Mandate of Heaven

About

The Mandate of Heaven is a concept in Confucian political theories that good rulers are endorsed by the natural world and supernatural forces on the basis of both personal and political virtues. Natural disasters and other ill omens were a mark of heaven's displeasure with the ruler, but good harvests were a mark of heaven's approval. While the "Mandate of Heaven" has been a component in Chinese political thought for a few thousand years, it emerged on the internet in the late 2010s and early 2020s as a catchphrase to describe the ups and downs of political life, with posters declaring that leaders, companies and movements had lost or gained the Mandate of Heaven.

Origin

The Mandate of Heaven as a concept first emerged amount 1000 BC, appearing in the writings of the philosopher Mencius. It also appears in documents purported to date from this era. When the Duke of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty in 1046 BC, he justified the takeover using the Mandate of Heaven concept according to Confucian tradition, announcing:^[1]

Ah! August Heaven, High God, has changed his principal son and has revoked the Mandate of this great state of Shang. When a king receives the Mandate, without limit is the anxiety of it. Ah! How can he fail to be reverently careful!

In ancient Chinese political thought, the Mandate of Heaven was used to justify new rulers taking charge as well as rebellion against bad rulers. Since legitimacy flowed from heaven, signs of heaven's disapproval (including natural disasters, poor administration and strange astronomical events) could be interpreted as justification for regime change.

Discussion of the Mandate of Heaven occurred throughout the history of the internet, but the earliest memetic-type discussions of the phrase occurred in the late 2010s. References to the "Mandate of Heaven" picked up during the Trump administration, particularly after televangelist Pat Robertson seemed to talk about the idea in a show on October 7th, 2019. Commentators like X / Twitter user @Trillburne (seen below) joked about this, receiving 3,000 likes over the course of four years.^[3]

Spread

Posts discussing the Mandate of Heaven, usually in connection to political events, were made throughout the following years. For example, Matt Cushman of the Chapo Trap House podcast posted a joke about the Mandate of Heaven on August 1st, 2022, receiving over 6,800 likes in roughly a year and a half (seen below, top).^[4]

On September 13, 2023, X user @Theswweet posted about the Mandate of Heaven amid the Unity Installation Fee Controversy arguing that the public response showed the video game engine developer had lost the Mandate of Heaven, receiving 20,000 likes in five months.^[5]

X user @StolenDans posted an imagined dialog from Seinfeld involving the Mandate of Heaven on August 29th, 2022, earning over 43,000 likes in a year and a half.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References