Son of Heaven
Proper noun
Meaning
Son of Heaven
(historical) Emperor of China
Related terms
Examples
From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides.
To no one but the Son of Heaven does it belong to order ceremonies, to fix the measures, and to determine the written characters.
They legitimized their rule by invoking the " Mandate of Heaven ", the notion that the ruler (the " Son of Heaven ") governed by divine right and that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the Mandate.
In Japan, the Son of Heaven title was less conditional than its Chinese equivalent.
Other philosophers born around the time of Confucius such as Mozi took an even more theistic view of Heaven, believing that Heaven is the divine ruler, just as the Son of Heaven (the King of Zhou) is the earthly ruler.
These commentaries used political rhetoric to promote a state in which the Emperor, as "Son of Heaven," should extend his sphere of influence to barbarous lands, thereby gladdening the people.