The Mandate of Heaven (Chinese: 天命; pinyin: tiānmìng; literally: "heaven decree") is an ancient Chinese belief and philosophical idea that tiān (heaven) granted emperors the right to rule based on their ability to govern well and fairly. <br />.The "Mandate of Heaven" is an ancient Chinese philosophical concept, which originated during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE). The Mandate determines whether an emperor of China is sufficiently virtuous to rule; if he does not fulfill his obligations as emperor, then he loses the Mandate and thus the right to be emperor. <br /> <br />There are four principles to the Mandate: <br />1) Heaven grants the emperor the right to rule, <br />2) Since there is only one Heaven, there can only be one emperor at any given time, <br />3) The emperor's virtue determines his right to rule, and, <br />4) No one dynasty has a permanent right to rule.
