Mandate of Heaven
The possibility of withdrawal of the mandate afforded legitimacy to revolutionary movements seeking to remove an errant ruler, whereas revolt was never legitimate under the European conception of divine right. In China, the right of rebellion against an unjust ruler had been a part of the political philosophy ever since the Zhou dynasty, whose rulers had used the conception of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their overthrow of the previous Shang dynasty. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed on to the new ruler.