The Confucian concept describing the Mandate of Heaven is tianming.
Tianming literally means “the mandate of Heaven.” It expresses the idea that Heaven grants a ruler the right to govern when that ruler maintains moral order and looks after the people. A ruler who becomes corrupt or oppressive may lose that mandate.
The concept was first formulated by the Zhou tradition to explain the overthrow of the Shang dynasty. It offered a political justification for dynastic change without requiring Heaven to endorse one permanent royal family. Natural disasters, rebellion, and widespread suffering could be interpreted as signs of failed rule.
Tianming is related to Confucian political ethics but is not identical to divine election in the strict Western sense. It does not mean that a ruler is permanently chosen. The mandate is conditional, and later Chinese historians repeatedly used it to explain why one dynasty replaced another.