Natural disasters in China divine retribution: "tianzai" (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'. In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven’s response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas
Human response to disasters they generally remarked on how well the Japanese people behave. By believing in this myth, they assumed the Japanese showed more behavioral control than other societies rather than understanding it rarely happens in association with any disaster. Human response to disasters Human response to disasters has been recorded throughout human history. In ancient times disasters were often perceived as a result of a deity, divine being, or spiritual creature showing their displeasure over human behavior. This later changed as humans began to see disasters as natural events that caused physical destruction and social chaos to individuals, communities, and societies as