#天

[niteshade925]

Just a short post on the topic, since I intend to reserve the long version for my culture sideblog where this kind of post should belong:

Since many people (esp people in the west) tend to misunderstand what “Mandate of Heaven” really is, I’ll just explain it in a concise way.  “Mandate of Heaven”, or 天命, which really should be translated as the “Will of Heaven” or “Heaven’s Will”, actually reflects “the will of the people”.  I’m too lazy right now so I’ll just copy paste what I wrote in an addendum to someone else’s post:

Instead, "heaven" is better understood as "nature", one which can "reflect" the opinion of the people like a weird mirror of sorts.  To understand what Mandate of Heaven means, one absolutely must understand what "Unity of Heaven and Humanity"/天人合一 means.  In this concept, the opinions, thoughts, and actions of humans (not just ruling class people) are echoed by "heaven".  Which means that, yes, this concept is really all about the people.  Ideally, anyway.  This also means that every time a natural disaster happened, it was seen as the people's discontent or the ruler's mistakes/wrongdoings reflected in nature.  Thus, we see that when natural disasters happen in history, the emperor might issue a public confession (called 罪己诏, or "Edict of Self-Blame"), in the hopes that "heaven" (people by extension) might cease its wrath.  Sometimes these "signs from heaven" were also used as justifications for rebellions and uprisings like OP mentioned above, sometimes also usurpations.

And:

Now we come to the part of why I said "ideally".  In ancient China, there was a special social class that held just as much power as the emperor (sometimes even more than the emperor, for example the Three Kingdoms period).  This class was called shi/士 (sometimes translated as "scholar officials" or "literati"), and may be understood as the class of "elites" in ancient China.  Shi elites often exist in the form of clans or families who have a sort of "monopoly" on governmental positions, and they are not simply rich people or landowners or nobles.  Most importantly, they have knowledge, and they can control the dispersal of knowledge.  It was the shi elites who came up with this concept of "Unity of Heaven and Humanity", which meant they have the final say in what the "signs from heaven" actually meant.  In theory, the "humanity" in this concept should encompass all people, but in practice, it really only meant the shi elites.  So in the end, it was a nice idea, but its overwhelming reliance on human interpretation made it so historically the situation often became a tug of war between the ruler and the shi elites, and not the people putting a check on the actions of the ruling class.

To add on to that, here are more concepts associated with 天/Heaven:

天 (Heaven):  Heaven in traditional Chinese thought represents the supreme morals and natural laws of the universe, and is not a god (which means it is also not “the” god).  It’s above all gods.  It does not have a form and unlike many other deities in Chinese religions and culture, is not visually anthropomorphized.  It is also different from 老天爷 (”Old ‘Ye’ Heaven”) in common vernacular.

天道 (Heaven’s Way):  the natural laws by which everything in the world exists, operates, and changes.  Can also mean causality, as in the phrase “天道轮回，报应不爽” (”The Way of Heaven cycles around, and retribution will come sooner or later”; the implication is that if one does bad things, because of this cause and effect it will eventually come back to bite them in the ass).

天行 (Heaven’s Workings):  literally the way Heaven operates, or just the laws of nature.  As in “天行有常，不为尧存，不为桀亡” (”Heaven’s Workings is constant; it shall not exist because of a benevolent ruler like Yao, and shall not disappear because of a tyrannical ruler like Jie”) from 《荀子·天论》.

天理 (Heaven’s Principles):  the natural laws of the world, the supreme morals, and the ultimate truth.  Often used as the ultimate moral basis, as in “天理昭彰” (”Heaven’s Principles are clear and evident”; means that Heaven will uphold justice, punish those who are evil and reward those who are good).

天命 (Heaven’s Will):  the will of nature (which includes all people).  See above.

#mandate of heaven #chinese philosophy #chinese culture #天 #天道 #天行 #天理 #天命 #may delete when i actually come out with the longer post on the sideblog

[sibirsibir]

Symbol of Tengri

#Siberia #God #Tengri #Sky #天

[izumi4649]

両親の結婚記念日🌸

1/3は、両親の結婚記念日です♪😀☺️

父は3年前に先に天に帰りました。

両親は40年、一緒に生活したそうです。＾＾

きっと天で父は母のことをとりなしてくれると思います♪o(^o^)o

父と天国で再会する日を楽しみに、私たちはこの地上での使命に生きたいと思います☺️🙌

see you again♪お父さん👨　

o(^o^)o

2024.1.3.wed.☁️☔️

#使命 #天 #再会 #結婚記念日 #両親

[kimo1051]

まぐろ丼🐟にホクホクの天ぷら🍤が美味しいマグロ三昧おひつ御膳¥1300円です🥢 #丼 #ホクホク #天 #天麩羅 #天ぷら #美味しい #三昧 #おひつ #御膳 #まぐろ #マグロ #まぐろ丼 #マグロ丼 #茶碗蒸し #味噌汁 #デザート #天風 #トキハ #稙田 #わさだ #天風トキハわさだ店 #マグロ三昧おひつ御膳 #小魚天ぷら大釜戸めし天風 #大分市 (小魚天ぷら 大釜戸めし 天風) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqaYzVRJoRb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#丼 #ホクホク #天 #天麩羅 #天ぷら #美味しい #三昧 #おひつ #御膳 #まぐろ #マグロ #まぐろ丼 #マグロ丼 #茶碗蒸し #味噌汁 #デザート #天風 #トキハ #稙田 #わさだ #天風トキハわさだ店 #マグロ三昧おひつ御膳 #小魚天ぷら大釜戸めし天風 #大分市

[asahi-yamane-art]

“とっきんとっきん”

「てっぺんに！！天を突き破って更にその上に到達して更に更にその先を躍進するほどに！全てにおいて頂点を駆け抜け続ける存在に！！わたしはなりたい。そう、わたしは画家。」

絵描きの写真。（ Pictures of painters. ）

P・S　二眼レンズのトイカメラで撮影したフィルムの一枚です。

#photo #photography #picture #japan #天 #空 #貫く #とっきんとっきん #トイカメラ #フィルム写真 #二眼レンズ

[scrapperjoe]

天

#fkmt #天 #takashiten #アカギ #SCRAPPERJOEART

[ockuck]

Gouki

#Gouki #Akuma #RedPencil #剛鬼 #ごうき #天 #Fire #Sketchbook #StreetFighters #FanArt

[jonnyha]

#天 #sky #heavens . #LunarNewYear Day 9: #拜天公 #BaiTianGong #PaiTiKong i.e. Praying to the Jade Emperor . #CNY #農曆新年 #ChineseNewYear #ペン習字 #筆ペン #漢字 #書道 #書法 #書遊 #毛筆 #墨 #習字 #日本文化 #筆文字 #文字 #和文化 #創作書道 #インスタ書道部 #書道好きな人と繋がりたい https://www.instagram.com/p/CoAB_QBv-Gv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#天 #sky #heavens #lunarnewyear #拜天公 #baitiangong #paitikong #cny #農曆新年 #chinesenewyear #ペン習字 #筆ペン #漢字 #書道 #書法 #書遊 #毛筆 #墨 #習字 #日本文化 #筆文字 #文字 #和文化 #創作書道 #インスタ書道部 #書道好きな人と繋がりたい

[slag0000]

Buddyでご一緒した山田邦喜さんの企画に誘っていただきました。ご一緒したといっても対バンだったので、共演するのは初となります。最近、身近なミュージシャンが共演したりで、山田さんのお名前をよくお見かけするようになり、どこかであったことのある方だな...と思っていたら、数年前にArgonautsでベースを弾いていた頃に横浜で対バンしたことを思い出し...、他にも色々と楽しくお話しさせていただきました。独特なスタイルの興味深い方です。舞踏、ダンスのお二人は初ですが、JanMahさん久しぶりなんで楽しみです。 あ、天って、あんまり縁がなくて出演は2度目ですね。最初はかなり前、ソロを初めてやったのはここでした...。さて。 ※Yuko Hatanoさんは出演キャンセルとなりました ●2022-08-31(wed) 阿佐ヶ谷 天 “Session Live” act: Kuniyoshi Yamada(drums) JanMah(guitar) Naoyasu Takahashi(bass) Yu Sonoda(butoh) Yuko Hatano(dance) open 19:00 / start 19:30 charge 3000yen(+order)

#Live #Improvisation #Dance #Butoh #Asagaya #Ten #Kuniyoshi Yamada #JanMah #Naoyasu Takahashi #Yu Sonoda #即興演奏 #舞踏 #阿佐ヶ谷 #天 #山田邦喜 #高橋直康 #園田游

[gladiolus-amaryllis-poppies]

apace (12.17.22)

the days have started

the nights have waned

though i’ve said

i’ve seen this coming

a bitter pill to swallow

a fact it’ll remain

an opportunity wasted

written in the waves

crashing down bit by bit

this truly is the season

the most opportune time

to approach the end

in the dust it'll be left

to the grave it goes

warmest of goodbyes

sweetest everythings

may it not be abrupt

but let it be quick

as fast it started

by the brakes resounding

before everything blows over

before she'll truly

be one with the waters

- 天

#天 #writing #poetry #original poem #for my amaryllis

[sonnetimo]

#machida keita #天 #how is he real?

[bonguri]

20220418 Kyoto 7 by Bong Grit さてちょっと移動して源光庵さんへ。最初は血天井の足跡。三河武士だった鳥居元忠一党が戦ったのね。三河人としては繋がりを感じざるを得ない。 @Genkouan temple, Kita ward, Kyoto city, Kyoto pref. （京都府京都市北区 源光庵） https://ift.tt/TIVABLF

#IFTTT #Flickr #bw #monochrome #blackandwhite #白黒 #黒白 #��ノクロ #モノクローム #footprint #ceiling #light #足跡 #天

[suzakucastle]

Street Fighter 6 - Akuma Teaser Trailer

天

#fighting games #capcom #2.5d #street fighter #fighting game community #Street Fighter VI #Akuma #DLC #Gouki #Ansatsuken #SF6 #天 #Youtube

[mrn0093]

#princess peach #nintendo #my artwork #fanart #illustration #art #artists on tumblr #super mario #princess peach showtime #video games #プリンセスピーチ #ピーチ姫 #プリンセスピーチShowtime #任天堂

[kimo1051]

かけうどん￥270円に丸天￥70円は美味しいです🍜 もう小泉ではなく大泉の一杯です🥢 #かけ #丸 #天 #丸天 #美味しい #もう #小泉 #大泉 #一杯 #ネギ #天かす #手打 #味 #手打の味小泉行橋店 #うどん #手打の味小泉 #行橋市 (うどん 小泉) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp4_Gb5JduH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#かけ #丸 #天 #丸天 #美味しい #もう #小泉 #大泉 #一杯 #ネギ #天かす #手打 #味 #手打の味小泉行橋店 #うどん #手打の味小泉 #行橋市

[stasyanarts]

my comfort

#hualian #hua cheng x xie lian #hua cheng #xie lian #tgcf san lang #mxtx tgcf #tgcf fanart #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heavenofficial'sblessing #heaven official's blessing #san lang #天官赐福