Huangdi and Yandi are the ancestors of China and belong to the same era, while Yao, Shun and Yu are all famous lords in ancient China, and they belong to the descendants of Huangdi and Yandi. They don't belong to a certain dynasty. The first dynasty in China was Xia Dynasty, and they were all figures before the establishment of Xia Dynasty.

The cloud of doubt

After many tests, Shun finally got Yao's approval. Choose an auspicious day and hold a ceremony, with Yao Lishun as the heir, which is called "Wen Zu at last" in Shangshu. Because Emperor Yao was old, although De was the son of heaven, he had begun to gradually transfer power to Shun. That is to say, Shun Regency refers to the affairs of the leader of the tribal alliance.

The Bamboo Book says: In the past, Yao's morality declined and he was imprisoned by Shun. Shun imprisoned Yao in Pingyang and took the throne. Shun released Yao in Pingyang.

The Bamboo Book also says: Shun imprisoned Yao, and then suppressed Dan Zhu, so that he would not see his father again. Hou Ji put Di Zi Dan Zhu Yu Dan Shui.

After Shun came to power, it is said that there were a series of major political actions, which made great efforts to govern the country. He revised the calendar again, and held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, the four seasons of heaven and earth, and the gods of mountains and rivers; He also collected the letters from the governors, then set an auspicious day, summoned the governors and princes from all over the country, held a grand ceremony and re-issued the letters.

when he ascended the throne, he toured all over the country, offering sacrifices to famous mountains, summoning governors and observing people's feelings. It is also stipulated that the patrol should be held once in the next five years to inspect the improvement of governors' performance and specify rewards and punishments. It can be seen that Shun paid attention to the connection with the local authorities and strengthened his rule over the local authorities.

In the legend, Shun's general plan of governing the country is another one, which is to "punish the elephant with a standard punishment and shed five punishments", and draw the shapes of five punishments on the utensils to play a warning role; Use exile instead of corporal punishment to show leniency.

According to the legend in Historical Records, Yao died after 28 years of regency of Shun. After the three-year funeral, Shun gave way to Yao's son Dan Zhu and retreated to the south of Nanhe. However, all the governors in the world went to see Shun, but ignored Dan Zhu; People who went to court also complained to Shun, and the people made up many songs to praise Shun, and they all ignored Dan Zhu.

Shun felt that the will of the people and the will of God could not be shirked, so he returned to the capital and ascended the throne of the son of heaven. However, the legendary capital of Shun is not in the same place as that of Yao.

Extended information

Shun, like Yao, was both the ancient sage kings respected by Confucianism and Mohism in the pre-Qin period. Shun is of special significance to Confucianism. Confucian theory attaches importance to filial piety, and Shun's legend is also famous for filial piety, so his personality image is just a model of Confucian ethics. Mencius made a great contribution to the development of Confucianism after Confucius. He strongly praised Shun's filial piety and advocated people to strive to be as filial as Shun.

said: "Shun, people are also; Me, too. Shun is the law in the world, but it can be passed on to later generations. I am (still) a countryman, but I can worry about it. What's the worry? It' s just awkward. " He even imagined that Shun was the son of heaven, and Gu Sou was arrested for murder. Although Shun would not use his power to undermine the criminal law and pardon him, he must secretly carry his father out of prison, escape to the seaside together, live a carefree life, and forget the status of the son of heaven in order to enjoy family happiness.

Due to the propaganda of Confucianism, legends and deeds about Shun have left a profound influence on China's cultural tradition.

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