WI: No Mandate of Heaven

What if the Chinese did not have the Mandate of Heaven for their emperor? How would this affect China during the Warring States Era or even after such invasions as the Mongols and Huns? What would this China look like today?
 
The Mandate of Heaven concept is so old, dating back to around 1000 BCE, that the butterfly effect would remove the Mongols and Huns from history (and the only time the Huns invaded China was in the movie Mulan, as the connection between the European Huns and the Chinese nomadic invaders is tenuous, at best). Even the Warring States Era (roughly 475 BCE to 221 BCE) might not occur.

In the short run, removing the Mandate of Heaven concept might lead to the Zhou being formally replaced early on, because their claim to legitimacy depended heavily on the Mandate of Heaven concept and continued even after they were removed from all real power.
 
The mandate of heaven was created by the Zhou to say that they were the rightful succesors to the Xia. (lets just assume the Xia exsisted for the moment) Without it, they would be less legitamate, but still legitamate enough to not collapse. I see a China without the mandate to be more of a loose confederation (the Xia) than a slightly less loose confederation/empire that is the Zhou. However, I’m sure centralization--though perhaps not through the introducation of the mandate would come sooner or later.
 
The mandate of heaven was created by the Zhou to say that they were the rightful succesors to the Xia. (lets just assume the Xia exsisted for the moment) Without it, they would be less legitamate, but still legitamate enough to not collapse. I see a China without the mandate to be more of a loose confederation (the Xia) than a slightly less loose confederation/empire that is the Zhou. However, I’m sure centralization--though perhaps not through the introducation of the mandate would come sooner or later.

I gather that there is enough archaeological evidence for a political entity before the Shang that we may well call "Xia", although of course we have no idea of how they called themselves since there is no written record yet. They also were probably a lot smaller than what the Chinese traditional accounts (compiled under the Zhou and the Han dynasties, that is, a LOT later) would led us to believe.
 
While the Mandate of Heaven was a Zhou concept, the idea in imperial Chinese history was only reformulated during the Eastern Han, where it went hand-in-hand with Confucian classicism with ritual obedience from subject to Emperor.

There are plenty of ways Chinese Emperors legitimized themselves besides the 'Mandate of Heaven' concept. There is the Mencian/Confucian claim that 'the best should rule', the idea that the Emperor was literally the Son of Heaven, the idea of legitimacy coming from the ruling clan's superior Qi ('energy'), the idea that the Emperor was the representative/patron of Confucian/Chinese civilization, as well as being the main link between the earthly and the various state cults.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that the Mandate really stopped anybody from revolting against the Emperor - like prophecy, it's all too easy to cherrypick/fake various 'phenomena' (especially if they refer to nebulous things like Qi) that would justify any ruling house losing the Mandate.
 
While the Mandate of Heaven was a Zhou concept, the idea in imperial Chinese history was only reformulated during the Eastern Han, where it went hand-in-hand with Confucian classicism with ritual obedience from subject to Emperor.

There are plenty of ways Chinese Emperors legitimized themselves besides the 'Mandate of Heaven' concept. There is the Mencian/Confucian claim that 'the best should rule', the idea that the Emperor was literally the Son of Heaven, the idea of legitimacy coming from the ruling clan's superior Qi ('energy'), the idea that the Emperor was the representative/patron of Confucian/Chinese civilization, as well as being the main link between the earthly and the various state cults.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that the Mandate really stopped anybody from revolting against the Emperor - like prophecy, it's all too easy to cherrypick/fake various 'phenomena' (especially if they refer to nebulous things like Qi) that would justify any ruling house losing the Mandate.
Spot on,it justified rebellion against the establishment more than justifying it's rule.
 
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