Chapter 87 Extra Chapter of the Shanhaijing Thought Series: The Routine of the Ancient Emperors

Finally I have time to review the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

There are so many things to talk about, let’s start with the Five Emperors.

The Five Emperors generally considered to be one of them do not include Dayu.

Yu’s honorific title is ‘Da’, which means great.

The most official list of the Five Emperors is naturally the one arranged by Sima Qian, which is Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, and Shun.

But this is not the earliest one. The earliest one should be the one arranged by Lüshi Chunqiu during the Qin Dynasty: Taihao, Yandi, Huangdi, Shaohao, and Zhuanxu.

Among them, the one arranged by the Qin Dynasty is the most orthodox Five Gods. Taihao is the Green Emperor, Shaohao is the White Emperor, Zhuanxu is the Black Emperor, and Yandi and Huangdi are added, representing gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, east, west, south, and center.

Sima Qian added Yao and Shun, as well as Diku, which is obviously biased towards the Yanhuang system, and directly excluded Taihao and Shaohao, the two Dongyi.

The Five Emperors do not refer to these five people, but to the five ancient emperors with the greatest achievements.

And no matter which version, there is no Yu, it is outrageous!

Therefore, the Three Emperors in my mind are Nuwa, Shennong, and Fuxi. The Five Emperors are Huangdi, Yandi, Zhuanxu, Dijun, and Dayu.

Yao and Shun, in terms of achievements, are not even ranked. They are just emperors, but not one of the Five Emperors.

Yao and Shun were completely lifted into the Five Emperors by Confucianism to spread the virtue of abdication.

Before talking about the Five Emperors in my mind, I have to talk about Yao and Shun who were excluded by me, and let you know them first, so this is an extra extra...

First of all, the Five Emperors ranked in the Records of the Grand Historian are Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Tang Yao, and Yu Shun.

Among them, Huangdi's surname was Ji, Zhuanxu's surname was Ji, Emperor Ku's surname was Ji, Tang Yao's surname was Ji, all of them were orthodox... Only Yu Shun's surname was Gui (gui).

But Yu Shun himself was also a descendant of Zhuanxu, just a side branch, and his ancestor Qiongchan was Zhuanxu's illegitimate son.

Only legitimate sons would inherit their father's surname, because in ancient times, surnames were not just surnames. As I said before, they were also a symbol of status.

Illegitimate sons could only be given other surnames. Huangdi gave fourteen of them, and Zhuanxu also gave several. Emperors of all dynasties would give a bunch of surnames.

Zhuanxu had many children, several sons, dozens of grandsons, and his descendants were divided into several large clans. By the time it came to Shun's generation, they were commoners among commoners.

In fact, Yu Shun's surname was not originally Gui. Because Zhuanxu's illegitimate son, Qiongchan's descendants were given a title in the Yu State, called You Yu Clan, which can be understood as You Yu Clan.

Shun was from the Yu clan, so he should have the surname Yu.

But unfortunately, the Yu clan had a main line and a side line that continued to develop.

Shun was not a legitimate son, so he didn't even get the surname Yu. Because he was born in Yaoxu, his surname was Yao... This kind of surname determined by the place of birth is the commoner class.

He was the first person with the surname Yao. When he was just a fisherman, it was a surname with no status.

When others heard it, what? Your surname is Yao? When they calculated, they thought that this surname had never been granted, oh, you are a commoner.

But in the end, Shun was still a commoner, not a pariah. He was related to the emperor, so he was at least qualified to have a surname.

Later, because of his ability and filial piety, he was appreciated by Yao, assisted Yao, and got an official position.

Yao appreciated him very much, married his daughter to him, and granted him the bank of Guishui.

So Shun officially had an aristocratic, vassal-style surname, which was Gui.

This is really an inspiring story...

As a descendant of Zhuanxu, his surname is not Ji, and as a member of the Youyu clan, his surname is not Yu.

His surname was Yao first, and then Gui. From this detail, we can already see that Yu Shun rose from the bottom of society and eventually became successful. His life was a process of climbing up, and he relied on himself to reach the pinnacle of life step by step.

Yu Shun finally ascended the throne and ruled the world. So much so that later, the surnames Yao and Gui became the eight major surnames in ancient times, which were indescribably noble.

Speaking of Yao and Shun, we have to mention the abdication system. I can only say that despite the act of abdication, the blood and conspiracy behind it are no different from those of Wang Mang, Cao Pi, and Sima Yan.

Let’s first read the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Here is a section of the original text about Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun: “Emperor Yao Terrace, Emperor Ku Terrace, Emperor Danzhu Terrace, Emperor Shun Terrace, two terraces each, with four sides, in the northeast of Kunlun.”

There are very few records about Yao and Shun. Shun still has some deeds, but Yao has almost no deeds. Only Emperor Yao Terrace is mentioned to let us know that he is an emperor.

In addition, there is no mention of abdication in the whole text.

However, even so, only three words are used to indirectly deny the Confucian abdication.

‘Emperor Danzhu’.

Danzhu is the son of Emperor Yao. He is Emperor Danzhu, which means that after Emperor Yao died, Emperor Danzhu succeeded to the throne.

Then for some reason, after Emperor Danzhu, Emperor Shun succeeded to the throne.

Why after Confucianism was promoted, all dynasties recorded that Emperor Yao abdicated to Emperor Shun?

First of all, Emperor Yao, Emperor Danzhu, and Emperor Shun, these three people, have almost no achievements in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Early authors wrote about the various achievements of various emperors, inventing this, creating that, this miracle, that miracle, deification, immortality, flying, and changing nature.

When it comes to these three emperors, they have almost no achievements?

Or is it because the records about Yao, Shun, and Yu are too subversive in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, so Liu Xin deleted them?

Let's just assume that Emperors Yao and Shun have no achievements.

According to my guess, since Zhuanxu's connection between heaven and earth, those who become emperors are no longer mythical people with great merits, but look at who has the most support.

It's no longer about "heaven's will". After Zhuanxu, heaven's will became people's hearts.

Zhuanxu's actions led to the supremacy of imperial power over divine power, politics over religion, and interests over faith. This idea has been one of the most core humanistic ideas in China for the next four thousand years, and it has been imprinted in our bones.

I'm doing well, it's really an eye-opener for God. I'm not doing well because God has no eyes for me.

Egypt has historical records that there were countless sacrifices to depose the pharaoh, not to mention India. Religious people are the best people. The highest **** is the caliph, the religious leader who governs everything secular.

But in China, emperors can also serve as religious leaders, but religious leaders can never overpower the emperor.

Whoever becomes the emperor is in the best interest of the clan and will win the hearts of the people.

It's not just abdication, it's probably a combination of hereditary, designated, and voting.

The first person to propose abdication was probably Confucius.

Confucius praised Yao, Shun and Yu all his life, saying that they were benevolent, courteous, good at employing people, frugal and self-denial, in short, he talked about a lot of virtues.

However, Confucius did not write down the abdication...

This is very strange. Confucius praised Yao, Shun, and Yu all his life. Why didn't Confucius put the greatest virtue of surrendering the world to people on the bamboo slips?

Of course, later generations say that Confucius often talked about Yao and Shun's abdication, so he probably really said it.

But Confucius didn't write the rites of Yao and Shun in the "Spring and Autumn" and "Book of Changes". Maybe... he didn't dare?

Even though he restored the Zhou rites, no one paid attention to his political opinions, so that he had been homeless for half his life, let alone proposed to abdicate?

I'm afraid it can't be reused anymore!

In order to be reused by the monarch, promote Confucianism, and reorganize rituals and music, Confucius, apart from telling his disciples that Yao and Shun abdicated, only praised Yao and Shun on the bamboo slips, but never detailed the specific achievements of Yao and Shun.

Let me tell you, it’s okay if you write it, the princes won’t care, can it still change the world? Confucius was too cautious.

So, who was the first person to write down the abdication of Yao and Shun in his works without caring about the opinions of the princes?

Mozi.

After Confucius, Mozi's disciples wrote Mozi's words and deeds into the book "Mozi".

Among them, the article "Shang Xian" mentioned: "In ancient times, Shun plowed in Lishan, Taohe River, and fished in Lei Ze. Yao got the sun from the lake and raised him as the emperor. He took over the government of the world and ruled the people of the world."

As you can see from the title, "Shangxian Xian" is based on the deeds of Emperor Yao to express Mozi's opinion that the monarch should cherish the virtuous and thirst for talents.

Mozi's idea of ​​favoring the wise was extremely rebellious at the time. He believed that not only high-ranking officials such as the Three Dukes should be selected to be worthy, but even the emperor should select the most sage.

Awesome, if he hadn't been able to defend the city and be good at making military equipment, this man would have been suppressed in a miserable life.

Things must not come out of nothing, Confucius talked about it, and "Mozi" was put into bamboo slips.

Did Yao really give in to Shun?

This question was also asked by Mencius: "How did Yao compare the world to Shun?"

This means that Yao gave up the world to Shun. Is this true?

Mencius replied: "No, the emperor cannot treat others with the world."

Translation: Shut up! Old thief with gray beard! How can the emperor give up the world to others!

The man asked again: "If Shun has the world, who will succeed him?"

The meaning is: It's strange, but Shun conquered the world. He was not Emperor Yao's son, who gave it to him?

Mencius said: "Heaven is with it."

Translation: Destiny lies with Shun!

This is acting like a hooligan. Mencius has an explanation for this: "The emperor can recommend people to heaven, but he cannot make heaven and the world... In the past, Yao recommended Shun to people, and heaven accepted it, and violently punished the people, and the people Accept it... Yao died, and after three years of mourning, Shun avoided Yao's son to the south of the Nanhe River. The princes of the world came to pay homage to Shun instead of Yao's son; Instead of praising Yao's son, he praising Shun, so he said, "Heaven, I will come to China and practice the throne of the Son of Heaven."

It's very long, and it roughly means: The emperor can recommend suitable people, but he cannot directly give up the world to others. Yao recommended Shun back then, and Heaven approved it. It was also announced to all people in the world, and the people also approved it. After Yao's death, Shun stayed in mourning for three years, avoiding Yao's son Danzhu and running to the south of Nanhe. As a result, the leaders of various tribes did not pay homage to Danzhu, but paid homage to Shun. For matters that should be judged according to law, Danzhu was not asked to be judged, but Shun was judged. Everyone did not praise Danzhu, but praised Shun. So he said: This is God's will, so Shun later took over the central kingdom and sat on the throne.

Wow, Wang Mang turned out to be following Shun.

In fact, Mencius here indirectly denies Yao's surrender to Shun, because after Yao's death, Shun kept filial piety for three years, and then stayed away from Yao's son, left the capital, and went to the south of Nanhe to stay. He probably took the initiative to let himself go. .

Wise people, avoid their sharp edges, accumulate popular support, and eventually ascend to the throne of God.

Mencius was rather tactful and did not directly refute the abdication statement.

But when it comes to Xunzi, he is very strong.

"Xunzi": "The husband said that Yao and Shun abdicated, which is just empty words, a superficial biography, and a crude statement."

The meaning is very clear: you people always want to make big news! It is pure nonsense to say that Yao and Zen gave way to Shun! It's a bunch of shallow people spreading nonsense, a bunch of ridiculous people talking nonsense!

Xunzi was still fierce, directly refuting one of the most fundamental theoretical foundations of Confucianism later, Yao, Zen, and Shun.

This person is still very objective. Confucius has been preaching the rule of three generations all his life, saying that the ancient times were so good, but now the great road has collapsed. Cheng Tang and King Wen were both destined by heaven, while Xia Jie and Shang Zhou were both abandoned by heaven because they did not practice virtue.

As a result, Xunzi came up with a sentence: Heaven's behavior is always constant, and it will not exist for Yao and will not perish for Jie.

upright!

The 322 chapters of "Xunzi" deserved to be compiled by Liu Xin into 32 chapters.

It was Sima Qian's historical records that really began to officially determine Yao, Zen, and Shun, and they were full of details. After the Han Dynasty, it became even more exaggerated. Yao and Shun became more and more impressive, and there were more and more details.

In addition, throughout the dynasties, there are also documents that disagree with Yao's surrender to Shun, saying that Shun actually imprisoned Yao or something.

It can be said that the official acknowledges it, but the public has been questioning it. I won’t go into details, because the Confucian kind of virtue-based concession is really unrealistic.

There is no need to continue the argument on whether it is true abdication.

but!

At this point, I feel that it is not possible to just deny the existence of abdication.

Because everything happens for a reason! Why did Confucius want Yao and Shun to abdicate? Do you think it was for political purposes?

No, it’s Mozi for political purposes! So I wrote it down.

Confucius deliberately did not let anyone remember it, which shows that he really wanted to say this, but he did not dare, because the academic people in the society at that time had a clear mind and knew the truth of the matter.

If he had memorized it, he would not have to wait for Xunzi to criticize him more than two hundred years later. Countless people would criticize him at that time.

So he didn't write it. Since it wasn't for political purposes, why did he think Yao and Shun abdicated?

Once upon a time, I wronged Confucius and felt that he had made up the abdication of Yao and Shun.

Until one day, I found the earliest clear document in history, the first monarch to truly abdicate.

It was earlier than Wang Mang's period, during the Warring States Period, King Yan's Kuai.

It is not known when he was born, but this man succeeded to the throne about one hundred and sixty years after the death of Confucius, and about seventy years after the death of Mozi.

This person is extremely 'virtuous' and 'benevolent'. If you don't care about your children's happiness, you won't listen to the sound of bells and stones, you won't pollute the ponds, terraces and pavilions inside, you won't go hunting in the fields outside, and you will work the land to build the house.

To put it bluntly, this man was frugal and practiced hard. He never held large banquets or pavilions, nor did he lead troops to hunt or disturb the people. He was not greedy for pleasure at all, and he often farmed the land himself!

Such a person should have been a wise king, and everyone in the government spoke highly of him. However, he did something that almost destroyed the Yan Kingdom.

King Kuai of Yan ceded the country to his prime minister, Zi Zhi.

This then triggered a civil war, and the prince directly rebelled, but was defeated. Is it okay to give in? The State of Qi directly used this as a reason. Soon after, it launched an army to defeat the State of Yan, killed King Kuai of Yan and "Zizhi", and supported King Kuai of Yan's youngest son to succeed to the throne.

Do you know what modern people say about him? It is said that King Kuai of Yan was deceived by the Confucians. He really believed in Yao, Zen and Shun.

Historically, the evaluation of this person has been the same as ridiculing Song Xianggong, mocking him for his mental flaws.

I originally thought so, until I carefully checked the historical data, and suddenly an idea flashed.

Another possibility emerged that almost no one in the mainstream was aware of.

First of all, King Kuai of Yan actually had no intention of abdicating. You can see that this person has a very high sense of morality.

In fact, morality is also a kind of desire. He is the kind of reputation seeker who wants to be recognized and worshiped by others, and to have people look up to him for his noble virtues.

To put it bluntly, showman!

King Yan went to farm in person? Anyone with a discerning eye can see what it means, but it has to be said that it is very creative. Later, many kings throughout the dynasties followed his example of farming... to show that they love their children as much as their children and value farming.

But although he is a showman, he is not a fool. demise? Are you kidding?

So why did he give in?

I found out that it was because at that time, a man named Lu Maoshou gave him an idea: "It is better to surrender the country to the Prime Minister. People call Yao a sage, because he gave the world to Xu You, and Xu You did not accept it. Let the name of the world be preserved without losing the world. Now that the king has surrendered the country to his son, he will not dare to accept it. This is how the king went with Yao."

The meaning is: you give up the country to the prime minister. Everyone says that the reason why Emperor Yao is so virtuous is that Emperor Yao wants to give up the world to Xu You, but Xu You doesn't want it. So Emperor Yao has a good reputation of giving up the world, but he doesn't. In fact, the world has not been lost. Now that King Yan has given up the country to the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister will definitely not dare to accept it! In this way, aren't you, King Yan, just like Emperor Yao, a person of the highest virtue?

Tianxiu!

To put it bluntly, talking about giving in is actually just waiting for others to refuse and gain reputation.

King Yan thought it was worth doing. Of course, he was not a fool. It would definitely not work to give in just by saying something from others. What if someone accepts it?

So another person said to him: "Yu recommended Yi, and he already appointed Qi as an official. When he was old, and Qi was not enough, he left it to the world, and passed it on to benefit. Now Qi and Yu turned it over to the party to attack Yi and seize it. The world It is said that Yu's name is spread to the world for benefit, and he has actually taken it from himself. Now the king says that the country belongs to the son, and the officials are only the prince's people. This is the name that belongs to the son, but the prince is in charge."

This paragraph is complicated, but the meaning is actually very simple: Dayu recommended Boyi to succeed, but he appointed his son Xia Qi as an official. When he was about to die, Yu said that Xia Qi was not enough to take over the world, so he passed the throne to Boyi. As a result, all the civil and military officials in the dynasty belonged to Xia Qi. Xia Qi directly led his followers to attack Boyi and conquer the world. So the world spread the news about Yu's great virtues, saying that he passed the throne to Boyi. The reason why Xia Qi succeeded to the throne in the end was because Xia Qi took the world by himself, which was against Yu's wishes, and it was not Yu's fault.

Now, King Yan, you have abdicated the throne to the prime minister, but the whole court is full of the prince's people. It's just that the throne is passed to the prime minister on the surface, but in fact it's still the prince's.

King Yan Kuai heard it, perfect!

So he did it, and when he was old, he gave up the throne to the prime minister due to old age, and then I also said the result.

Prime Minister Zizhi accepted it calmly! Inherit the throne!

King Yan Kuai was dumbfounded...

But it doesn't matter! There is a double insurance! The prince comes!

The prince rebelled and was defeated...

King Yan Kuai was completely confused.

So far, the situation was out of control. In the end, Qi took advantage of the situation and almost destroyed Yan. Although it supported King Yan Kuai's youngest son to succeed to the throne, Yan could not raise its head in front of Qi. It became a vassal and had no autonomy. It existed in name only until Su Qin... I'm getting off topic.

In short, the reason why King Yan Kuai failed was actually the calculation of Prime Minister Zizhi.

The prime minister knew King Yan Kuai very well and catered to his preferences. He was already powerful in the court. The reason why he could sit on the position of prime minister was that King Kuai of Yan thought he was also a person of great virtue, and the prime minister was also very good at showmanship.

Many people in Yan State who seemed to be the prince were actually the prime minister's people in secret.

The two people who came up with the idea were also the prime minister's people. The result was obvious, the king of Yan was played to death.

The prime minister had everything, but in fact he only lacked a title. Unfortunately, in that era, this title was a gap like a chasm!

He was not a royal family after all!

Although Zizhi was successful, he could not withstand the interference of foreign forces. Qi State raised troops to fight against him, maintain the orthodox order of the royal family, and maintain class interests, making all his calculations a joke.

Returning to Yao and Shun, King Kuai of Yan was cheated. The key is that there is a precedent. Emperor Yao gave up the world, and Yu also gave up the world.

In other words, it really happened, not just Confucianism said so.

Emperor Yao gave up the world, the other party did not accept it, but Emperor Yao's virtues spread.

Emperor Yu gave up the world, really gave it up! But what kind of person is Emperor Yu? I give you the world, you can't sit still!

In summary, even in the period of King Kuai of Yan during the Warring States Period, people did not think that Yao and Shun were the kind of abdication that Confucianists later said.

The Confucian idea of ​​giving way to the world was a very niche concept at the time.

In this way, looking back at "Mozi", I found that it did not explicitly mention abdication.

"Mozi·Shangxian": "In ancient times, Shun cultivated in Lishan, Taohe River, and fished in Leize. Yao got him on the south side of Fuze and promoted him to be the emperor, and let him take over the politics of the world and rule the people of the world."

It means that Emperor Yao recommended Emperor Shun as the emperor, and wanted to hand over the politics of the world to him and let him rule the people of the world.

The word "promote as the emperor" is used, "promote"! That is to recommend.

It's just that Emperor Yao wanted to give the world to Shun. He just wanted to do this.

Then, that's it, what's next? Did he give it to him? Mozi didn't say it.

According to the purpose of the article Shangxian, if Yao really abdicated, then he should have mentioned something like "Shun got the world, and the people were all submissive" and then boasted about how well Shun governed the country, so as to contrast that Emperor Yao's "Shangxian" was right.

Then he proved that Mozi advocated Shangxian.

Right, everyone should understand this logic, right?

After all, the purpose of the book Shangxian is to promote this. So after Emperor Yao gave up the world, Mozi should have written about the benefits brought by this action.

Otherwise, how could he convince the monarchs of the Warring States Period to respect the virtuous?

However, no, Mozi did not write at all.

From this, we can see that what was written in the front is not made up, because if you want to make it up, you should make up the whole set, and make up the benefits later!

Combined with the incident of King Kuai of Yan, can we think that in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a general perception about the affairs of Yao and Shun, that is, Yao did not really abdicate the world to Shun, but was just putting on a show.

Of course, it cannot be said to be a show on the surface, but some intellectuals knew it in their hearts, and they still had to say how great Yao was.

After all, who knows if Emperor Yao really wanted to abdicate? Thousands of years ago, Mozi and Mencius didn't have the ability to read minds. What if Emperor Yao really wanted to abdicate?

It's just that the other party refused! You can't just say he didn't want to abdicate. How do we know what he thinks? Are you going to slander the ancient sage?

So at that time, there must be two schools of thought about Emperor Yao's actions.

One school is the "really abdicate" school represented by Confucius.

He believed that Emperor Yao really abdicated, but "Xu You" and Shun didn't accept it, so he had no choice but to pass the throne to Danzhu. After that, Danzhu was really not good enough, and the people ran to the south of the Nanhe River and asked Shun to come back to take over the world.

Dayu was the same. He gave up the throne to Boyi. It was all because his son Xia Qi was ambitious and killed Boyi with his troops. This is the family world! It's all Xia Qi's fault!

The above is the view of the Confucius school.

Why didn't Confucius write about it? Because it was niche. At that time, in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period, most people didn't think so.

The other faction is the "fake concession" faction, which believes that Emperor Yao was just putting on a show! He deliberately said he was giving up the world, but he actually knew that the other party would not dare to accept it.

Remember the "Xu You" mentioned earlier?

This was a wise man in the Emperor Yao period, probably the earliest hermit. He was very talented, valued righteousness over profit, but was unwilling to join Emperor Yao's leadership team.

There is an idiom about Xu You called "washing ears with Ying River".

It means: when Emperor Yao was old, he sent someone to invite Xu You, saying that he would give up the world to him, Xu You flatly refused, and felt insulted, so he washed his ears with the water of Ying River.

It expresses Xu You's indifference to fame and fortune, while Emperor Yao was eager to seek talents...

Well, well, well, in short, the "give-up" faction during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods believed that Emperor Yao was a man who flaunted his virtues everywhere.

He knew that Xu You would not accept it, so he deliberately offered to give up his throne to Xu You to gain a good reputation.

He also knew that Shun would not accept it, so he deliberately offered to give up his throne to Shun in order to gain a good reputation.

This is actually equivalent to: "Young man, do your best, and after I die, you will be the emperor!"

"Well done, if you work harder, you are worthy of it. I will definitely pass the throne to you in the future!"

In this way, just like a boss motivating his employees, Di Yao controlled his subordinates while gaining popularity.

Of course, Di Yao must have played his cards very well, and he chose people who he could tell were unlikely to accept his concession.

Xu You was indifferent to fame and fortune, and Shun was extremely filial. Yao saw them both clearly, so he dared to play like this.

My personal guess is that Xu You probably also saw through Emperor Yao. Before that, Emperor Yao had used various other tricks, so when Xu You heard that Emperor Yao had given up his throne to him, he felt insulted and ran away. Go wash your ears.

Haha, just guessing.

In addition, during the Warring States Period, the pretenders believed that Dayu also pretended to make concessions. Although he really allowed Boyi to succeed, he was destroyed by Xia Qi in an instant without even a bubble emerging.

Historically, Boyi could not even reach the throne of emperor. After Xia Qi came to the throne, he directly wiped out Boyi's deeds.

How is this possible? Boyi is so weak?

Dayu must have saved a trick. Dayu played the game better than Emperor Yao. On the basis of Emperor Yao, he made a wave of counter-routines and gave way on the surface. In fact, everyone was Xia Qi's people. When he died, Of course Xia Qi refused to accept it, and directly raised troops to destroy Boyi, destroying everything, and then the world still belonged to his Xia family.

The above is the two schools of understanding of the Warring States Period that I deduced based on the reasons why King Kuai of Yan abdicated and the statements of Mozi, Confucius, Xunzi, Mencius and others.

Among them, the false concession faction is the mainstream, while the true concession faction is a minority.

In fact, Confucius may not really feel that Emperor Yao really abdicated the throne. He just deliberately supported Emperor Yao's statement and wanted to show that at that time, "rituals were broken and music was broken!" Look at how simple the ancient times were, why are you so blindly speculating about the Holy King? He obviously means it sincerely, but you insist on saying that he is just putting on a show, and that he is just a villain! Why has society fallen into this state now? Is there no room for a gentleman at all? ’

Confucius wanted to restore Zhou Rites, so he had to advocate that the more ancient the life, the better, the more ancient the king, the wiser, and the more ancient the society, the more moral.

If we want to understand what Yao, Shun, and Yu were like in ancient times, we must first understand what they were like during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Then, by reasoning back and based on the laws and trends of their evolution, we can get a rough picture of the original appearance of the Three Emperors in ancient times.

The earliest person who can be found to evaluate Yao, Shun, and Yu was Confucius.

Confucius said: "How great Yao is as a king! How great! Only Heaven is great, and only Yao rules it. How great! The people are incapable of naming it. How great it is that it has success, and it is brilliant that it has articles!"

I'm too lazy to translate it carefully. Anyway, I'm bragging, he's so great! It seems like a tiny person facing the vast sky!

What a great man this is. His rule will definitely make the people no longer feel the existence of rule. All people can live so freely and naturally. This supreme virtue cannot be expressed in any words!

ah! Shining brightly!

Confucius used a tone of admiration from the heart to set off Emperor Yao's "beauty of personality" which is impressive!

Yes, it's so beautiful, so what are his achievements?

I still mentioned one thing, that is, Yao established etiquette. There is an article written by Huanhu, which refers to "ritual".

In other words, in the eyes of Confucius, Yao did nothing but etiquette, and all that was left was 'virtue'!

Got it, this is a charismatic king! What was built was an empire of prestige.

This kind of virtue, this kind of personality charm, coupled with tall, gorgeous and civilized etiquette, this was the core competitiveness of governing the world during the reign of Emperor Yao.

Remember this concept, because even Confucius only thinks so, it means that Emperor Yao has reached the top, and the highest level is to use things like reputation, virtue, and personality charm to stabilize all the forces in the world and make all people obey him. There is no other merit.

Reversely, the upper limit of Emperor Yao in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is this, and there will be no other important achievements.

So next is Shun.

Shun had five ministers and ruled the world. King Wu said: "I have ten rebellious ministers." Confucius said: "It is difficult to be talented, isn't it? During the Tang and Yu periods, this was the most prosperous. There were only nine women. There were only two of them in the three-thirds of the world. Serving the Yin Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty can be said to be the highest virtue."

Translated, it means that Emperor Shun had five virtuous ministers, and the world was governed. King Wu said: "I have ten ministers who can govern the world." Confucius said: "Talents are rare, isn't it? In the eras of Yao and Shun of Tang Dynasty and King Wu of Zhou Dynasty, talents were most prosperous. However, among the ten talents of King Wu, one of them was talented enough to govern the country. They were still women, so there were actually only nine of them. King Wen of Zhou obtained two-thirds of the world and still served the Yin Dynasty. This kind of virtue in the Zhou Dynasty can be said to be the highest virtue in the legend. "

What does Confucius mean? It's very simple. He said that Shun was good at employing people and was a managerial monarch!

Combined with Confucius' praise of Emperor Shun's filial piety, and the fact that Emperor Shun was a poor loser when he was a child, with a stubborn father and a mother who was arrogant to his younger brother, Shun was often marginalized and framed. How could he still be a perfect filial son? How high could his emotional intelligence be?

We can roughly understand that Shun was capable, good at employing people, broad-minded and flexible.

Compared to Emperor Yao's reputation, Emperor Shun is an emotionally intelligent player. He knows how to refuse and give up Emperor Yao's abdication. When he refuses, he probably speaks sincerely and gives Emperor Yao special face in his words. He also always helps Emperor Yao improve his reputation, which has a great auxiliary role in Emperor Yao's rule.

So Emperor Yao likes Shun very much, and always uses Shun to brush virtue. This also gives Shun more political capital.

Remember this concept, even Confucius did not bring out any actual merits of Emperor Shun, which shows that Emperor Shun is the top, and he only knows how to use people and dance with long sleeves!

I speculate that Shun was probably a person who was kind to others in the Shanhaijing era, and had a very good relationship with colleagues and subordinates, and had a very high emotional intelligence.

So he was good at using people. Which great people did he control? There are many, but the most famous one is of course Dayu.

Finally, what is the evaluation of Yu?

Confucius said: "Yu, I have no fault with him. He ate simple food and drank simple food, but he was filial to the gods and ghosts. He wore simple clothes, but he wore beautiful clothes. He lived in a humble palace, but he worked hard to inspect the ditches and personally controlled the water. Yu, I have no fault with him."

Translated, Yu, impeccable. He ate simple food and drank simple food, but he offered rich sacrifices to his ancestors. He wore simple clothes, but he wore beautiful clothes. He lived in a humble palace, but he worked hard to inspect the ditches and personally controlled the water. Yu, impeccable.

After the charismatic monarchs and the long-sleeved monarchs, finally came a monarch who worked hard to build the country.

Note that ancestor worship cannot be omitted. From our modern values, we may think why this thing is so rich?

But in ancient times, even in ancient times, ancestor worship was the top priority. The major affairs of the country are sacrifice and war.

According to Confucius's cognition, we can infer that in ancient times, this was a king who climbed to the top step by step and sweated.

He may not have a high-end etiquette image, and may even be very vulgar. He may not have a likable interpersonal relationship, and may not even be good at speaking.

He does not know etiquette, is not good at speaking, and may have an ordinary appearance. He may even be the descendant of Gun, a criminal minister.

He wants to reorganize his family and restore the glory of his ancestor Zhuanxu... Yes, Dayu is also a descendant of Zhuanxu.

How can one stand out?

Dayu understands a truth: Emperor Yao has spent his whole life building up his reputation, and Emperor Shun has spent his whole life winning people's hearts. Their countless small things combined are not as good as doing one big thing by himself!

Conquered the Yellow River.

Note that these are the "upper limits" of the three emperors. In retrospect, the actual situation may be worse than these three evaluations.

But the basic character setting is there, and the framework is still the same.

In summary, the clues of the character setting have been collected, and combined with "Classic of Mountains and Seas", Yao's son Danzhu is called Emperor Danzhu.

We can infer that during the time of Emperor Yao, the people's customs were still simple, and Emperor Yao was good at creating major events and showing his presence. Many clan leaders worshipped him and respected him highly.

He said he wanted to pass the world to Shun, but Shun was not a fool and refused without hesitation.

Emperor Yao felt that he could use him and felt that he could control this person.

Later, Yao got older and older, and gradually lost his perfect control over the clans in various places, while Shun had a very good relationship with each clan, and had many achievements and a high reputation.

Of course, there were still a group of clans standing on Danzhu's side.

One day when Emperor Yao felt that his time was running out, Yao summoned Shun.

He once again abdicated to Shun, saying that Danzhu was not worthy of being entrusted, and he wanted to give the world to Shun.

At this moment, Yao had the intention to kill.

As long as he felt that Shun really had this idea, Shun would have to die on the spot.

It was a bit like entrusting an orphan in Baidicheng: "After I die, Danzhu is not worthy of entrusting the world, and he can take his place."

I made up in my mind, this is probably what it meant.

However, with Shun's emotional intelligence, how could he not realize that if he had the slightest intention, he would be "drowned in the Yellow River" when he went out.

Shun must have perfectly resolved this wave of temptations, and his sincerity made Emperor Yao feel that he was really a good child, and then he felt relieved.

Not long after, Emperor Yao died and the funeral was over.

The election of the common leader of the world began.

If Emperor Yao only designated one person, then there was no need to recommend that person, and he would be the one directly. If he did not designate, it would be his son.

Emperor Yao designated at least three people during his lifetime, Danzhu, Xu You, and Shun.

So in theory, the new emperor should be chosen from these three people.

Why do I say this? First of all, Emperor Yao must be able to designate a successor. If his designation does not count, and in the end it is a public election by a large group of people, who can choose anyone at will, then his recommendation-style reputation brushing of "appointing him as the emperor" is meaningless.

Emperor Yao abdicated the world, and he must really be able to hand over the world to anyone. So people in the world think that Emperor Yao is too great.

Therefore, one of the rules for the election of the common leader of the world must be that if there is only one designated successor, this person will directly succeed to the throne.

But from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, we know that Emperor Yao's son Danzhu became emperor.

So there must be another Danzhu among the nominees.

In fact, I added Xu You just to respect the view of the Warring States period. Anyway, it is not important. No one chose him, so he was just a hermit.

So among the three candidates, excluding Xu You who made up the numbers, who should be chosen for the other two?

From the "legal" point of view, the virtuous should be chosen. But from the social customs at that time, the son should inherit the father's business and choose the son.

Why did the mainstream at that time choose the son?

It's very simple. Abdicating the world to others can be considered a great virtue, which itself proves that it is "not right" to give it to others.

Confucius and other Confucian scholars of later generations praised Yao's succession to Shun. In fact, it shows that the ancient emperors all inherited their father's business. Suddenly, Yao gave the world to Shun instead of his son, which is the basis for the praise.

In ancient times, Yao could use the "appointment as the Son of Heaven" to improve his reputation by recommending others to inherit his throne. This shows that abdication is very rare.

Other ministers and tribal chiefs who participated in the vote would first think that Yao should pass the throne to his son, and it is natural, so they would admire Yao for recommending others.

Take a closer look at the previous emperors of all dynasties. Huangdi, Zhuanxu, and Emperor Ku were all Ji, and Yao also had the surname Ji.

In fact, the family empire was not created by Dayu and Xia Qi at all. It was completely blamed. The family empire started with Huangdi.

Therefore, Yao, who was surnamed Ji, recommended Shun, who was of a different surname, to succeed him, which was so shocking at the time, and his reputation soared, and everyone praised Yao's virtues.

Therefore, in ancient times, hereditary succession was preferred, and the son's character, ability and reputation, as long as it was reasonable, would definitely be passed on to the son.

Secondly, voting, the major tribes can nominate other candidates, and the emperor himself can also nominate others.

After that, everyone votes for one from the emperor's son and other candidates.

Everyone understands this vote, so it is customary to vote for the emperor's son. It's just that the "law" allows them to vote for others.

So should we choose Danzhu or Shun?

At this moment, Shun must have a considerable force that can threaten Danzhu's succession, but Emperor Yao did not kill him, which means that there is still a little short of it, and there are more people supporting Danzhu.

In this regard, Shun wisely chose to withdraw directly and mourn for Emperor Yao for three years!

Let Danzhu easily succeed to the throne and be called Emperor Danzhu.

But because Shun withdrew and was mourning for the previous emperor, Danzhu could not conflict with him, and could not find any faults to weaken Shun's reputation, and Danzhu might not be capable.

So Shun's power is still very large. Although Danzhu is the common ruler of the world, 30% to 40% of the forces in the world actually listen to Shun!

These clan leaders may be very dissatisfied with Danzhu, and Danzhu is not very good at building good relationships, so after three years, Danzhu has achieved nothing! He is not good at anything.

Think about it, among his subordinates, 30% to 40% are competitors, what great things can he accomplish?

At the end of the three-year period, although Shun gave up the election for the throne, he retreated to advance, and his power was even greater than three years ago.

However, Shun was still humble and harmonious, respected Emperor Danzhu very much, and sent himself away from the imperial capital, the center of the political vortex, to work in the south of the Nanhe River.

In the eyes of outsiders, Emperor Danzhu may be pressing step by step, while Shun is giving in step by step.

For who knows how many years, Emperor Danzhu has achieved nothing, and may even have messed up a lot of things.

Shun did a lot of things in the south of the Nanhe River, treated people kindly, and even mediated many clan conflicts and helped many leaders.

So Shun's power became more and more powerful, and finally Emperor Danzhu messed up a slightly bigger thing, which became the fuse.

Many clan leaders wanted to dismiss Emperor Danzhu, bring Shun back, and ask him to be emperor.

Shun declined, and finally found that everyone felt the same way, so he could only sigh that it was destiny. How could I, a chieftain in Henan, become the common ruler of the world? He succeeded to the throne and exiled Danzhu's clan to a remote place.

A king who played with people's hearts.

Note that I did not adopt the "Bamboo Annals" here: "Shun imprisoned Yao, and blocked Danzhu again, so that he could not meet his father."

This statement is inconsistent with the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

If Shun really had strong wings, he would have imprisoned Yao while he was alive, and then exiled Danzhu.

Then why was there the "Emperor Danzhu Platform"?

So Danzhu must have been an emperor for a period of time, and the time was not short, at least not as short as that of Bo Yi later, who was only an emperor for dozens of days at most.

Shun was good at using people and had a very high emotional intelligence. This was his most original and simple image and ability.

Such a person, who had no great achievements, how could he directly imprison Yao, who had a charismatic personality in the previous generation?

There were so many clan leaders, and they were not Shun's slaves. If they felt that Shun was a hypocrite, people would inevitably be demoralized.

Judging from Shun's final success, he was a figure of Wang Mang's level, or Wang Mang completely imitated him.

In addition, Wang Mang was not as good as him, and Wang Mang finally played himself out.

And Shun's personality has never collapsed. No matter what a person thinks, as long as he can maintain a good relationship with others for his whole life and be praised by others, then he is such a person, and it doesn't matter what he actually uses this to gain in his heart. It doesn't matter. If he pretends for a lifetime, then it's true.

Shun did not do anything big, mainly because he did a good job in internal affairs and reformed and subdivided many official positions.

His greatest achievement during his reign was to govern the Yellow River, but the Yellow River was governed by Yu, which means that he was really good at using people.

Yu worked hard and wanted to accomplish this great thing and revive the family.

After countless hard work and sweat, he finally completed the flood control, and his prestige reached its peak.

And Shun did not insist on passing the throne to his son. He maintained his personality for a lifetime and did not collapse until his death.

Maybe he still recommended his son and wanted to pass the throne to his son.

But he did not want his son to die in the bloody struggle, so he also designated Dayu.

After all, Dayu's contribution was too great.

In the final vote, Dayu easily won, and there were too many people supporting him.

So far, it can be said that Shun was a smart man. He used emotional intelligence to become an emperor and finally completed a good end.

This time, I did not adopt some non-mainstream statements of later generations: Shun forced Yao, Yu forced Shun, Tang released Jie, and King Wu defeated Zhou. These four kings were ministers who killed their kings.

I think this is unrealistic. Writing about Shun and Yu killing their kings, writing that they were actually very despicable, must have political purposes.

Yes, I stood on the mainstream statement this time.

Given the character setting, it is impossible for Shun to betray Yao during his lifetime.

He went from a commoner to the pinnacle of his life, of course, relying on himself, but without Yao's appreciation, Shun could not have made a name for himself.

Yao married his daughter to him, granted him the bank of the Guishui River, and gave Shun the vassal-level surname "Gui".

Shun could let down the people of the world, but he could not let down Emperor Yao.

Just like Toyotomi Hideyoshi, if Oda Nobunaga had not died, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would not have become a "world man". He started as a farmer and was supported by Oda Nobunaga. Behind Hideyoshi's legend of success, Oda Nobunaga's grace was as heavy as a mountain!

Shun forced Yao, and exiled Danzhu? Funny?

Shun was also a commoner, but was appreciated by Emperor Yao and helped to rise step by step.

If he imprisoned Yao and exiled Danzhu, his personality would collapse and Shun would not be able to command the world.

No one would believe him anymore. A person who can harm even his greatest benefactor, can such a person be followed?

No matter how powerful he is, no matter how great his achievements are, Shun cannot let Yao down, otherwise the world will stay away from him, especially when Yao's reputation is already very good.

The same is true for Yu.

Although Yu is the eldest son, he was born with the noble surname Si.

The clan of Yu's father Gun is one of the four sins. Yu belongs to the sin clan, which is at the same level as the descendants of Chiyou, Sanmiao, which is equivalent to being exiled due to the sins of his father.

Have you ever heard the story of Dayu controlling the flood? Have you ever wondered why Gun failed to control the flood and was killed, and then let his son, Yu, continue to control the flood?

Generally speaking, shouldn't someone else be replaced to control the flood?

The emperor appointed a governor for flood control, and this person messed up the matter and was executed for his crime. Could he send his son to succeed him as governor for flood control?

Many people have a misunderstanding that when there is a flood, people are sent to control the flood.

Actually, it is impossible. Flood is just a cause. It is impossible to control the flood when it is happening. It is not modern. Only in 1993 was there a flood, and they tried their best to block it.

In fact, there was a long time between Gun's flood control and Yu's flood control. And each of them controlled the flood for more than ten years.

Gun controlled the flood for ten years, but there was another particularly large flood, so he was killed.

During Shun's reign, the Yellow River started to cause trouble again, and he promoted Yu to control the flood, which was a great favor.

Yu was the son of a guilty minister and an exile, but he was sent to control the flood. It was all Shun's appreciation.

Without Shun's appreciation, Yu would not have had this opportunity at all.

Yu controlled the flood for twenty years, and I am afraid he was questioned countless times during that time. Without Shun's support and trust, there would be no great achievements of Yu.

This is similar to Zheng He. Zheng He was from the exiled clan. It was Emperor Yongle who appreciated him, castrated him and used him for his own use. He continued to train him and sent him to the West seven times, and his name went down in history. Zheng He was loyal all his life. Even if he held military power and could conquer a country overseas, he never thought of betraying Zhu Di. Because without Zhu Di, there would be no Zheng He.

Humans are social animals. There are some things that cannot be done. If they are done, this society will not tolerate them. Especially in ancient times.

It is not a random saying that those who are righteous will have many supporters and those who are unrighteous will have few supporters.

Small favors and "receive the emperor's grace for generations" are still good. If the monarch is not virtuous, you will rebel.

But you must never betray the person who promoted you from humble beginnings to heaven.

It is not a question of whether you want to or not. Maybe Yu wanted to be an emperor. It is not a matter of whether he can do it or not. Yu must have been very powerful at that time because his achievements were so great that everyone obeyed him.

However, it is absolutely impossible to do such a thing as "forcing Shun". Anyone with a brain knows that if it is done, the world will be divided.

Who can believe him? You can harm the person who has done you the most favor, who else can you not harm?

You are not a god, you are just a nobody.

The basic base of Shun and Yu's virtue and reputation cannot be lost.

In summary, the Bamboo Annals: In the past, Yao's virtue declined and was imprisoned by Shun. Shun imprisoned Yao and blocked Dan Zhu again, so that he could not meet his father.

Nonsense, sensationalism.

Han Feizi said: Shun forced Yao, Yu forced Shun, Tang exiled Jie, and King Wu attacked Zhou. These four kings were ministers who killed their kings.

Changing the concept, only half right!

Cheng Tang may have exiled Jie, and King Wu must have attacked King Zhou of Shang.

Because Jie had no favor to Cheng Tang, Cheng Tang developed everything by himself, but Jie suppressed him instead.

Everything King Wu had was given by King Wen. King Wu had never met King Zhou, so why couldn't he attack him?

However, Yao, Shun and Yu were different in nature and concept.

Yao's cultivation of Shun was as high as the sky. Shun's appreciation of Yu was as deep as the sea.

Putting King Wu's attack on King Zhou together with them is just a substitution of concepts, deliberately making people think that the situation of Shun and Yu coming to power was the same as King Wu's attack on King Zhou.

In fact, it was far from that.

Shun was a smart man. Even if he really wanted to come to power, he had to wait until Yao died, and then use his emotional intelligence to make everyone support him.

Yu was also a smart man. He conquered the Yellow River, which was a great achievement. Countless people were willing to support him. Even if the world was not his, it was his. There was no need to use force.

This is the most reasonable situation.

To sum up, Yao knew that Shun would not accept the abdication, so he always recommended Shun to succeed him to improve his reputation, but in the end he passed it on to his son.

Shun, the first person to stand out in ancient times.

He had insight into people's hearts and the world, and he saw through everything in the world. He was good at dancing with long sleeves and had a very high emotional intelligence. When Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the throne, Shun was very humble all his life. In the end, he relied on the people's hearts and was crowned with a yellow robe by the people and pushed to the throne.

If you don't fight, you will fight. He did nothing, but in fact he did everything. He retreated to advance. He didn't need to force Yao or exile Danzhu. He did his own things well and built good interpersonal relationships, and the world would naturally be his.

Not to mention Dayu. I listed him in the Five Emperors, and you know how much I admire him. He is second only to Zhuanxu. He has a very large chapter in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and I will talk about him separately later.

In short, he was destined to be an emperor because of his benefit to the people and his achievements in flood control.

However, he worked hard all his life, not just for himself, but for his family.

His family was very concerned, so he finally abdicated to Boyi, but only used people from Xia Qi's faction.

So he abdicated to Boyi, but Boyi couldn't sit still! As soon as Dayu died, Xia Qi directly rebelled and seized the world.

So far, there is no more election in the world, and it is perfectly hereditary.

Shun may be really humble, but Yu must be very scheming.

Boyi was killed by Xia Qi as soon as he came to power. Behind this was the road paved by Yu for his son.

This is the routine of the ancient emperors.

In later generations, Wang Mang imitated Shun and usurped the Han Dynasty, but he did not end well.

Cao Cao imitated Yu, and when he died, Cao Pi replaced the Han Dynasty.

Whether it is Wang Mang, Cao Cao, or even various similar stories we are familiar with, there are already precedents in our civilization.

Everything we do, the ancients have already played. If you are familiar with history, you will know that all modern things, except for the ever-changing technology, are nothing new.

The nature of man... has never changed.

We are destined to be a nation that plays routines and power schemes.

After you have basically understood these, you can read Shanhaijing again.

Fourteen thousand words, this is the "introduction" of Yao, Shun and Yu, the extra chapter of the extra chapter...

As for the legends of Shun and Yu in Shanhaijing, there are! Shun has one, which is very imaginative. Yu has many, involving the entire Shanhaijing.

For example, Shanhaijing: "Shun Yi Dengbi gave birth to Xiaoming and Zhuguang, who lived in the river and the lake. The spirits of the two women could illuminate the area for a hundred miles."

For this paragraph, I have a wonderful interpretation.

But there is not enough space, so I can only talk about it in the next chapter. Because it is completely my personal imagination, it may be placed in the newly opened extra volume, which is a VIP chapter, sorry.

...

P.S: Sorry. There is no big imagination in this chapter, free. The more imaginative is the interpretation of Shun's only deeds recorded in Shanhaijing. I put it in the third volume, [Extra Volume], because it is completely my personal imagination and interpretation, so it is a VIP chapter. Sorry.