Ptarmy's posts refer to the situation in China, and the "Mandate of Heaven" has 2 or 3 millennia-long roots in Chinese culture. Dynasties literally rose, claiming their successes were proof of a mandate from heaven, and subsequently fell over catastrophes, which were regarded by the people as signs of a loss of that mandate.
China, for millennia has had intertwined problems:
* Much of its land is not arable, so that producing enough food for its population has often been difficult;
* Unlike in the Sierras and Rockies, much of China's precipitation is in the form of rain. The snows in the Sierras and Rockies function as storage, so that there is less flooding in the winter, and water is released into river systems more gradually. When most of an area's precipitation is rain, floods result, such as last year's flooding on the Yangtze River that threatened the Three Gorges Dam. In centuries past, flooding has changed river courses, killed huge numbers of people, and brought down a dynasty or three.
Several years ago it was expressed to me this way: because China has no tradition or cultural experience with a true representative republic and civil freedoms, Chinese people put up with a lot that we would consider oppressive; they will continue to do so so long as the government keeps them relatively safe. Covid and the failure of Xi's No Covid policy, and this apparently coming famine will strain that bargain severely.
