Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 11, 2024

The Concept of Tianxia (All Under Heaven) in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Emergence of the Idea of “Great Unity”

(Abstract)

Wang Qi

The tianxia concept during the Shang and Zhou dynasties can be summarized as the “Five Regions” worldview, encompassing a central region and four peripheral regions. The “Middle Region” (Zhongyu), later referred to as “Zhongguo” (the Middle Kingdom), denoted the area occupied by the Shang and Zhou states. The Son of Heaven, granted divine mandate, was considered sovereign over the “Five Regions,” which were expected to submit to his authority. The notion that “all lands under Heaven belong to the Son of Heaven, and all humans under Heavan are his subjects” was not merely rhetorical; it was a political ideal actively pursued at the time. In this sense, the Shang and Zhou dynasties embodied a model of the “tianxia state.”  This worldview naturally led to the emergence of the idea of “great unity,” which emphasized the unification of “all under Heaven under the rule of the Son of Heaven.” This concept evolved from a state of “self-existence” to one of “self-awareness.” Long before the slogan of “great unity” was explicitly proposed during the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties had already developed a foundational notion of “self-existing” great unity.