Final answer:
Tianzi, or the 'Son of Heaven', was the title of the Chinese ruler, signifying a divine or supreme mandate to govern. The Mandate of Heaven was central to the legitimacy of the emperor's rule, indicating that the right to govern was granted by Heaven based on virtue and could be revoked in cases of misrule.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tianzi was the traditional title of the Chinese ruler, which literally means 'Son of Heaven'. This concept was deeply embedded in the ideology and cosmic view of the Chinese imperial rule. The Mandate of Heaven played a crucial role in legitimizing emperors, suggesting that heaven bestowed the right to rule onto a virtuous man and his descendants. However, should the ruler fail his duties, become corrupt or heedless, signs such as natural disasters would indicate Heaven's displeasure and could lead to the selection of a new virtuous ruler.
The term huangdi which we translate as 'emperor', combines the meaning of 'shining' or 'august' (huang) with 'di', which originally referred to the Shang ancestors and a high god, equivalent to 'Heaven'. Thus, the emperor was seen as a superhuman or divine figure with the ultimate power to bring order to the universe, symbolizing the central authority around which everything revolved. The Mandate of Heaven was a key element in the political philosophy of ancient China, with the Zhou dynasty's establishment and to some extent lasting until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.
Emperors such as King Zheng of Qin and the Tang royal family emphasized their heavenly mandate and virtue in various inscriptions and writings, signifying their acceptance and reverence of the divine right to rule. Similarly, the Japanese equivalent, tennō, meaning 'heavenly shining', was used by rulers like Temmu and Jitō to express their divine authority comparable to that of Chinese emperors.