Granted by the Heaven and Supported by the People:On the Construction of the Legitimacy of Cheng-Han Regime
Legitimacy(正统)is an important basics for the existence of the ancient Chinese regimes.Facing the dilemma of a serious lack of legitimacy,Cheng-Han Regime ceaselessly constructed its own legitimacy.On the one hand,the pursuit to a Taoist utopia strengthened its religiousness.Mysterious knowledge,such as the calculation of the celestial calendar(推步),auspicious signs(符瑞),prophetic ballads(谣谶),and the sacrifice in the southern suburb of the capital(南郊),was used to create the atmosphere of the will of heaven and shape the image of divine and wise monarchs.Through all these manipulations on sacredness,a certain mandate from heaven served as the source of politic power.On the other hand,in political expression,contrasted to a counter example,the Jin Dynasty,the lofty morality of the regime has been emphasized.And in political practice,the concept of"Tixanxia"served as the guiding ideology,and the moral measures served as the basic approach.These efforts aimed to constantly build a civilized and moral image of the regime,hoped to enhance its moral character and gain supports from the people and public opinions.Besides,the selection of political names,such as the dynastic names and the reign titles,also revealed a strong connotation of orthodoxy.On the whole,though there were some small achievements,the holistic effectiveness of this construction of legitimacy was quite limited.
Cheng-Han Regimelegitimacysanctitymoralitypolitical name
万方数据
维普
