The Mandate of Heaven controversy is the term used to refer to an ongoing conflict between the Mikado of Gao-Soto and the Emperor of Indrala, ostensibly regarding the philosophical question of which of them holds the Mandate of Heaven, but in fact concerning the symbolic leadership of the Gao-Showa people and the interpretation of their cultural heritage. The conflict started with the accession of Okatori Akihiko to the Phoenix Throne of Gao-Soto, issuing remarks which were seen by many a sneer to the Wuqiongtian Emperor of Indrala, who he believed had overreached into Gao-Soto's North Dovani sphere of influence. The conflict primarily took the form of a number of scholarly treatises exchanged between the two Emperors on Jienism, revealing a split in the philosophy and culture of the two major Gao-Showan groups, representing modernism and traditionalism.
These treatises were accompanied by political actions, seemingly unrelated, of the governments of Hulstria and Gao-Soto and Indrala. Both governments attempted to woo the other Gao-Showan peoples into their fold through the granting of titles by Indrala or courtesy visits by the Emperor of Gao-Soto. Hulstria and Gao-Soto ramped up its international presence by forcefully intervening in a dispute between Dranland and Egelion and rearming its nuclear deterrent.