The Earthquake in China and the Mandate of Heaven

Andrew Leonard notes:

Ever since the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang some 3000 years ago, natural disasters have been interpreted in China as a sign of heaven's disfavor with whomever is currently in charge. The Tangshan earthquake of 1976, which killed hundreds of thousands, provided the most famous recent demonstration of this theory. A few months later, Chairman Mao died, setting the stage for the eventual ascendancy of Deng Xiaoping and a radically different approach to Chinese economic development.

He goes on to state, in accordance with a state of mind not at all uncommon in China today:

2008 has had its shares of disasters, starting with the destructive snow storms in January, and punctuated by the Sichuan earthquake -- the worst earthquake in China since Tangshan. Coming so close to the border of Tibet, the scene of destructive riots just a month ago, you could easily make the case that Heaven is unhappy, especially if you're already predisposed against the CCP [The Chinese Communist Party].

Leonard reproduces this significant quote from China scholar Burton Watson:

Like the Greeks and Romans, the early Chinese firmly believed in the portentous significance of unusual or freakish occurrences in the natural world. This belief formed the basis for the Han theory that evil actions or misgovernment in high places invites dislocations in the natural order, causing the appearance of comets, eclipses, drought, locusts, weird animals, etc... However interpreted, this theory of portents and omens had a tremendous influence upon Han political thought, for it gave the bureaucracy a method of indirectly censuring the throne when direct criticism was impolitic.

I’ve blogged before about the human proclivity to “connect the dots” across apparently unrelated dimensions of experience. One thing is certain: many passages in the Bible make no sense whatsoever unless one allows for this approach to experience.