"History": Yu Shun of the Sage of the Five Emperors

Virtuous Yu Shun

Yu Shun was originally a descendant of Emperor Huan, but from Emperor Huan's son to Shun's father, he did not hold any prominent official positions for several generations, and they were ordinary commoners.

Shun's mother died when he was very young, and his father, Shu Shu, was blind and misbehaving. He continued to marry his wife and gave birth to a son, whom he named Xiang. Elephant was born with a lonely and arrogant temperament, arrogance and domineering, coupled with the pampering of his parents, he did not pay attention to his brother at all, and always bullied him. Shun was not angry at all, and still loved his brother. In favor of his wife and her son, he not only ignored Shun, but also scolded him. The fierce stepmother always wanted to find an opportunity to kill him. The generous Shun did not hate them at all, and willingly served them and honored them, without neglecting them at all.

Later, he couldn't hold on any longer, so he went to the foot of Alexandria alone, built a thatched hut, reclaimed a wasteland, and planted a field. Because of his diligence and ability, he could not finish the grain he harvested every year, so he took out his surplus grain to help the poor people who had no food to eat, and the people were very grateful to him. In time for the famine year, he heard others say that the family was broken because no one was working, so he took advantage of the night to go home, quietly put the rice at the gate, and then hid next to it. Watching the family take the rice in, he smiled and ran back to the thatched hut. Over time, his affair was discovered and spread, and people were touched by his sincere filial piety. Under his inspiration, those who had fought for the earth were no longer calculating and could get along harmoniously. Later, Shun went to Lei Chi to fish, and the fishermen of the fishery also became polite and humble to each other because of his arrival. Wherever Shun went, people liked him, and the place where he lived would develop into a village within a year, and a prosperous town after two years. Shun, who was just 20 years old, the reputation of filial piety and virtuous virtue spread in all directions.

When Shun was 30 years old, it coincided with Emperor Yao's search for sages to be his successors, and all the princes of the four directions recommended Shun. Yao married his two daughters to him and gave him a large amount of grain, harp, cloth, cattle and sheep. When his father heard about this, he wanted to kill Shun and seize his property. Pretending to let Shun go home to help him repair the granary, as Shun climbed to the top of the granary, he lit the granary on fire below. Panicked, Shun, armed with two buckets, jumped out of the room and escaped from the fire. When Shun dug deep in the well, he suddenly filled the well with force and tried to bury him in it. Fortunately, when digging the well, Shun had more eyes and secretly dug a secret passage next to it, so that he could escape from death.

Later, the filial and talented Shun was elected as the chief. During his reign, he was always concerned about the suffering of the people and was deeply loved by the people. He gathered the descendants of people of great fame in society and put them in important positions to play to their strengths. Sure enough, these people not only fulfilled their tasks well, but also succeeded in educating the people, so that the various tribes in the Central Plains were at peace with each other, and the tribes in the remote areas also longed for the Central Plains and were willing to obey Shun's leadership. Then he sent the morally illegitimate, ill-fated families to remote and remote areas to govern those who were more evil, so that there would be almost no evil people in the country.

Shun then summoned the princes of the four directions to discuss how to appoint the ministers who had served the country in the Yao era, and Shun asked, "Among them, who can command a hundred officials and assist me in carrying forward Emperor Yao's cause?" Everyone said that Yu was indispensable, so Shun sent him to deal with the flood. Subsequently, he assigned all talented people to suitable positions, and examined the performance every 3 years, and decided the promotion and promotion of the official position according to the results of the 3 inspections.

Shun appointed Gao Tao as the official in charge of the prison and executed various punishments, because he enforced the law strictly and fairly, and the people were very obedient; Bo Yi is in charge of the etiquette of heaven, earth and man, and the people of the whole country show humility and are very harmonious with each other; The canonical music officials use poetry and dance to teach people, cultivate people's sentiments, and bring harmony between God and man. Yu's greatest merit was that he excavated nine mountains, built roads, dredged nine lakes, built embankments, guided nine rivers, demarcated the boundaries of Kyushu, and allowed the rulers of Kyushu to pay tribute to Emperor Shun according to their corresponding duties. In this way, the people of the vast land and even the remote and desolate areas can live and work in peace and contentment. In order to praise Shun's wisdom, Yu created a piece of music called "Nine Shao". The song is very pleasant, attracting rare kiwi birds from all directions, and people are also enchanted by the beautiful sound.

Later, Shun died in the countryside of Cangwu while touring the south. Before his death, Shun arranged for Yu to be his heir, and after Shun's death, Yu also kept filial piety for Shun for 3 years like Shun did for Yao. Later, he gave way to Shun's son, but the princes all came to join Yu, so Yu ascended to the throne of the Son of Heaven again.