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天听自我民听

天聽自我民聽
tiāntīngzìwǒmíntīng
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 what heaven hears comes from what the people hear
  2. 2 heaven's judgment is mediated through the voice of the people
  3. 3 classical foundation of the Chinese 'mandate of heaven' theory

Examples

古人讲天视自我民视，天听自我民听。
Gǔrén jiǎng tiān shì zì wǒ mín shì, tiān tīng zì wǒ mín tīng.
The ancients said 'heaven sees through the eyes of my people, heaven hears through the ears of my people.'
民意即天意，所谓天听自我民听。
Mínyì jí tiānyì, suǒwèi tiān tīng zì wǒ mín tīng.
The people's will is heaven's will — this is what 'heaven hears through my people' means.

Tips

history
From 《尚书·泰誓》 (Shang Shu, 'Great Declaration'), quoted later in 《孟子·万章上》: 天视自我民视，天听自我民听 — 'Heaven sees through the sight of my people; heaven hears through the hearing of my people.' Cited by King Wu of Zhou (周武王) to justify his overthrow of the Shang tyrant, and built into Mencian political theory as the root of 民本 ('the people as the foundation').
usage
自 here is classical for 'from / through,' not 'self.' 我民 = 'my people.' Always paired with its twin 天视自我民视 ('heaven sees through my people'). Still one of the most cited classical tags for participatory legitimacy in Chinese political speech.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
听 tīng
自 zì
我 wǒ
民 mín