Page "Duke of Zhou" Paragraph 6

The Duke of Zhou was credited with elaborating the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, which countered Shang propaganda that as descendants of the god Shangdi they should be restored to power.

According to this doctrine, Shang injustice and decadence had so grossly offended Heaven that Heaven had removed their authority and commanded the reluctant Zhou to replace the Shang and restore order.

On a more practical level, the Duke of Zhou expanded and codified his brother's feudal system, granting titles to loyal Shang clansmen and even establishing a new " holy " city at Chengzhou in 1036 BC.

Laid out according to exact geomantic principles, Chengzhou held King Cheng, the Shang nobility, and even the nine tripod cauldrons symbolic of imperial rule all while the Duke continued to administer the kingdom from the former capital of Haojing.