Chapter 5 4 Yao and Shun give way

Legend has it that after the Yellow Emperor, there were three well-known tribal alliance leaders named Yao (sound yao), Shun (sound shun) and Yu (sound yu).They were originally the leaders of a tribe, and were later elected as the leaders of the tribal alliance. At that time, as the leader of the tribal alliance, he had to discuss with the leaders of the tribes for any important matters. Yao was old and wanted to find someone to succeed him.Once, he summoned the leaders of the Sifang tribes to discuss. After Yao told his plan, a man named Fangqi said: "Your son Danzhu is an enlightened man, and he is very suitable to inherit your position."

Yao said solemnly: "No, this kid has bad morals and loves to quarrel with others." Another man named Huandou (sound huaudou) said: "The Gonggong in charge of water conservancy has done a pretty good job." Yao shook his head and said, "Gonggong can speak well, but he is respectful on the surface, but he has another way in his heart. I don't feel at ease with this type of person." This discussion was fruitless, and Yao continued to search for his successor.Once, he brought the leaders of the Sifang tribe to discuss and asked everyone to recommend them.Those who attended the meeting unanimously recommended Shun.

Yao nodded and said, "Oh! I also heard that this man is very good. Can you tell us about his deeds in detail?" Everyone explained Shun's situation: Shun's father was a thoroughly confused man, and people called him Gusou (pronounced gusou, which means blind old man).Shun's biological mother died early, and his stepmother was very bad.The stepmother's younger brother was named Xiang, and he was too arrogant to speak of, but Gusou doted on him very much.Shun lived in such a family and treated his parents and younger brother very well.Therefore, everyone thinks that Shun is a man of good conduct.

Yao was very happy to hear that, and decided to inspect Shun first.He married his two daughters, Ehuang and Nvying, to Shun. He also built a granary for Shun and gave him many cattle and sheep.When the stepmother and younger brother saw each other, they were envious and jealous at the same time, and together with Gusou, they tried to plot against Shun several times. Once, Gusou asked Shun to repair the roof of the granary.When Shun had climbed up to the roof of the barn by a ladder, Gusou set a fire underneath, intending to burn Shun to death.When Shun saw a fire on the roof of the warehouse, he wanted to find a ladder, but the ladder was nowhere to be found.Fortunately, Shun carried two hats for sun protection.Holding his hat in both hands, he jumped down like a bird spreading its wings.The hat fluttered in the wind, and Shun landed lightly on the ground without being injured at all.

Gusou and Xiang were not reconciled, so they asked Shun to dig the well again.After Shun jumped into the well, Gusou and Xiang threw lumps of earth and rocks on the ground to fill up the well, trying to bury Shun alive in it. Came out and went home safely again. Xiang didn't know that Shun had already escaped danger, so he returned home triumphantly, and said to Gusou, "This time, brother must be dead. I came up with this clever plan. Now we can divide brother's property." After that, he walked to the room where Shun lived, but he didn't know that when he entered the room, Shun was sitting by the bed and playing the piano.Xiang was secretly surprised, and said embarrassedly: "Hey, I miss you so much!"

Shun also pretended to be indifferent, and said, "You came just in time. I have a lot of things to do, and I need your help to take care of them." From then on, Shun still treated his parents and younger brother kindly and kindly as before, and Gusou and Xiang did not dare to plot against Shun again. Yao listened to Shun's deeds introduced by everyone, and after investigation, he thought that Shun was indeed a man of good moral character and ability, so he gave up the position of leader to Shun.This kind of abdication is called "Zen abdication" (Zen Yin shan) in history.In fact, in the period of the clan commune, when the tribal leader got old, it was not uncommon to use elections to elect a new leader.

After Shun took over the throne, he was also industrious and frugal, working like the common people, and was trusted by everyone.A few years later, Yao died, and Shun wanted to cede the position of leader of the tribal alliance to Yao's son Danzhu, but everyone disagreed.Shuncai officially became the leader.