Cang was the father of Dayu, during the reign of Emperor Yao, the flood was flooded, and Cang was elected by The Four Mountains to be responsible for flood control, and nine years after the construction of embankments to control the flood, he was executed by Shun.
In the modern people's impression, it seems that the carp does not manage the flood, only adopts the method of blocking, and ultimately fails. It was not until his son Dayu adopted the method of blocking as a dredge that he finally subdued the flood. This is a bit of a hero's meaning of success or failure.
The carp cures the flood
Sima Qian's "Records of History" records that no one more suitable than Cang was found at that time, so Yao reluctantly let Cang control the flood.
"Those who have not been virtuous, may the emperor try it." - "Historiography of Natsumotoki"
However, in the Book of Shang, everyone unanimously agreed on the promotion of carp to control the flood. Many people believed in the ability of carp to control floods.
Oh, four mountains, tang tang flood, haohao huai mountain Xiangling, the people are worried, there is a ruler? "It's all called carp."
The unanimous promotion of the carp shows that the carp is the most suitable and most capable person to manage the flood.
Carp
But in the end, the failure of the carp governance was killed by Emperor Shun, which involved two questions, first, would the carp not be able to control the flood? Second, Cang was appointed by Yao, why nine years later, Shun suddenly ascended to the throne and killed Cang.
What is the Soil of the Emperor's Breath?
The reason for the carp's killing will be searched in more ancient historical sources. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Book of Hai Nei records that "the emperor stole the emperor's soil to flood the land, and did not wait for the emperor's orders, and the emperor ordered Zhu Rong to kill Yujiao." Cang stole the Heavenly Emperor's soil to block the flood and was eventually killed.
The soil is said to be a soil that can continue to grow, but it does not play a role in the control of floods. Such a useful thing, in the later time when Dayu ruled the water, there was no trace of "resting soil". And in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the emperor's soil is stolen, why is there a sentence behind it that does not wait for the emperor's order? Stealing the soil and waiting for the emperor's order is obviously a contradiction.
Emperor Shun
Therefore, whether there is a "soil" can not help but make people wonder, perhaps there is no "soil" at all, from the beginning of the wrong understanding.
Stealing the emperor's soil shows that this so-called soil is the emperor's, which emperor is this? Obviously, it can't be Yao's, nor can it be Later Shun's, it can only be the previous one.
Since there is no so-called resting soil, it is better to take it literally, that is, the soil of the emperor's rest, that is, the land of the emperor's rest, that is, the soil of the tomb. And in my opinion, it is the burial soil of the mound. And the whole thing is by no means as simple as it seems.
The burial place of the mound
First, let's take a look at the record of the burial place of the Tomb in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The Great Wilderness North Classic says: "Beyond the Northeast Sea, in the great wilderness, between the rivers, the mountain of Yuyu, the emperor and the nine concubines are buried." There are Jiu, Wenbei, Liyu, Luan, Imperial, Big, and Small. There are blue birds, lang birds, xuan birds, yellow birds, tigers, leopards, bears, yellow snakes, sight meat, gems, yaobi, all out of the mountain. Qiu Fang is three hundred miles away, and the Qiu Nan Emperor Jun's bamboo forest is in Yan, which can be a boat. Takenan has Akazawa Water, known as Fengyuan. There are three mulberries without branches. Qiu Xi has Shen Yuan, who bathes in The Mound. ”
"Overseas North Classic": "Sansang has no branches, and in The East of TheOs, its wood is long and has no branches." Fan Linfang is three hundred miles, in Sansangdong, under the zhou ring. On the mountain of Wuyu, the emperor was buried in Yang, and the nine concubines were buried in Yin. There are bears, bears, wenhu, zhu, long, and meat. ”
Through the records of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, we know that the mole was buried on the mountain of Wuyu. And the mountain of Wuyu is specifically referred to as "hill" in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and which mountain is this "hill"? There is no hurry, let's continue to look for the answer in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Emperor Yao
The Great Wilderness Southern Classic records that "Emperor Yao, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun were buried in Yueshan. There are WenBei, Li Yu, Ji Jiu, Eagle, Tingwei, Shi Fang, Bear, Qi, Tiger, Leopard; Zhu Mu, Qinghua, and Xuan Shi. ”
The records of the tombs of Emperor Yao, Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Shun in the Classic of Mountains and Seas are all in Yueshan. And the surrounding scenery, animals and the situation around the burial ground of the mound are exactly the same. Are these imperial tombs buried in the same mountain range? Which mountain range is the Emperor Burial Group?
The only one who fits the imperial burial group is Mount Yao. In the middle of the Mountain Range, it has been the burial group of emperors since ancient times. And the mountain is also known as the hill. In ancient poetry, Qiu Lai was often used to refer specifically to the mountain.
Decorate the car station. Travel by word. Nan li yizhu. North Climb Hill. Qinglin Huamao. ——Ji Xi, "Four Poems of Answering Ji Kang", Part IV
And Yue Mountain, that is, Song Mountain. During the Xia Shang Dynasty, it was called "Lofty" and "Lofty Mountain", and in the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was called "Yue Mountain".
Both Mount Yao and Mount Song are in the territory of Henan, and the animals and scenery are naturally the same as described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Emperor Yao, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun were buried in Mount Yue.
The relationship between Cang, Yao, and Shun
Coincidentally, Cang Ben was of the Youchong clan, living in Chong, and was born and lived in the Songshan area. It is the leader of the Chong clan. The fifth grandson of Emperor Huan. Yao was the son of Emperor Zhao, surnamed Qi, given the name Fangxun, originally from Tang, so he was called Tao Tang. Shun was said to be the sixth grandson of Shun, but by the time of Shun's father's generation, he was already a commoner.
According to the generations, Cang is Shun's uncle and is the leader of the Chong clan, while Shun is only a commoner. Yao was the leader of the tribal confederation at that time and the co-lord of the world.
Cang and Dayu
The leader after Yao was Shun, and the leader after Shun was Yu. There seem to be some deeper reasons for the succession of thrones.
Therefore, it is only possible to use the tomb to seal the soil to block the flood, and it is impossible to use the emperor's. Because Yao could not let Cang use the sealing soil of his father's mausoleum to block the flood. Therefore, in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the true meaning of "stealing the land of the emperor" is about to come out.
The real reason why the carp was killed
From the above analysis, we seem to understand the truth of the matter.
The real reason why Cang was killed was probably that the flood was critical at that time, and Yao had no time to report it, so he could only use the soil of the Emperor's mausoleum to block the flood, and this matter was known to Yao and acquiesced. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for the carp to govern for nine years.
Dayu
However, this matter is used by people with ulterior motives. Accusing Emperor Huan of disturbing Emperor Huan and making Emperor Huan uneasy.
Relevant evidence can also be found in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Great Wilderness of the West": There are fish that are dry, and the name is fish women. Death is recovery. The wind channel came north, the sky and the great spring, the snake was transformed into a fish, for the fish woman. Death is recovery.
The carp failed to stop the flood, in order to frame the carp, some artificial rumors, the carp moved the mausoleum, resulting in the mourning can not be peaceful and come back to life, into a fish.
This is nonsense, but some people believe it. At that time, the great flood came, the people were panicked, the people's hearts were unstable, and there was a need for someone to be responsible for this matter, and a person was needed to stabilize everyone's heart. So all the blame is placed on the carp. In the end, Yao resigned and Shun succeeded to the throne. In order to calm the anger of the people, the carp was eventually killed.
In order to control the flood, the carp took the risk and used the soil of the ancestral tomb privately, but was eventually killed.
In the whole process, whether Shun played a negative role is unknown. However, from the later time, he reused Dayu to control the water, and gave up the seat of the co-lord of the world, Zen, to Yu, perhaps also out of compensation for the execution of the carp. Shun could only do this in order to appease the anger of the people, and I believe that when he appointed Dayu, he must have tried his best to defy the public opinion and insisted that Dayu be responsible for controlling the water.
If Cang could not cure the water and finally died of incompetence, how could his son Dayu manage the flood well? The ability to control water is passed down from father to son, so the carp does not die because it cannot control the water, but dies from the gossip of the people.
Author: Datang Shou Catch Lang
References: "History", "Classic of Mountains and Seas", "Shang Shu"