Perils of Promise: The Operation and Evolution of Justifications of Power in Ancient China from the Neolithic Period to the Zhou Dynasty

Abstract

In contemporary China, post-1979, ‘performance legitimacy’ is used to support one-party rule, emphasising effective governance and successful societal outcomes. While many believe the concept is modern, it is rather deeply rooted in Chinese history, traceable to the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) and its adoption of the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ idea. Prior, during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and the Neolithic Period (c. 7000–1700 BCE), legitimacy was instead anchored in family bonds and spiritual beliefs. This transition in modes of legitimation, while initially playing a stabilising role, presented a vulnerability: later rules faced difficulties in consistently delivering outcomes, leading to legitimacy deficits which collapsed the regime. This study analyses the operation and evolution of traditional and performance legitimacy in China’s Neolithic Period to the Zhou Dynasty, underscoring the risks of changing a regime’s mode of legitimation and the impacts of instability as a likely consequence of leveraging performance legitimacy.