The legend of Emperor Shun

Emperor Shun was said to have double pupils and was named "Chonghua". After death, Zen was located in Yu. "Historical Records" said that Shun had a great reputation, and Huangfu Mi of the Jin Dynasty also said that he had the courtesy name Dujun. Shun was also called Yu Shun. It is said that the country was named Youyu. According to the custom of taking the country as a surname in the pre-Qin Dynasty, he was called Youyu. It is also said that Shun was born in Yao Xu, his surname was Yao, his given name was "Chonghua", and his courtesy name was Dujun. However, "Historical Records" said that Shun was "a native of Jizhou", and Zhang Shoujie of the Tang Dynasty specifically pointed out: "Hedong County of Puzhou originally belonged to Jizhou." It seems that Shun was a native of Hedong County. Hedong County in Puzhou in the Tang Dynasty is now Yongji County in Shanxi Province, and its administrative seat is now Puzhou Town. Mencius believed that Shun was from Dongyi. "Mencius": "Shun was born in Zhufeng, moved to Fuxia, died in Mingtiao, and was a native of Dongyi." [Edit this paragraph] Plot summary It is said that after the Yellow Emperor, there were three famous tribal alliance leaders. , named Yao, Shun and Yu. They were originally the leaders of a tribe, and were later elected leaders of the tribal alliance. At that time, the leader of the tribal alliance would discuss any major issues with the leaders of each tribe. Yao was getting older and wanted to find someone to succeed him. Once, he summoned the tribe leaders from all over the world to discuss. After Yao stated his plan, a man named Fang Qi said: "Your son Danzhu is an enlightened man, and he is suitable to succeed you." Yao said seriously: "No, this boy has bad moral character. He likes to quarrel with others." Another man named Huandou said: "The water conservancy worker does a pretty good job." Yao shook his head and said, "The worker is eloquent and respectful on the surface. I have another idea in my mind. I don't trust this person." This discussion came to nothing, and Yao continued to look for his successor. Once, he summoned the tribe leaders from all over the world for discussion and asked for their recommendations. Everyone present at the meeting unanimously recommended Shun. Yao nodded and said, "Oh! I also heard that this man is very good. Can you tell us his deeds in detail?" Everyone in Emperor Shun's temple explained Shun's situation: Shun's father was a very confused man. People call him Gusou (which means blind old man). Shun's biological mother died long ago, and his stepmother was very bad. The younger brother born to his stepmother was named Xiang. He was unspeakably arrogant, but Gusou doted on him. Shun, named Xuanjing or Chongming or Chonghua, was the eighth grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Because he was born in Yao (now Fan County, Puyang, Henan), his surname was Yao. Shun lived in such a family and treated his parents and younger brother very well. Therefore, everyone thought that Shun was a man of good moral character. Yao was very happy after hearing this and decided to investigate Shun first. He married his two daughters Ehuang and Nvying to Shun, built a granary for Shun, and gave him many cattle and sheep. When the stepmother and younger brother saw him, they were both envious and jealous. They plotted with Gusou and tried to harm Shun several times. Once, Gusou asked Shun to repair the roof of the granary. When Shun climbed to the top of the warehouse with a ladder, Gusou set a fire below to burn Shun to death. When Shun saw the fire on the roof of the warehouse, he looked for a ladder, but the ladder had disappeared. Fortunately, Shun brought two hats with him to protect him from the sun. He held the hat in both hands and jumped down like a bird spreading its wings. The hat fluttered in the wind, and Shun landed gently on the ground without being hurt at all. Gusou and Xiang were not reconciled, and asked Shun to go dig the well again. After Shun jumped into the well, Gusou and Xiang threw pieces of earth and rocks on the ground to fill up the well, hoping to bury Shun alive in it. Unexpectedly, after Shun went down the well, he dug a tunnel beside the well, drilled it out, and returned home safely. Xiang didn't know that Shun had already escaped danger. He returned home triumphantly and said to Gusou, "My brother must have died this time. I came up with this clever plan. Now we can divide my brother's property." After that, he walked towards the house where Shun lived. Unexpectedly, when he entered the room, Shun was sitting by the bed playing the piano. Xiang was secretly surprised and said embarrassedly: "Hey, I miss you so much!" Shun also pretended to be nonchalant and said: "You came just in time. I have a lot to do and I need your help to take care of it." From now on. , Shun still treated his parents and younger brother as kindly as before, and Gusou and Xiang no longer dared to harm Shun. Yao listened to everyone's introduction to Shun's deeds, and after inspection, he thought that Shun was indeed a man of good moral character and quite capable, so he gave up his position as leader to Shun. This kind of giving way is historically called "Chan (shan) giving way". In fact, during the clan commune period, it was not uncommon for tribal leaders to elect new leaders through elections when they became old. After Shun took over, he was also diligent and frugal. He worked like the common people and gained everyone's trust. A few years later, Yao died, and Shun wanted to give up the position of leader of the tribal alliance to Yao's son Danzhu, but everyone disagreed. Shun officially became the leader.

[Edit this paragraph] Historical origins The main deeds of Shun recorded in the Code of Yao include: ordering Hou Ji to sow and plant hundreds of grains on time; digging ditches and canals to facilitate irrigation; dredging rivers and controlling floods; announcing five punishments to eliminate the four evil tribes. Shun knew people well and appointed capable people. For example, Shun appointed many official positions: Yu was appointed to be Sikong, in charge of water and soil; Qi was appointed to be Houji, in charge of agriculture; Deed was appointed to be Situ, in charge of the five religions; Gao Tao was appointed to administer the five punishments, etc. . When Shun was the leader, he did a good job in all tasks and created a situation of political harmony and harmony in ancient times. Therefore, Shun became the most powerful leader in the Central Plains. After Shun ascended the throne, he extensively solicited the opinions of Si Yue and other ministers, punished traitors and promoted virtuous people. On the one hand, he exiled the three soldiers, Badger Dou and Sanmiao to the north, south and west respectively, and executed Gun in Yushan, so that the border areas were all in submission and the ethnic groups were harmonious. On the other hand, he enabled Gao Tao and other twenty-two wise men to make great achievements and prosper their businesses. The most famous among them is Qi Yu. At that time, Shun was already 61 years old and wanted to find an heir with high moral character, intelligence and kindness. At this time, Siyue, who had recommended Shun to Yao, came out again and said: "I think Yu can be used." Shun thought for a while and said, "Is he the son of Gun who was killed by me because he failed to control the flood?" "That's right. "Yes," Siyue said, "Your Majesty, you must not judge your son based on his father. This Yu is indeed a rare talent!" Shun smiled and said, "Don't worry, I understand what you mean." Soon, Shun did not avoid his previous suspicion. , Entrusting Yu Zi to inherit his father's business to control floods, he also wanted to use this to verify Siyue's words. Yu deeply felt Shun's trust and tried to repay Shun's trust. Therefore, he worked tirelessly and conscientiously in controlling the floods. After long-term on-the-spot investigation, he confirmed that only using his father to block the breach was not effective at all, and that he had to focus on providing guidance. He led the people to open up mountains and rivers and dredge rivers, which not only eliminated floods and roughly determined the division of Kyushu, but also restored production in each state and made the people live and work in peace and contentment. Emperor Shun was very happy, so he followed Emperor Yao's example and gave up the throne to Yu. Yu refused, so Shun temporarily delayed his move, but allowed Yu to take charge of hundreds of officials and manage state affairs. Although he did not have the name of an emperor, he acted like an emperor. When Emperor Shun was 100 years old, he visited the south and unfortunately died in Cangwu. He was later buried in Jiuyi Mountain, and this place was called Lingling (southeast of today's Ningyuan County, Hunan Province) by later generations. After Shun came to the throne, he continued to visit his parents and younger brother who had persecuted him. His life was one of benevolence, filial piety and enlightenment, which played a vital role in the formation of the honest folk customs of the Chinese nation.