated that the human
beings should be punished not because of the fact that they are not bad or jealous of each other
but because of the fact that the human beings do the opposite of what they mean to another
person or their friends or neighbors (Zhang, 2015).
Confucius states that it is because of these reasons that the human beings should be
punished for the kind of activities that they perform. Apart from this, the policies of Confucius
also focus on the various religious policies that were being used by the Chinese Emperors for the
throne. This included analysis on various factors which includes the relation between the divinity
of God and that of the human nature.

3CHINESE HISTORY
As stated by Ching (2015), the article also states that the relationship between the divine
as well as the human can be found only in the areas where there are religion as this religion is the
only place where the relation between the human beings to that of the heaven and this is exactly
what the ancient Chinese emperors used to consider as a “mandate to heaven” in order for them
to be deemed worthy of them to be considered as the rulers of the country of China.
There are various factors which helped the Chinese to overcome many difficulties and
obstacles so that they could become the rulers of China in a short period of time. This practice of
the Chinese often depends on the fact that their political authority was derived from the worship
of their ancestral spirits. The sources from the texts inform the readers that most of these
worships used to take place during the seasons of spring as well as autumn. As stated by Zhang
(2015), the violent as well as the cult activities also used to take place during these periods so
that the spirits would help the citizens to elect their new ruler in the country. All these facts
inform the readers that the ancient Chinese kingdoms focused hard on the practices of the war as
well as the sacrifice as the best forms of service to the states themselves (Xietung, 2017).
The legitimacy of the rule in the Chinese texts is referred through the instances if hunting
as well as the instances of fishing that used that the Princes of the kingdoms used to invest
themselves in. This instances gives the readers the information that the lords and the emperors
used to express their lordship through the various instances of hunting, violences in the sacrifices
as well as performing various military activities for the country. This information tells the
readers that the hunting and the violence as well as the sacrifices are considered to be an
important part of the rule of the ancient Chinese kings as it is with the rulings of the people of the
people of the country that the rulers consider themselves to be the mandate between the heaven
and that of the Earth as had been mentioned in the essays (Ching, 2015). Thus, it can be said that

4CHINESE HISTORY
the ancient Chinese were believers of the ancestral spirits for helping them determine the right to
ascend to the throne through proving that they have the right to do so.
The article also tells the readers about the rulers about bronze being the most important
technological tool of the times for the ancient Chinese rules which was the use of the bronze.
This claim is supported from the archaeological or the iconographic evidences which strongly
supports the claims of the of the texts. As stated by Granet (2013), the bronze produced during
those times were used mainly in the making of weapons for the purpose of fighting wars between
the two warring states. The essay also gives the hints to the readers that the most important
dynasty of the ancient Chinese emperors.
Zhou China, the symbolism of the authority in China has also referred to the use of
violences and the war-practices to demonstrate their authority to rule the country. It is from the
essay that the readers get to realize the fact that the Chinese in the past used to receive the
subjects of the sacrifices as the victims of the sacrifices in the wars (Fu-Yang, 2013). These
sacrifices were made to please the Gods so that the dynasty would be seemed suitable to take
over the ruling of the country.
The essay also talks to the readers about the various ways that the Chinese encounter and
treat the enemies that they used to encounter in the battlefield. This information are important
enough to give the readers ideas about the legitimacy of the rule of the ancient Chinese rulers
from the Bronze age to the Qin Dynasty of the rulers in the country.
Analyzing all of the articles about the history of the ancient Chinese rulers in the country
gives the readers of the text a chance to understand the lifestyle of the ancient Chinese rulers in
the country. The readers will be able to understand the ways in which the Chinese rulers used to

5CHINESE HISTORY
appoint themselves as Kings of the country and how they used to perform the various kingship
duties of the kingdom so that they could prove their worth not only to the kingdom but also to
the people themselves (Xuetong, 2013).
Conclusion
Thus, from the above essay, it can be concluded that the Chinese rulers used to use the
“Mandate of the heaven” as a technique to ascend to the throne so that they could prove their
responsibility and the worth for them to be the ruler of the country. Thus, the essays tells the
readers a lot about the importance of the ancient Chinese rulers and the need for them to prove
their worth to their ancestral spirits which would help them to become the kings of the nation or
that of the country itself. This is what the essay tells the readers about the history of the Chinese
rulers and their legitimacy to the throne.

6CHINESE HISTORY
Reference List
Ching, J. (2016). Chinese religions. Springer.
Granet, M. (2013). Chinese civilization. Routledge.
Kim, M. S. (2013). Choice, freedom, and responsibility in ancient Chinese Confucianism.
Philosophy East and West, 17-38.
Levathes, L. (2014). When China ruled the seas: The treasure fleet of the dragon throne, 1405–
1433. Open Road Media.
Shih, H., & Chou, C. P. I. (2013). The Concept of Immortality in Chinese Thought. English
Writings of Hu Shih: Chinese Philosophy and Intellectual History (Volume 2), 193-207.
Xuetong, Y. (2013). Ancient Chinese thought, modern Chinese power (Vol. 5). Princeton
University Press.
Yu-Lan, F. (2013). The spirit of Chinese philosophy. Routledge.
Zhang, Y. (2014). The idea of order in ancient Chinese political thought: a Wightian exploration.
International Affairs, 90(1), 167-183.