-
重置
-
语音
-
放大
-
缩小
-
鼠标样式
-
辅助线
-
读屏字幕
-
退出
重置
语音
放大
缩小
鼠标样式
辅助线
读屏字幕
退出
The term means taking power from a ruler. Ge (革) means to change or remove. Ming (命) first referred to the mandate of heaven and later came to mean a ruler’s decrees and his mandate to rule. Changing the mandate usually involves replacing a ruler and a change of dynasty, in other words, overthrowing an old regime and establishing a new one. People in ancient China believed that a ruler’s mandate to rule was ordained by Heaven and therefore any change of the mandate should in essence be carried out in response to the will of Heaven. However, change is a basic law of the universe, and the removal of a ruler’s mandate is a specific expression of this law. The legitimacy and success of such change depend on whether those who lead the change do so in response to the will of heaven and the popular desire of the people. In modern times, the term is used as an expression meaning revolution, denoting major social, political or economic changes.
The earliest meaning of the term was mandate of heaven, that is, the intentions and instructions that heaven expressed to humans. The implication was that Heaven meted out rewards and punishments on human beings as their moral conduct deserved. The mandate of heaven was considered an irresistible force that determined dynastic changes, the rise and fall of nations, and even the fate of ordinary people. Later, the link with Heaven became weaker; instead, the unavoidable destiny or fate prevailed. For human beings, the term implies the external limits that determine what is possible and what is not. In one sense, it expresses the helplessness of human beings.
The Revolution in the Circle of Poets was a cultural movement in early modern China. A part of the Revolution in the Literati Circle, it aimed to reform poetic expression. Liang Qichao (1873-1929) was the first one to champion this movement. In his work “My Days in Hawaii,” he argued that modern poetry should draw on the style and format of classical poetry, but it must also develop new artistic conception and expressions to depict contemporary life. He opposed the obscurity and formal restraints of classical Chinese poetry, arguing that without a revolution among poets, poetry in China would wither. He said that new poetry should be simple in language, convey new ideas, and disseminate modern values to enlighten people in China. Liang Qichao, Huang Zunxian (1848-1905), Yan Fu (1854-1921), Xia Zengyou (1863-1924), Tan Sitong (1865-1898), and Qiu Weixuan (1874-1941) all wrote poetry in modern Chinese and published their writings in newspapers and magazines. Generally speaking, verses written under the influence of the Revolution in the Circle of Poets did not have high artistic value. Rather, they were old in style but new in content, yet they did not make smooth reading. However, their creative spirit later gave rise to truly vernacular new poetry.
The Revolution in the Literati Circle, which took place in early modern China, was a cultural movement aimed at transforming classical Chinese language and literature. In 1899, Liang Qichao (1873-1929), frustrated by the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, saw an urgent need to reform and uplift the national character of the Chinese people. He used writing to introduce new ideas from the West, hoping that this would help enlighten and educate his fellow countrymen and change their ways of thinking. One target of this revolution was the prose of the Tongcheng School, which was founded by some natives of Tongcheng County, Anhui Province in the early years of the Qing Dynasty. Another target was Pianwen, rhythmical prose characterized by parallelism and ornateness. This revolution aimed to merge classical oral Chinese and classical written Chinese into one form and use a new style and wording to convey modern Western concepts and ideas. Liang Qichao created a new style by employing many colloquial expressions and the grammar of foreign languages. His writings were full of emotion. The Revolution in the Literati Circle shared goals of the Revolution in the Circle of Poets and the Revolution in the Circle of Fiction Writers: to promote a reform in the style of writing. It enhanced the popularity of vernacular Chinese, inspired the literary revolution of the May 4th period (1919), and paved the way for vernacular poetry and prose to gain dominance in the Chinese literary writing.
The term means order and bestowment from Heaven. “Mandate of heaven” mainly contains three different meanings: The first is the order of heaven over human affairs. Such order first of all focuses on a change of the supreme ruler’s authority: Heaven empowers the virtuous to attack and replace a ruler who has lost his virtue, and thus enjoy the highest and unsurpassed power and benefits. Secondly, mandate of heaven means fate, which is irresistible and imposes limit on human power. Thirdly, the term indicates the natural disposition bestowed by heaven upon human being. According to The Doctrine of the Mean, “Mandate of heaven endows one with his nature.” Song-dynasty Confucian scholars developed this idea, proposing that human nature was the “nature of mandate of heaven,” that is, the inherent pure and good nature one receives from heaven.
Do away with the old and set up the new. Ge (革) and ding (鼎) are two trigrams in The Book of Changes. In Commentary on The Book of Changes, it is explained that the lower ge trigram symbolizes fire and the upper ge trigram symbolizes water. Since fire and water are opposed and in conflict, and they cannot keep an original state of equilibrium, changes are bound to occur. Consequently, the ge trigram implies change of an unsuitable old state of affairs. The lower ding trigram symbolizes wood and the upper ding trigram symbolizes fire. When people throw the wood into the fire, they can cook their food in a ding. Thus, the ding trigram signifies the creation of new things. Following the doctrine in Commentary on The Book of Changes, later people combined the two together to represent an outlook advocating changes.
The ancient Chinese believed that virtuous men followed the will of heaven in establishing a political regime and becoming its sovereigns; hence their success came from the mandate of heaven. This thought is similar to the Western notion of the divine right of kings; but it also emphasizes the wishes and will of the people, or people-centered thinking. In ancient China, this phrase was often used in praise of the founding of a new dynasty, and the implementation of major social reforms to justify its legitimacy.
The term means to make political reform together with the people. Gengshi (更始) means to make a fresh start. The term used to refer to a new emperor ascending the throne, taking a new reign title or implementing a series of new policies. Later, it came to mean that the rulers worked together with the people trying to change the status quo and opening up new prospects. The term reflects a profound and far-reaching thought of putting people first, and highlights the spirit of monarchs and the people working with one heart and one mind to abolish what is old and establish in its place a new order.
中华思想文化术语传播工程 秘书处
电话：010-88819132
邮箱：shuyu@fltrp.com
中华思想文化术语微信公众号
指导单位：教育部语言文字信息管理司 主办单位：国家语言监测与研究网络媒体中心
京公网安备 11010802039713号