Heaven's mandate and man's destiny in Early Medieval China: The role of prophecy in politics

This is a study on a neglected historical phenomenon: belief in chen (prophecy) in early medieval China. The prophetic-apocryphal texts which began to appear in the Han dynasty were banned during early medieval China. This study attempts to show that the texts continued to play a significant role in political struggles, that belief in chen prophecy was still prevalent in the society at that time, and that Chinese prophecy is not fabricated even though it may have no inspired prophets.;The chen prophecies discussed in this dissertation are not confined to the traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts. In early medieval China many new prophecies were created and circulated in both oral and written forms; and personal names, reign titles, poems and folk and children's rhymes were recognized as heavenly revelations as well. These various prophecies were used as psychological weapons in political struggles. But we would fail to do justice to the significance of this historical phenomenon if we simply regard chen prophecies as political tools or propaganda. Chen prophecies were believed to be genuine prophecies at the time. Where did this belief in the prophetic power of chen prophecies originate?;Chen prophecy in Early Medieval China was an important part of the symbolic system of political legitimation. This symbolic legitimation system was based on the concept of the Mandate of Heaven. As long as the Chinese believed in the Mandate of Heaven, they remained convinced that Heaven would reveal its will through prophecies, natural and celestial portents. Chen prophecy was recognized as a coded message from Heaven. It was the business of man of all social strata to read Heaven's will through decoding chen prophecies.;Chen prophecies differed from the oracles and divination in Early China by their public nature and visibility of circulation, dissemination and interpretation. Thus chen prophecies derived their prophetic power from popular acceptance when they were circulated and disseminated. As a Confucian notion goes, "Heaven Sees with the Eyes of Its People." Social integration, legitimation of dynastic change, and the hopes for the future in an age of tumult thus were realized based on a belief in the interaction between Heaven's mandate and man's destiny.