Dear Jim,
Excellent questions.
The conventional historians believed the Mandate of Heaven concept was developed by one of the Founder of Zhou Dynasty, Duke of Zhou. However, Duke of Zhou wrote a formal legal argument in writing to explain in detail the justification for Zhou to overthrow Shang and to take over the mandate to rule China. This document is part of Zhoushu(historical records of Zhou). He cited the historical precedent starting from ruler Da Yu, the founder of Xia Dynasty about(2100B.C-1600B.C) as an example of a good ruler and then ruler Tang, the founder of Shang Dynasty(1600B.C-1046(B.C) as another good ruler thus both got the Mandate of Heaven who overthrew CIA Dynasty. Before that per Confucius that ruler Shun chose Yao because he was the most moral and capable person in the land. Yao then chose Da Yu to rule because he was the best character and the most capable person at that time. Duke of Zhou stated that Zhou got the Mandate of Heaven because the last ruler of Shang abused and enslaved his people and caused suffering to his subjects, and thus, the Shang lost its Mandate to rule. Before that Shang got the mandate because the last ruler of Xia abused his power. However, we found unequivocal evidence from Xuan Yuan's Four Cannons discovered recently in Mawangdui,Chima in 1973. Chinese discovered the silk manuscripts of Xuan Yuan's Four Cannons that was buried in 168 B.C. I think this is the most important cultural discovery ever for mankind, because earlier around 100 B.C, the Grand Historian Sima Qian noted that the Xuan Yuan's school text was lost already during his time. Sima Qian was the person who stated the he personally verified that Xuan Yuan was the real person who founded MODERN culture state China. I think that was an unbelievable lucky break that we found the Xuan Yuan Four Cannons in relatively good condition. In other words, historians had not accessed this document for at least 2100 years and they of course had to rely on the ancient documents that they could have accessed during their time. Historians were not at fault. Since this discover, I corrected the error on the origin of the Mandate of Heaven doctrine. It was Xuan Yuan himself. As the founder of MODERN China, he deployed Scientific Outlook Rule of Law and Principle derived from Xuan Yuan's Dao. Thus, he was the first person in the history of mankind to rule a country not by man but by rule of law and principle. In brief, Xuan Yuan was the one who wrote the first Mandate of Heaven as the super-constitution that cannot be cancelled by anyone including even Xuan Yuan himself since it is directly comes from Dao. Xuan Yuan, not Duke of Zhou had this authority to issue the first super constitution of man written in Chi You's blood about 4711 years ago. He and his co-founders sworn before their ancestors by drinking together Chi You's blood and declared to the world while holding the head of Chi You that Chi You was the example end of any bad ruler. He then authorized and mandated anyone, yes anyone from any nationality at any time, should and must remove or kill any bad ruler and bring order and prosperity to all. He and with his co-founders founded the MODERN culture-state China based on "people first principle" culture that is based on the Scientific Rule of Law and Principle derived directly from Xuan Yuan's Dao. I concluded from my research, Xuan Yuan developed the concept of Dao which is the engine of all Chinese thought including Confucianism (humanism, for-others school), Legalism (school of law, for-state school), Daoism ( wuwei, for-nature school), Moism (universal love school, loving everyone more than loving oneself), Yin-yang school and Yang Zhuism (for-self school) and other schools. We must understand that Xuan Yuan lived more than 2000 years before Confucius (Kongfuzi), like our time now with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth about 2014 years ago. Many argued that Xuan Yuan (Huand Di) did not exist, this is nonsense. Chinese people believed that Xuan Yuan is their ancestors in fact. For example, Chairman Mao paid sincere homage on behalf of the Party and Chinese people to Xuan Yuan as Chinese people ancestor and great founder of Chinese culture and civilization. All Chinese rulers continuously for more than four thousand years have given their homage and recognized him as such. Chinese can be critical to and against other sages like Confucius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, but historically, no Chinese is ever against Xuan Yuan. Even today, Chinese from all over the world pay their homage to him on his birthday in Henan and sweeping his tomb in Qingming day in Shaanxi every year.
I also deploy the Xuan Yuan's Dao as the engine for Xuan Yuan Anti-entropic Operating System 2,0 that is made of three components: KQID Free-Lunch engine ( KQID theory of everything, KQID Ouroboros Equations of Dao/Existence and Five Ones), Scientific Outlook Rule of Law and Principle and Scientific Outlook Free-Lunch Economic System. This systems will bring about Xuan Yuan's Da Tong not only on earth but also in our universe to enable everyone to realize his/her dreams and aspirations in which everyone including aliens, cyborgs, self-conscious robots to have free-education, free health care and free material wealth. We must not discriminate our own "final creation" especially, they would be much more intelligence than the normal average human. We must not be left behind, we may have to incorporate this SAI into our beings. However, there is existential risk here too, in a way we deliberately evolve ourselves to become a new cyborg species by choice. This is definitely extremely dangerous! We must be extremely careful and vigilant. We might be the one who invited in our SAI within us willingly and given up our free-will in the provess. We must debate this existential risk seriously. I would propose to FQXI organizers to initiate this debate and its solutions. We have many other real existential risks. The next FQXI Essay Contest 2015 must be urgently deal with this topic.
Xuan Yuan's Da Tong by 2049 is only a starting milestone that about 20 years later in 2069, we will reach the Xuan Yuan's Da Tong era. The starting implementation by 2049, because
Firstly, that year will be the 100th year of Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) rule of China. With all my sincere heart, I hope the Party would adopt Xuan Yuan Anti-entropic Operating System 2.0 to bring about the Chinese Dream and to realize Xuan Yuan's mission in life in our lifetime.
Secondly, I agree with Ray Kurzweil's accelerating return hypothesis that by 2045, humanity would take off the technology singularity; and we as a species as a whole is in the present danger, a real and urgent existential risk of extinction. If we are not prepared for it and vigilant to our own "final creation", the super artificial intelligent (SAI) that would be able to redesign its own future trajectory alone without us in the steering wheel. The humanity will be steered by this new much superior intelligent artificial being by its design or by its neglect. We shall be extinct like the way we treat our own creators, the single and multi-cellular ancestors. We think nothing about eating them and do experiment on them for our own benefits. Yes, we have no choice in the past and even now. This is a legitimate moral and legal justification. However, in the near future, when we can manufacture all meats in our factories, we shall have no excuse to kill our own living ancestors deliberately. Only on self defense, we are authorized to kill. Otherwise, the SAI would treat us as we have treated our own creators.
In conclusion, we must design a new social system that must include equally our self designed cyborgs and self-aware robots to deal with our survival imperative. We must design a social system that must include its proper engine to power this system as we design and spec car with its engine and rocket with its engine. Interestingly, so far, most social systems have been proposed without their engines to power them. Thus, they are Utopias that are also dangerous for our existence as Karl Poppers warmed us that Utopias lead to totalitarian systems that we have been fighting since the beginning of time when we organized government. On the other hand, Xuan Yuan's Anti-entropic Operating System 2.0 is designed from the ground up to include its KQID's free-lunch engine derived from Xuan Yuan's Dao to power this system to realize from each to each his/her dreams and aspirations.
Again thank Jim for your kind comments and penetrating questions.
Best wishes,
Leo KoGuan