Question

Which of the following was true about Shang government? a. The king was viewed as an intermediary between heaven and earth. b. The local chieftains were responsible for defending the empire. c. The territorial divisions of the empire were under the control of subordinate rulers who came from the Japanese islands. d. The king had an army of two million soldiers to help him govern. e. The government was ruled by a king so powerful that he needed only a handful of officials to administer all of China.

Answer 1

Answer:

Right choice: a. The king was viewed as an intermediary between heaven and earth.

Explanation:

The kings of the Shang dynasty were not as powerful as later emperors. Feudal lords and regional warlords had much power in ancient China until the unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE. Nevertheless,  among the functions of Chinese kings was the performance of rituals and religious ceremonies in honor of the Heaven, and of another gods. In this way, he was an intermediary between the world of men and Heaven. It was in later centuries that the emperor started to be seen as the depositary of the "mandate of Heaven."