67 DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.1.67-80
The Early Zhou Period: Origin of the Idea of 
Political Legitimacy and the Political Philosophy 
of Confucianism
DU Lun* 
Abstract
The Chunqiu and Zhanguo Periods are usually regarded as the birth of Chinese philoso-
phy, especially with regard to practical or moral philosophy. If we think about the concept 
of political legitimacy in the Early Zhou Period, with ideas like the “Mandate of Heaven”, 
“respect virtue” and “protect ruled people”, then this Period is not only the origin of this 
in ancient China, but also of Chinese philosophy, and primarily the political philosophy 
of Confucianism. 
The paper will first explain some documents in the “inscriptions on ancient bronze objects” 
in order to prove that the ideas of the “Mandate of Heaven”, “respect virtue” and “protect 
ruled people” really originated from this time. Through analysis of several Zhou documents 
from the Book of the Documents the paper will then demonstrate that these ideas are the 
three most important innovations in the history of Chinese thinking at that time. 
Keywords: Early Zhou Period, idea of political legitimacy, “Mandate of Heaven”, “respect 
virtue”, “protect ruled people”
Zgodnje obdobje Zhou: izvor ideje o politični legitimnosti in politični filozo-
fiji konfucionizma
Izvleček
Obdobji Chunqiu in Zhanguo sta običajno predstavljeni kot začetek kitajske filozofije, 
zlasti z ozirom na praktično ali moralno filozofijo. Če obravnavamo koncept politične 
legitimnosti v zgodnjem obdobju Zhou, z idejami, kot so »nebeški mandat«, »vrlina spo-
štovanja« in »ljudstvo pod zaščitniškim vodstvom«, to obdobje ne predstavlja le njihovih 
začetkov v stari Kitajski, temveč tudi izvor kitajske filozofije in predvsem politične filozo-
fije konfucionizma.
Prispevek najprej obrazloži nekatere dokumente, ohranjene v »zapisih na starodavnih 
bronastih predmetih«, s čimer poskuša dokazati, da ideje o »nebeškem mandatu«, »vrlini 
* DU Lun, PhD., Senior lecturer in Chinese,
 University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. 
 lun.du[at]uni-due.de
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68 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
spoštovanja« in »ljudstvu pod zaščitniškim vodstvom« izvirajo iz tega obdobja. Z analizo 
več dokumentov iz obdobja Zhou, ohranjenih v Knjigi dokumentov, prispevek nato pri-
kaže, da so te ideje tri najpomembenjše inovacije v zgodovini kitajske misli tega obdobja.
Ključne besede: zgodnje obdobje Zhou, ideja politične legitimnosti, »nebeški mandat«, 
»vrlina spoštovanja« in »ljudstvo pod zaščitniškim vodstvom«
Introduction
The Chunqiu and Zhanguo Periods are usually regarded as the birth of Chinese 
philosophy, and especially of practical or moral philosophy. If we think about the 
ideas of political legitimacy in the Early Zhou Period, such as the “Mandate of 
Heaven” (tianming 天命), “respect virtue” (jing de 敬德) and “protect ruled people” 
(bao min 保民), and remember that the Shang Dynasty and those before this 
had not produced any documents concerning these concepts, so the Early Zhou 
Period should be considered as origin of Chinese philosophy, and primarily the 
political philosophy of Confucianism. This idea of political legitimacy in the Early 
Zhou Period includes not only political and ethical elements, but also religious 
ones. At the same time the rulers of the Zhou Period established based on the 
so-called “patriarchal clan system” (zongfazhi 宗法制) the Chinese feudal system 
which is different from the one that existed in medieval Europe.
If we compare these political practices and the thoughts of the ruling class of the 
Zhou with regard to “how to govern”, and recall how ancient Greece established 
several different political forms and constitutions at the same time, with the focus 
being on “how to construct a state (polity)”, then it is easy to see that the idea of 
political legitimacy, and the understanding of both politics and political philoso-
phy in ancient China, were different from those in Europe. 
In this paper I would first like to explain some documents in the “inscriptions on 
ancient bronze objects” (jin wen 金文) in order to prove that the theories of the 
“Mandate of Heaven”, “respect virtue” and “protect the ruled people” really origi-
nated from this time. Then I will analyse several Zhou documents from the Book 
of the Documents (Shujing 书经) in order to demonstrate that these theories were 
the three most important innovations in Chinese political thinking at that time. 
The Documents in the “Inscriptions on Ancient Bronze Objects” (金文)
The three pillars of political legitimacy in ancient China, namely the “Mandate of 
Heaven”, “respect virtue” and “protect ruled people” were actually developed in the 
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69 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
Early Zhou Period. This can be proved by examining the documents in the “in-
scriptions on ancient bronze objects”, such as the document known as the Da Yu 
Ding (大盂鼎). This is a “certificate of appointment” (ce ming shu 册命书) of the 
third King Kang (康王) to the officer Yu (盂). In this document the King gives a 
territory and its population to an officer, who will then be its ruler. This act can be 
understood as fengjian (封建), which is translated as “feudal”.
Let us at first view the following passage in the Da Yu Ding: 丕显文王，受
天佑大命。在武王，嗣文作邦。[……] 敷有四方，畯正厥民. (Wang 2006, 
65–66) As we can see, the King said to Yu, King Wen received the Mandate of 
Heaven to help him (Heaven) to rule and King Wu (son of King Wen) carried on 
with this mandate and established the state of Zhou. 
In another passage of this document we learn that King Wen has received through 
the Mandate of Heaven “people and their territories”: 粤我其遹省先王受民受疆
土. (ibid., 66). The word shou (受 which we translate as “receive”) Debson (1962, 
221–5) interpreted as “take under the my governance”, i.e. “the government of the 
King of Zhou”. Of course, we can say that the kings of Zhou naturally think that 
it is legitimate for them to rule the territory they have conquered. 
Besides the word tian 天 (Heaven) we can also find the word de 德 (virtue) in the 
Da Yu Ding, for example in the phrase 敬雍德經. Debson (ibid., 225) translated 
this as “reverently to bring all in consonance with the canon of virtue”. The word 
de 德 occurs in several other documents in the “inscriptions on ancient bronze 
objects”, such as in the He Zun (He 尊) from the time of the second King Cheng 
(成王): 唯王恭德裕天. We can translate this as “King Wen respects virtue and 
makes sacrifices to Heaven”. Even the expression jing de (敬德) is found, for ex-
ample in the document of the ritual container Ban Gui (班簋) from the time of 
the fifth King Mu (穆王): 彝昧天命，故亡，允哉顯，唯敬德. (Wang 2006, 
100–1) This last sentence means “(Therefore) the people should respect virtue”. 
Let us turn again to the last sentence in the above quoted passage: 畯正厥民. 
Debson (1962, 221–5) translates this word 正, which we usually give the mean-
ing “correct” today, as “govern”. What is the reason for this? In classical Chinese 
we can find three words which are pronounced like zheng (in different tones, of 
course) and concern politics: 正, 征 and 政. (Ma and Xiao 1991, 1009–14) The 
first word 正 originally means “correct” in ancient China.
1
 And the second word 
征 usually means “go on a journey”, and therefore also “go on an expedition”, as 
in the “inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty”. (Ma 2014, 
4). Words with this meaning are also sometimes written as 正 (correct). (ibid., 24) 
1 For example 仪正而景正 (If the sundial stands straight, then the shadow is correct) in 荀子·君
道 (Xunzi Book 12, Way of the Sovereign).
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70 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
Finally, the word 政 usually has something to do with politics. But both in the 
“inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty” and “inscriptions 
on ancient bronze objects” we can find this word being used with the meaning 
“go on an expedition”
2
 (ibid., 80), The fact is that these three words have similar 
meanings and are therefore connected with each other. For example, “to go on an 
expedition” is generally used in relation to punishing the people because of their 
mistakes and so aiming to correct their behaviour. Moreover, for the ruling class of 
the Zhou Dynasty the most important task of a ruler is just to educate the people. 
As such, the core meaning of these three words is “to correct”. Let us thus ana-
lyse the sentence 畯正厥民 in more detail. Because the object of the verb 正 (to 
correct) in 畯正厥民 is 厥民 which should be translated as “his or their people”, 
so we can say that the Kings of Zhou regarded the people in their new territories 
as their own people. It is thus difficult to interpret it as meaning “go on an expe-
dition” rather than “govern”. If this interpretation is correct, it would be in cor-
respondence with the general understanding of politics at that time: “To govern” 
means “the ruler should be correct” and thus “to correct the behaviour of the ruled 
people”. We think here about the famous saying of Confucius: 政者，正也
3
 (to 
govern just means to correct).
Moreover, it is also interesting to consider the meaning of the word 畯 before 
正. Besides the Da Yu Ding the word 畯 is also found in other documents of 
the “inscriptions on ancient bronze objects” and is regarded by some scholars as 
a synonym of 俊 (jun) and 悛 (quan). Because the last word means “change” (改), 
(HYDCD 1986, 4: 2307), so we can interpret the word 畯 as meaning “to bring 
ruled people to correct their mistakes and to become good people” (使民改过向
善). (Wang 2006, 148)
As I will show later, the “education of ruled people” is part of the idea of “to pro-
tect ruled people”. In the “inscriptions on ancient bronze objects” of the Early 
Zhou we can find evidence for all these ideas, namely those of the “Mandate of 
Heaven”, “respect virtue” and “protect ruled people”.
The Zhou Documents from the Shujing (书经)
The American scholar Michael (1986, 27) regards the Zhou Era as “the age of 
reason”, so we can consider the “Mandate of Heaven”, “respect virtue” and “protect 
2 For example in 毛公鼎 (Mao gong ding) (Wang 2006, 263).
3 论语·颜渊 (Lunyu 12.17) and 孔子家语·大婚解第四 (Kongzi Jiayu (Expressions from the Home 
of Confucius), Dahunjie 4). 
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71 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
ruled people”, three theories of the Zhou rulers, as the three most important in-
novations in the history of Chinese political thinking at that time. 
With the battle in Muye (牧野) the Zhou defeated the Shang and established 
a new kingdom in China. Their new dynasty needed legitimacy, not only for the 
ruled people, but also for the former rulers, namely the aristocrats and the former 
officers of the Shang Dynasty, as well also for themselves. The new rulers have to 
be self-confident about the rightness of their assumption of power. The first part 
of their idea of political legitimacy is the theory of the “Mandate of Heaven”.
The new ruling class thus tried to propagate this idea. They argued that their revolt 
against the Shang was not because of their own desires, but instead because of the 
wishes of Heaven (天). As an example we can first quote some passages in the 
chapter “Kanggao” (康诰),
4
 an imperial mandate from Duke Zhou (周公) to his 
younger brother Kang. He writes, “(Our) dead father King Wen was able to make 
bright virtue and to be careful about punishment”
5
 and it “was heard by High 
Lord and (High) Lord favoured him. Heaven then grandly ordered King Wen to 
kill the great Yin and grandly receive its mandate, its states and people.”
6
 Duke 
Zhou (in the chapter Duoshi (多士)) explained to the remaining Shang officers of 
why the previous rulers had lost the “Mandate of Heaven” to the Zhou, as follows: 
“How should we have dared to seek the throne? The (High) Lord did not give 
favour (to Yin); what our lower people held on to and did was (the expression of ) 
Heaven’s discernment and severity.”
7
The first part of the “Mandate of Heaven” is the so-called “receiving of the Man-
date of Heaven” (受天命). In order to understand this innovation we have to ex-
plain the term tian (Heaven). The highest deity of the Shang was the High Lord 
(上帝), and the Shang believed that the he only protected the people of Shang, 
and so they did not need to do anything special in order to have his protection. 
4 The chapter Kanggao (康诰) builds a unity with the chapters Jiugao (酒诰) and Zicai (梓材). It is 
debatable as to whether Duke Zhou (周公) or King Wu (武王) is the author of these three chap-
ters, although traditionally Duke Zhou was seen as such. Sima Qian (司马迁: ca. 145–90 BCE, 
author of the “Documents of History” (史记)) for example has this opinion. (See 史记·周本纪第
四) But in the Song Era (960–1279) this opinion was revised. (See Jiang 1988, 237–47) Now most 
Chinese scholars see Duke Zhou as the author. (See You 2001, 182; Zhang 2005, 27–28 and Zang 
1999, 307–8)
5 惟乃丕显考文王，克明德慎罚. 
6 惟时怙冒，闻于上帝，帝休，天乃大命文王。殪戎殷，诞受厥命越厥邦民，惟时叙，乃寡
兄勖。
 King Wu used the word shangdi (上帝, hear: translated as High Lord), but surely meant tian 天 
(Heaven): although the Zhou have the highest deity of 天 (Heaven), they sometimes used the term 
shangdi (上帝) or di (帝: Lord), when they spoke about tian 天 (Heaven).
7 我其敢求位？惟帝不畀，惟我下民秉为，惟天明畏。
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72 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
After their victory over the Shang, the Zhou needed to establish a new highest 
deity, and this was Heaven. The Zhou tried to convince themselves and the re-
maining Shang officers that Heaven does not favour a particular person or group 
of people, but rather helps those who have virtue. In Chinese we say: 皇天无
亲，惟德是辅.
8
This innovation corresponds with the process of a religion evolving from a “natu-
ral religion” (ziran zongjiao 自然宗教) to a “moral religion” (lunli zongjiao 伦理宗
教). In contrast to the Shang, the Zhou have then to pay more attention to their 
moral behaviour in order to get help from the highest deity, in this case Heaven. 
In Chinese we say: “to prove through virtue to be worthy towards Heaven” (以德
配天). The term de 德 (virtue) plays a central role in the process of the so-called 
“growing ethicization of religion”
9
 (宗教伦理化). 
Although the word de was already used in Shang times, it probably did not mean 
“virtue” and its use was not connected with the highest deity. In the “inscriptions 
on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty” (甲骨文) for example, the word 
is used with the meaning “to win, to get”, like the homonym de (得), or to refer to 
a sacrifice (Ma 2014, 48). Maybe the Zhou used the original meaning of de, name-
ly “to go straight on to the goal” (ibid.), to create a new meaning, “virtue”.
10
 Yu 
Jiyuan (2009, 47–50), who compares the word de with the Greek word “aretē” and 
English word “virtue”, states that de refers to the internal power of an individual 
to influence others, and primarily the ability of a ruler to control the ruled without 
the use of violence.
11
 At the same time the ruling class of the Zhou Dynasty con-
nected this word with Heaven. As such, through de people can get the assistance 
of Heaven, the highest deity.
8 This probably occurs in 逸周书 (the Lost Documents of the Zhou). See 左传·僖公五年 (Zuozhuan, 
Xigong 5).
9 “Growing ethicization of a religion” is translation of the German Phrase “zunehmende Ethisierung 
einer Religion” of Ohlig (2002, 128).
10 According to Chen Lai de (德) was not an important term in the culture of the Shang (Chen 1996, 
290). In contrast, You Huanmin (2001, 114–6) is of the opinion that de (德) was already in the 
Shang Era part of the category “virtue”, but has given only some evidence drawn from the docu-
ments of the Shang in the Book of Documents (书经). But these cannot be seen as originally from 
the Shang time. The fact is that the character de 德 in “inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the 
Shang Dynasty” (甲骨文) only consists of three parts: “eye” (目), a line to above (〡) and “to go” (行), 
but in “inscriptions on ancient bronze objects” of four parts: “eye”, a line to above, “to go” and––be 
added––“heart” (心). The Chinese scholar Liu Xiang (刘翔) considers the character 徝 (zhì) in the 
“inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty” as 直 (zhi). The character 直 has a 
similar meaning to the character 挞 (tà) which means “go on an expedition”. Therefore, Jin Chun-
feng (2007, 5–6) is of the opinion that the word de (德 virtue) is a new construction of the Zhou. 
11 Yu Jiyuan (2009, 84) also makes reference to discussions about the development of de. 
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73 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
Concerning the issue of political legitimacy, this means that the ruler has to “re-
spect virtue” (敬德)
12
 in order to “keep the Mandate of Heaven” (保天命), after 
having received it owing to virtue of their predecessors. The best example to ex-
plain this is the chapter Zhaogao 昭诰, Duke Zhao’s (昭公) imperial mandate to 
the young King Cheng (成王). He talks about the decline of the state of Shang, 
where the last king (King Zhou 纣王) mistreated the ruled people and notes: “Oh, 
Heaven also had pity on the people of four quarters, and removed his mandate 
from Yin and bestowed it on us. May the king (now) urgently respect virtue.”
13
 
For example, Duke Zhao warns the young King Cheng to learn a lesson from the 
decline of the Xia and Shang dynasties, and tells him: The Dynasties of Xia and 
Shang have lost the “Mandate of Heaven” because their last kings did not respect 
their virtue.
14
Now we can ask: What is the content of virtue? We can just quote Michael (1986, 
31) here, who writes: 
What was this “virtue” on which the authority and eventually the con-
tinuation of the dynastic rule depended? It was above all concern for the 
welfare of the people. It had been the suffering of the people that ended 
the mandate for the Shang. And from the outset Chou
15
 rulers stressed 
their concern for the people’s happiness.
In the opinion of You Huanmin (2001, 101, 121–4), “respect virtue” (敬德) has 
several meanings, but the core one is just “protect ruled people” (保民). In other 
words the concept of min 民 has been since the Early Zhou Era one of the most 
important factors in political thinking, and always in connection with the con-
cepts of Heaven and of virtue. 
12 You Huanmin (2001, 117) considers “respect virtue” as a development and a new slogan of the 
Zhou, although he––as mentioned above––believes that the Shang had already developed de as 
part of the category “virtue”.
13 天亦哀于四方民，其眷命用懋。王其疾敬德！ This translation comes from Karlgren (1950, 49).
14 The whole text: “We should not fail to mirror ourselves in the lords of Xia, we likewise should not 
fail to mirror ourselves in the lords of Yin. We do not presume to know and say: the lords of Xia 
undertook Heaven’s mandate so as to have it for so-and-so many years; we do not presume to know 
and say: it could not be prolonged. It was that they did not reverently attend to their virtue, and so 
they prematurely renounced their mandate. We do not presume to know and say: the lords of Shang 
undertook Heaven’s mandate so as to have it for so-and-so many years; we do not presume to know 
and say: it could not be prolonged. It was that they did not reverently attend to their virtue, and so 
they prematurely renounced their mandate.” (我不可不监于有夏，亦不可不监于有殷。我不敢
知曰，有夏服天命，惟有历年；我不敢知曰，不其延。惟不敬厥德，乃早坠厥命。我不敢
知曰，有殷受天命，惟有历年；我不敢知曰，不其延。惟不敬厥德，乃早坠厥命。)
15 Chou is the old transcription of the Chinese character 周 (Zhou). 
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74 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
As such, here I will explain the meanings of min 民: This word was already used in 
Shang times, but with a very different meaning than under the Zhou. This char-
acter, which we can find in several documents of “inscriptions on bones or tortoise 
shells of the Shang Dynasty”, refers to people who are “killed to serve as a sacri-
fice” (mao min 卯民). (Ma 2014, 280–1)
16
 In opposition to the Shang, the ruling 
class of the Zhou Dynasty obviously changed the meaning of this character (民), 
so that it mainly means all of the “ruled people”, and is therefore a term related to 
the political thinking of China at this time (Du 2003, 247).
In the Da Yu Ding (大盂鼎), as discussed above, the people which the rulers of 
Zhou received through the “Mandate of Heaven” are regarded as shoumin (受民). 
Moreover, in the Zhou Book of Documents (书经) we find a more exact use, namely 
shouming min (受命民):
17
 people which are received through the “Mandate of 
Heaven”. When the rulers of Zhou have received the “Mandate of Heaven” they 
have to obey Heaven in order to maintain their dynasty, and therefore have to 
treat the people kindly. 
The fact is that for the Zhou ruling class the ruled people play an equally im-
portant role in political legitimacy as Heaven. The ruling class tried to propagate 
spread this idea among their peers in the defeated Shang. For example, Duke 
Zhou (in the chapter “Duofang” (多方)) explains this by means of describing the 
decline of the Xia and the assumption of power by the Shang as follows: Because 
the kings of Xia mistreated their people, “(Heaven) then sought a new lord for the 
people, and grandly it send down its illustrious and felicitous mandate to Cheng 
Tang,
18
 and it punished and destroyed the lord of Xia.”
19
 On the other hand, the 
members of the Zhou ruling class also tried to convince themselves of this ideol-
ogy. We think about the warning of Duke Zhao to King Cheng which we quoted 
above: 天亦哀于四方民. It is easy to imagine that these are all reasons why the 
Zhou ruling class developed the “thought of protection of the ruled people” (保
民思想). 
Moreover, we can understand the change in the meaning of the word min (民) 
better if we analyse the “thought of protection of the ruled people”. The character 
16 The word mao (卯) means “to kill for sacrifice”, see HYDCD 1986, Vol. 1, 311–2.
17 Duke Zhou says to King Cheng: “The King ordered me to come here. I will continue to protect the 
people received by Y our Grandfather King Wen through the mandate of Heaven.” (周公拜手稽首
曰: “王命予来承保乃文祖受命民，...”洛诰).
18 Cheng Tang (成汤) is the first king of state Shang.
19 于惟时求民主，乃大降显休命于成汤，刑殄在夏。 This must be the first use of 民主 in Chi-
nese history which means “lord of ruled people”. Today the word means “democracy” after the 
Japanese used this term for this foreign term. 
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75 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
bao (保) first meant “to take a child on the back” (背)
20
 (HYDCD 1986, Vol. 1, 
160), therefore “to raise (a child) (养)”, “to maintain” and “to protect”
21
 (ibid.). 
This means that Zhou regarded the people they ruled after defeating the Shang 
as their children. The best example of this is the sentence in the above-mentioned 
chapter Kanggao, namely 若保赤子 (as if one protected an infant). This is a plea 
urge from Duke Zhou to his younger brother Kang who had received some of the 
Shang territory to rule. 
Therefore, by changing the use and therefore the meaning of min the Zhou have 
not only introduced a new term into political thinking, but have also established a 
new kind of political rule through introducing the idea of “protection of the ruled 
people” (保民): the rulers as parents and the ruled as their children. Today this 
seems to be very conservative, but for that time it was a breakthrough in political 
thinking.
 22
 
The core of “protection of the ruled people” can be seen as an min (安民), which 
means to bring peace to the ruled people (in order to stabilize the political and 
social order). In the Book of Documents we often find the word kang (康), which 
means an (安).
23
 In the chapter “Kanggao”, for instance, Duke Zhou urges his 
younger brother Kang “to protect the people by means of tranquilization” (用康
保民) and “to govern the people means of tranquilization” (用康乂民). As noted 
above, Duke Zhou says at the beginning of this imperial mandate, “(Our) dead 
father King Wen was able to make bright virtue and to be careful about punish-
ment”
24
 (惟乃丕显考文王，克明德慎罚). Here we can consider “to make bright 
virtue” (明德) and “to be careful about punishment” (慎罚) as two important 
principles to realize the “protection of ruled people” (保民).
25
 
The expression “to make bright virtue” (明德) has a similar meaning as “to respect 
virtue” (敬德). Duke Zhou reminds his younger brother Kang of the following: 
20 Besides this we can also find the word bao (保) in the chapter “Zhaogao” (昭诰):知保抱携持厥妇
子，以哀吁天，徂厥亡，出执. 
21 We can also find this word in “inscriptions on ancient bronze objects” (金文) like 天[…]癈保先
王 (Heaven protected our firmer kings to a great extent) in the above mentioned Da Yu Ding and 
畯保四國 (to protect four states long) on the Hu Zhong from the time of King Li (厲王). (Wang 
Hui 2006, 65–68 and 221–4)
22 This idea has influenced political thinking in China until the present day.
23 See for example Zang Kehe (1999, 312).
24 惟乃丕显考文王，克明德慎罚.
25 In the chapter Kanggao we also find Duke Zhou says to his younger brother: “I told you the theory 
of virtue and the way of punishment”. (告汝德之说于罚之行)
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76 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
Grandly take as pattern the active virtue (sc. of the ancients). There-
by make steady your heart, (look at =) take care of your virtue, make 
far-reaching your plans and intentions, then you will make the people 
tranquil, and I not remove you or cut you off.”
26
 
According to Zhou Hong (1993, 407), this is about the policy of “to convert the 
ruled people through virtue” (以德化民). 
In general, Chinese culture talks about the idea “to build morality of ruled people” 
(教化). In the chapter “Kanggao” we can find two expressions which are used in 
this sense: 裕民 (yu min: to lead and educate the people) and 做新民 (zuo xinmin: 
to make new people). The expression yu min (裕民) occurs twice and is translat-
ed by some scholars as “to lead und educate the people.”
27
 Duke Zhou asks his 
younger brother Kang to respect the law and follow this when leading the peo-
ple.
28
 Duke Zhou then adds: only if you think about King Wen’s respect and cau-
tion, can you lead the people.
29
 Secondly, Kang should treat the people of Shang 
kindly, who King Wen has received and must protect. He should also help the 
king to consolidate the Mandate of Heaven and make his subjects new people.
30
To demonstrate that the three most important innovations in the thinking of the 
Zhou are close related to each other I would finally like to quote the last passage 
in the warning Duke Zhou makes to his younger brother in the chapter “Zicai” 
(梓材): 
Great Heaven has delivered the people of the Central Kingdom and 
its territory to the firmer kings. Now may the king by means of virtue 
harmonize and gladden and (be before and after =) take care of foolish 
people, and thus gladden the firmer kings who received the Mandate. 
Yes, being an inspector like this, I say: I wish that unto a myriad years 
the king’s sons and grandsons may forever (guard =) have charge of the 
people.
31
 
26 丕则敏德，用康乃心，顾乃德，远乃猷，裕乃以；民宁，不汝瑕殄。 The translation comes 
from Karlgren (1950, 43). 
27 Some of them thus refer to a dictionary in ancient China, namely 方言 (Dialect). According to the 
author of this dictionary, the word 裕 (yu) is similar to 猷 (you) and has the same meaning as dao 
(道: “to lead”). See Jiang and Qian (1995, 282–3); You (2001, 233) and Zang (1999, 325).
28 汝亦罔不克敬典，乃由裕民.
29 惟文王之敬忌，乃裕民.
30 乃服惟弘王应保殷民，亦惟助王宅天命，作新民.
31 皇天既付中国民越厥疆土于先王，肆王惟德用，和怿先后为迷民，用怿先王受命。已！若
兹监，惟曰欲至于万年，惟王子子孙孙永保民。The translation comes from Karlgren (1950, 48).
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77 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
Here I should mention that the Chinese phrase which Karlgren translates as “to 
have charge of the people” is bao min (保民). Therefore “to have forever charge of 
the people” is also one aspect or goal of the bao min (保民) policy. 
Conclusions
The Zhou Dynasty is regarded as the “age of reason”, and the “Mandate of Heav-
en” (天命), “respect virtue” (敬德) and “protect ruled people” (保民) are consid-
ered as the three most important innovations in the history of Chinese political 
thought at that time. Moreover, we can claim that virtue (德) stands at the centre 
of these innovations. 
First these theories of the ruling class are based on a tripartite relationship among 
Heaven, the ruler and the people. Of course the ruler himself stands in the centre 
of this relationship, as on the one hand he has to obey Heaven as the highest deity, 
and on another to care for the well-being of people (敬天保民). It is obvious from 
texts we have from this era that the ruling class was aware of this position and role. 
Certainly the Zhou––like peoples in other cultures––wish to get the favour of 
the gods in order to have safety and success, but they believe that they can only 
achieve this if they have virtue. Only through virtue can they get the favour of 
Heaven as the highest deity, and win the support of ruled people. Without the 
support of the ruled people they cannot maintain the Mandate of Heaven (legit-
imacy), and cannot keep their rule.
These three theories influenced the idea of political legitimacy and the political 
philosophy of Confucianism. I will quote some passages from Lunyu and Mengzi 
to show it. 
The following well-known expressions of Confucius, “govern through virtue” (为
政以德, Lunyu 2.1) and “If the ruled people are led through virtue and kept in or-
der through rites” (道之以德，齐之以礼, Lunyu 2.3), are seen as a development 
of the concept “to convert ruled people through virtue” (以德化民).
32
 
32 This thought still influences political thought in China. Although Chinese leaders have introduced 
the idea of 法治 (rule of law), at same time they don’t want to abandon the Chinese tradition of 
“govern through virtue” (德政 dezheng or 德治 dezhi). Mou Zongsan talks in this case about the 
so-called “theory of the governance by leading of the people to virtue” (儒家的德化的治道) (Mou 
2006, 24–28). Concerning the political thinking in ancient China Mou Zongsan (2006, 1) makes a 
distinction between the “right way/theory of governance” (治道) and “right way/theory of political 
power” (政道), which includes the assumption of political power. In this view the Confucians in 
ancient China did not think enough about the “right way of political power” (政道). (ibid., 13) 
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78 Du Lun: The Early Zhou Period...
This is also the case with the idea “protect ruled people”. Based on this thought 
the Confucians developed the so-called “people-foundation-thought” (民本思
想).
33
 For Confucians, the state should at first help the people to “get material 
prosperity” (富民) and then “build their morality” (教民).
34
 
Concerning the idea of political legitimacy two factors play key roles, namely 
Heaven and the ruled people. We can explain this through a passage in Mengzi, 
where Mencius talks about the transfer of political power from Yao to Shun (leg-
endary emperors in Chinese history). In his opinion the ruler (in this case, Yao) 
may not transfer his power to someone else (i.e., Shun), before he has got the 
agreement of both Heaven and ruled people.
35
 
It is interesting to note that this agreement from both Heaven and those who are 
ruled does not need to occur before the transfer of power, but after it. Mencius 
writes: 
When he (Shun) was assigned the task to preside over the sacrificial of-
fering at the ceremonial worship of the gods, all the gods came to partake 
of the sacrifice. This means Heaven accepted him. When he (Shun) was 
appointed to administer government affairs, peace and order prevailed, 
33 The following phrase is seen as the first origin of the “people-foundation-thought” (民本思想): 民
惟邦本，本固邦宁 (Only the ruled people are the root/foundation of a state; if the foundation 
solid, there is peace in the state.). This phrase occurs in the chapter “Wuzi Zhige” (五子之歌) 
which concerns the time of the Xia, but this document is not seen as originally from that era. This 
idea (民本思想) also influences contemporary China. 
34 “The Master (Confucius) went to the state of Wei and Ran You (a pupil of Confucius) acted as 
driver of his carriage. The master observed: ‘How numerous are the people!’ Ran You asked: ‘Since 
they are thus numerous, what more shall be done for them?’ The Master answered: ‘Enrich them!’ 
And when they have been enriched, what more shall be done for them?’ The Master said: ‘Teach 
them!’” (子适卫，冉有仆。子曰：“庶矣哉！”冉有曰：“既庶矣，又何加焉？”曰：“富之。”
曰：“既富矣，又何加焉？”曰：“教之。” (Lunyu 13.9) 
35 “Wan Zhang (a pupil of Mencius) asked: ‘Was it the case, that Yao gave (power over) the world 
to Shun?’ Mencius replied: ‘No, the son of Heaven (sovereign) cannot give (power over) the world 
to another.’ Wan Zhang: ‘Yes. But Shun has got (power over) the world. Who gave it to him?’ 
Mencius: ‘Heaven did.’ Wan Zhang: ‘How did Heaven give it to him? Was it by detailed instruc-
tions?’ Mencius: ‘No, Heaven does not speak, but shows its intension through acts and events.’ Wan 
Zhang: ‘How is it done?’ Mencius: ‘The Son of Heaven can recommend a man to Heaven, but he 
cannot make Heaven give (power over) the world to the man recommended. (…) In ancient times 
Yao recommended Shun to Heaven and Heaven accepted him, Yao presented Shun to the people 
and the people accepted him. That is what I mean by saying: Heaven does not speak, but shows 
its intention through acts and events’.” (万章曰：“尧以天下与舜，有诸？”孟子曰：“否。天
子不能以天下与人。”“然则舜有天下也，孰与之？” 曰：“天与之。” 曰：“天与之者，谆谆
然命之乎？”曰：“否。天不言，以行与事示之而已矣。”曰：“以行与事示之者，如之何？”
曰：“天子能荐人於天，不能使天与之天下。[...]昔者，尧荐舜於天而天受之，暴之於民而
民受之。故曰：天不言，以行与事示之而已矣。”Mengzi 9.5)
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79 Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 67–80
and people were happy and content. This means the people accepted 
him.
36
 
It is also interesting to note that for Mencius the people seem to be more im-
portant than Heaven. First, he quotes the following passage from the Book of 
Documents (书经): “People’s eyes are the eyes of Heaven; people’s ears are the ears 
of Heaven.”
37
 Second, he explains why the last kings of Xia and Shang lost their 
power as follows: “Jie (the last king of Xia) and Zhou (the last king of Shang) lost 
(power over) the world, because they lost (support of ) the people.” He continues: 
“There is a right way to get (power over) the world: win the people’s support and 
you will get (power over) the world. There is a right way to win the people’s sup-
port: win their hearts and you will win their support.”
38
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