According to this theory, each dynasty of China rises to a political, cultural, and economic peak and then, because of moral corruption, declines, loses the Mandate of Heaven, and falls, only to be replaced by a new dynasty. The cycle then repeats under a surface pattern of repetitive motifs.

Why was the dynastic cycle created?

The Mandate of Heaven was the idea that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China at a time. The ruler's power was bestowed upon the emperor by the blessing of the gods. ... The Mandate was used for centuries to explain the rise and fall of dynasties in China. Historians call this pattern the dynastic cycle.

When did the Chinese dynastic period end and why?

When the last Chinese dynasty—the Qing dynasty—fell in 1911–1912, it marked the end of the nation's incredibly long imperial history. That history stretched back at least as far as 221 BCE when Qin Shi Huangdi first united China into a single empire.