Editing Mandate of Heaven (section)

=== Qin and Han dynasties ===
When the Zhou dynasty did come to an end, Qin absorbed the remainder of their lands, [[Qin's wars of unification|as well as those of all their competitors]]. The Mandate of Heaven did not play a direct part in their public relations, going unmentioned in all surviving material.{{sfnp|Pines|2008|p=22}} The [[Qin dynasty]] was not long-lived: after the death of first emperor [[Qin Shihuang]], <!-- pleonasm noted --> widespread revolts by prisoners, peasants, unhappy soldiers, ambitious minor officials, and remnants of the recently defeated aristocracy rapidly downfell the central government.{{sfnp|Dull|1983|pp=313–317}} The ensuing [[Chu–Han contention]] ended with the success of [[Liu Bang]] and establishment of the [[Han dynasty]].

Surviving historical documents from the Han dynasty paint the preceding Qin in a deeply unfavourable light, emphasising tyrannical policies, the incompetence of the second emperor, and giving an account of illegitimate birth for the first emperor.{{sfnp|Sørensen|2010|p=15}}{{sfnp|Goldin|2000|pp=78–79}} In this portrayal, it is clear the Qin had lost the Mandate, if they had ever possessed it to begin with. It was an uncomfortable fact that Han founder Liu Bang rose to power from a background outside the aristocracy, and achieved victory through military accomplishments. To accommodate this, Liu Bang was ascribed a magical birth, and later a divine ancestry.{{sfnp|Wang|2001|p=20}}{{sfnp|Nylan|2007|p=72}}

When [[Wang Mang]] took power at the end of the [[western Han]], he used the acceptance of the theory of Heaven's Mandate to his advantage. Auspicious unusual events were said to portend Heaven's choosing a new heir, so Wang fabricated omens indicating that Heaven had changed its mandate, and that it had chosen him.{{sfnp|Sukhu|2006|p=120}}

Following the restoration of the Han house to power, the Mandate of Heaven stood on uncertain grounds. Some theorists decoupled judgements of virtue from the mandate, seeing it primarily as inherited through ancestry, while others abandoned the concept altogether in favour of [[five phases]] theories.{{sfnp|Sukhu|2006|p=133}}