Dynastic cycle
The Dynastic Cycle ( Chinese 朝代 循環 / 朝代 循环 , Pinyin Cháodài Xúnhuán ) is a term from classical Chinese philosophy.
meaning
The term describes the assumed natural succession of imperial dynasties through a process in which each dynasty at the height of its power is crippled by corruption, with the result that Heaven withdraws its mandate, the dynasty overthrows and ultimately a new ruling house Take power.
Classically, the following stages are counted for a "run through" of the cycle:
- A ruler unites China, founds a new dynasty, and receives the mandate of heaven .
- The empire flourished, the economy flourished, the population grew.
- Blinded by successes, the imperial court and the dynasty of decadence fell into ruin. Corruption and clubbing are rampant.
- Natural disasters and crises shake the empire and reveal the weakness of the ruling dynasty, the discontent of the population grows.
- The powerlessness of the government leads to conspiracies and intrigue. A civil war breaks out.
- Several sub-states are formed that struggle for power.
- The victorious state or ruler receives a new mandate from heaven
- The cycle starts all over again.
literature
- John K. Fairbank : The United States and China . 4th expanded edition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, USA / London, Great Britain 1976, ISBN 0-674-92438-X , Chapter 4: Alien Rule and Dynastic Cycles, p. 100-105 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 28, 2019]).
Individual evidence
- ^ Edwin O. Reischauer, "The Dynastic Cycle," in John Meskill, The Pattern of Chinese History , (Lexington: DC Heath and Company, 1965), pp. 31-33.
- ↑ Fairbank, John King. The United States and China . Harvard University Press, 1983, p. 102
- ↑ Ching, Frank. Ancestors: 900 Years in the Life of a Chinese Family. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1974. p. 78.