This was known as THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN.
(GOOGLE:) (plural Mandates of Heaven) Any such mandate or blessing. The Chinese philosophical concept of the circumstances under which a ruler is allowed to rule. Good rulers would be allowed to rule with the Mandate of heaven, and despotic, unjust rulers would have the Mandate revoked.
^That basically means that the rulers of China would be allowed to rule by the Mandate Of Heaven, as was what the Chinese did at the time.