Defining the role of a legitimate government is an ongoing debate that merits close inspection. In the story of “the Great Declaration”, King Wu overthrows the Shang Dynasty and its leader King Shou after deeming his predecessor as illegitimate in the eyes of Heaven. King Wu finds King Shou to be unrepentantly selfish, egotistic, and cruel, leading to no other option than a coup. The Great Declaration explores the concept of legitimacy of governance and comes to the conclusion that a government deserves to be overthrown should it make no attempts to benefit its citizens in tandem with an unrepentant demeanor towards reconciling such an attitude. Throughout “the Great Declaration” King Shou repeatedly demonstrates a lackadaisical attitude towards his citizens. However, the final straw leading to a coup by King Wu is the absence of repentance in rectifying this behavior. King Shou showed no respect towards his citizens, lived his life without any …show more content…
According to Wu, people during that time believed that heaven and earth are the parents of all creatures; and of all creatures people were considered highly blessed and taken care off, "What the people desire. Heaven will effect" (pg.115). Wu was describing that a good government should always put in effect the will of his people and always makes sure his people are taken care off. Heaven in the context of The Great Declaration is considered to be the will of the people, and since the will of the people was not meet, it justified the coup of King Shou and his dynasty. Shou was therefore the people's perpetual enemy, and it justified the power transition. In “the Great Declaration” King Wu is a counterbalance to the absolute government authority and only acts when King Shou completely disregarded the will of the people or