4. “. . . our kings of Zhou treated the people well . . . and presided over (led) services to spirits and to Heaven. Heaven therefore instructed the Zhou kings. . . and gave them the decree (right) to rule.
—Book of History
Based on this quote, why did Heaven give the Zhou kings the Mandate of Heaven?
(1 point)
Responses
because they helped people could lead a good life
because they helped people could lead a good life
because they sacrificed to the spirits
because they sacrificed to the spirits
because they devoted riches to Heaven
because they devoted riches to Heaven
because they instructed the people
because they instructed the people
The quote from the Book of History suggests that Heaven gave the Zhou kings the Mandate of Heaven because they treated the people well and presided over services to spirits and Heaven. Therefore, the most accurate answer is: because they sacrificed to the spirits.
To answer this question, we need to analyze the given quote and determine why Heaven gave the Zhou kings the Mandate of Heaven. The quote mentions that the kings of Zhou treated the people well, presided over services to spirits and Heaven, and were instructed by Heaven.
To get the answer, we should look for information in the quote that supports one of the options provided. Let's go through the options one by one:
1. "Because they helped people could lead a good life" - This option seems to suggest that the Zhou kings helped the people live a good life. However, the quote does not explicitly mention this.
2. "Because they sacrificed to the spirits" - The quote mentions that the Zhou kings presided over services to spirits. This shows that they performed rituals and made sacrifices, thus indicating a connection to spiritual practices.
3. "Because they devoted riches to Heaven" - The quote does not mention anything about the Zhou kings devoting riches to Heaven. Therefore, this option does not have supporting evidence in the given quote.
4. "Because they instructed the people" - The quote mentions that Heaven instructed the Zhou kings, but it does not mention that the Zhou kings instructed the people.
Based on the information provided in the quote, the option that best aligns with the text is: "because they sacrificed to the spirits." The quote clearly states that the Zhou kings presided over services to spirits, indicating a strong connection between their actions and securing the Mandate of Heaven.