Ancient China · Legendary Sage-King

Shun 重華

Chonghua

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 80
Chapters: 5
Histories: 4

Overview

Shun was a Legendary Sage-King.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Yu Shun	虞舜	Yu Shun
Alternate name	Yu	虞	Yu

Life and dates

Age

20
As of when famed for filial piety
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 167
30
As of when Yao sought officials
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 168

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passages 6, 10; Book of Jin 128, passages 61, 106; Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 102; Records of the Grand Historian 13, passage 265; New Book of Tang 178, passage 77

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Ancestor of Hu Gong Man (胡公滿)
descendant 之後
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 13, passage 113
Child of Gu Sou (瞽叟)
father 父
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 155, 157
Parent of Son of Shun (舜子)
father 父
son 子
Sources vary in certainty · Book of Chen 2, passage 44
Child of Gusou (瞽叟)
fathered 生 · paternal line
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 13, passage 269
Spouse of Elder daughter of Yao (堯長女)
married to 妻 · Marriage
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 108, 169
Spouse of Younger daughter of Yao (堯次女)
married to 妻 · Marriage
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 108, 169
Child of Birth mother of Shun (舜生母)
mother 母
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 157
Sibling of Xiang (象)
younger brother 弟 · Paternal half siblings
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 106, 157

Key source chapters

Career and standing

sage-king who danced with shields and axes 舞幹之聖王
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 77
Appointed
Regent · Authority Emperor Yao (帝堯)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 119, 143
Emperor Shun 帝舜
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 153

Places and affiliations

Polity Yu (legendary) 虞 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 77
At Ji region 冀州
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 161

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 153, 189, 213, 215-216, 218-223, 226, 230, 232-233, 235-236, 238, 240, 243-245

Events and relationships

Danced with shields and axes as civilizing model
Ritual · Exemplar
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 77
Survived granary fire
Personal · Victim · With Gu Sou (瞽叟)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 178-179
Survived well burial
Personal · Victim · With Gu Sou (瞽叟)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 180-181
Yielded toward Xia
Political · Exemplar
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passage 10
Relation Appointing superior of · Person Gao Yao (皋陶)
Directly stated · Book of Jin 128, passage 61

Assessments and attributes

Assessment dancing with shields and axes surpasses what Shuzi makes his task · Mode speaker-judgment Speaker Liu Fen (劉蕡)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 77
Assessment filial and able to harmonize a wicked household · Mode named-speaker Speaker Emperor Yao (帝堯)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 106

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passage 6; Book of Jin 128, passages 61, 106; Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 102
Value legendary
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 77
From Chonghua 重華 · To Emperor Shun 帝舜
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passages 153-154

References in the histories

Search passages

History

80 passages

Book of Chen, Chapter 2Volume 2: Emperor Wu 2 · 3 passages

放勛、重華之世，咸無意於受終，當塗、典午之君，雖有心於揖讓，皆以英才處萬乘，高勳御四海，故能大庇黔首，光宅區縣。 Yao and Shun took the throne without seeking it; the rulers of Wei and Jin, though they spoke of abdication, still set men of rare talent upon the throne and men of towering merit at the helm of the realm—thus they sheltered the people and brought order to the land.

既而煙雲表色，日月呈瑞，緯聚東井，龍見譙邦，除舊布新，既彰玄象，遷虞事夏，且協謳訟，[2]九域八荒，同布衷款，百神群祀，皆有誠願。 Then clouds and mist took auspicious hues; sun and moon showed signs; stars clustered at the Eastern Well; a dragon was seen in Qiao. The old order gave way to the new, and Heaven's signs were plain; as in the transfer from Shun to Yu, the people's acclaim agreed. [2] Within the nine provinces and beyond the eight directions, loyal petitions poured in; every spirit and rite was offered in earnest devotion.

梁氏以天祿斯改，期運永終，欽若唐、虞，推其鼎玉，朕東西退讓，拜手陳辭，避舜子於箕山之陽，求支伯於滄洲之野，而公卿敦逼，率土翹惶，天命難稽，遂享嘉祚。 The House of Liang, its mandate spent, its turn complete—like Tang and Yu they offered up the regalia. We yielded east and west, bowed with joined hands and pleaded our case, hiding like Shun's son on Mount Ji's sunny slope, seeking Zhibo on Cangzhou's wilds—but ministers pressed us and the realm looked up in dread. Heaven's mandate would not wait; thus We received the glorious throne.

Book of Jin, Chapter 128Volume 128 Records 28: Murong Chao · 2 passages

且虞舜大聖，猶命咎繇作士，刑之不可已已也如是！ “Even Shun set Gao Yao over justice—punishment is inescapable.”

範曰：「雖由大小之義，亦緣寡君純孝過於重華，願陛下體敬親之道，霈然垂湣。」 Fan said: “Though the meaning of great and small is involved, it is also because our poor ruler’s pure filial piety surpasses Shun’s; I hope Your Majesty will embody reverence for kin and pour forth pity.”

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 1Annals of the Five Emperors · 70 passages

眾皆言於堯曰：「有矜在民閒，曰虞舜。」 The assembly told Yao, “Among the commoners there is a bachelor named Shun of Yu.”

父頑，母嚚，弟傲，能和以孝，烝烝治，不至姦。」 The father is brutish, the mother spiteful, the half-brother overbearing, yet Shun has made peace in the house through filial duty and brotherly love, so that no evil takes root.”

於是堯妻之二女，觀其德於二女。 Yao therefore married his two daughters to Shun to see how he treated them.

舜飭下二女於媯汭，如婦禮。 Shun settled the princesses on the south bank of the Guirui, and they kept every rule of a wife’s conduct.

堯善之，乃使舜慎和五典，五典能從。 Pleased with Shun, Yao set him to put the five relationships in order, and they fell into harmony.

堯使舜入山林川澤，暴風雷雨，舜行不迷。 Yao sent him into hills and marshes in howling wind and driving rain; Shun never lost his way.

堯以為聖，召舜曰：「女謀事至而言可績，三年矣。 Seeing his sagacity, Yao called Shun and said, “For three years you have planned the work of state, and every word you spoke has borne fruit.

舜讓於德不懌。 Shun declined out of modesty and would not presume to accept the throne.

正月上日，舜受終於文祖。 On an auspicious day in the first month Shun received the great charge in Wenzu’s temple.

於是帝堯老，命舜攝行天子之政，以觀天命。 Yao had grown old, so he ordered Shun to act as regent and govern as Son of Heaven while Heaven’s mandate was observed.

舜乃在璿璣玉衡，以齊七政。 Shun aligned the seven luminaries with the pearl-sphere and jade sight-tube.

於是舜歸而言於帝，請流共工於幽陵，以變北狄； Shun then reported to Yao and asked to exile Gonggong to Youling to chasten the northern Di.

堯立七十年得舜，二十年而老，令舜攝行天子之政，薦之於天。 Seventy years Yao reigned before he found Shun; twenty years later, enfeebled, he made Shun regent and commended him to heaven.

堯知子丹朱之不肖，不足授天下，於是乃權授舜。 Yao knew his son Dan Zhu was unworthy and could not receive the realm, so he weighed the matter and transferred the mandate to Shun.

授舜，則天下得其利而丹朱病； To give the throne to Shun would bless the world yet wound Dan Zhu alone;

堯曰：「終不以天下之病而利一人」，而卒授舜以天下。 Yao declared, “I will never harm the myriad people for one man’s sake,” and in the end he ceded the empire to Shun.

堯崩，三年之喪畢，舜讓辟丹朱於南河之南。 After Yao’s death and the three years’ mourning, Shun yielded the throne to Dan Zhu south of the southern river.

諸侯朝覲者不之丹朱而之舜，獄訟者不之丹朱而之舜，謳歌者不謳歌丹朱而謳歌舜。 Lords who attended court went to Shun, not Dan Zhu; plaintiffs sought Shun, not Dan Zhu; ballad-makers praised Shun, not Dan Zhu.

舜曰：「天也」，夫而後之中國踐天子位焉，是為帝舜。 Shun said, “This is heaven’s choice,” entered the central plain, and took the throne—Emperor Shun.

虞舜者，名曰重華。 Shun of Yu was styled Chonghua.

重華父曰瞽叟，瞽叟父曰橋牛，橋牛父曰句望，句望父曰敬康，敬康父曰窮蟬，窮蟬父曰帝顓頊，顓頊父曰昌意：以至舜七世矣。 Chonghua’s father was Gu Sou, whose father was Qiaoniu, whose father was Gouwang, whose father was Jingkang, whose father was Qiongchan, whose father was Emperor Zhuanxu, whose father was Changyi—seven generations from Shun to Zhuanxu.

自從窮蟬以至帝舜，皆微為庶人。 From Qiongchan down to Emperor Shun the line had sunk to commoners.

舜父瞽叟盲，而舜母死，瞽叟更娶妻而生象，象傲。 Shun’s father Gu Sou was blind; Shun’s mother had died; Gu Sou remarried and fathered Xiang, a proud and overbearing son.

瞽叟愛後妻子，常欲殺舜，舜避逃； Gu Sou doted on the second wife’s child and often plotted Shun’s death; Shun slipped away.

舜，冀州之人也。 Shun came from the Ji region.

舜耕歷山，漁雷澤，陶河濱，作什器於壽丘，就時於負夏。 He ploughed Mount Li, fished Thunder Marsh, threw pots along the Yellow River, forged tools at Shouqiu, and hired out his labor at Fuxia.

舜父瞽叟頑，母嚚，弟象傲，皆欲殺舜。 His father remained brutish, his stepmother spiteful, his brother Xiang arrogant; all three still schemed against his life.

舜順適不失子道，兄弟孝慈。 Shun stayed filial and brotherly and never broke a son’s duty.

舜年二十以孝聞。 At twenty his filial name was known everywhere.

三十而帝堯問可用者，四嶽咸薦虞舜，曰可。 At thirty, when Yao asked for worthy men, the Four Peaks together named Shun of Yu.

於是堯乃以二女妻舜以觀其內，使九男與處以觀其外。 Yao therefore married his two daughters to watch Shun’s inner life and sent nine sons to live with him and watch his outer conduct.

舜居媯汭，內行彌謹。 Shun lived on the Guirui bend and daily refined his private virtue.

堯二女不敢以貴驕事舜親戚，甚有婦道。 The two princesses never flaunted their rank over Shun’s family but kept every wifely duty.

堯九男皆益篤。 Yao’s nine sons grew steadier under Shun’s influence.

舜耕歷山，歷山之人皆讓畔； When he ploughed Mount Li, the hill-folk yielded him the wider furrows.

堯乃賜舜絺衣，與琴，為筑倉廩，予牛羊。 Yao then gifted him fine cloth and a zither, built granaries for him, and presented oxen and sheep.

瞽叟尚復欲殺之，使舜上涂廩，瞽叟從下縱火焚廩。 Gu Sou still plotted murder: he sent Shun to roof the high granary, then fired the stacks from below.

舜乃以兩笠自捍而下，去，得不死。 Shun opened two wide bamboo hats like wings and floated down, escaping the flames.

後瞽叟又使舜穿井，舜穿井為匿空旁出。 Later Gu Sou ordered him to dig a well; Shun cut a secret lateral tunnel and climbed out.

舜既入深，瞽叟與象共下土實井，舜從匿空出，去。 When Shun had gone deep, Gu Sou and Xiang dumped earth down the shaft; Shun slipped through the side passage and vanished.

瞽叟、象喜，以舜為已死。 Father and brother rejoiced, sure Shun was dead.

象與其父母分，於是曰：「舜妻堯二女，與琴，象取之。 Xiang divided the booty with his parents, saying, “Shun’s wives, Yao’s daughters, and his zither belong to me.

象乃止舜宮居，鼓其琴。 Xiang marched into Shun’s quarters, took the zither, and played.

舜往見之。 Shun walked in on him.

象鄂不懌，曰：「我思舜正郁陶！」 Xiang jolted, sullen, said, “I was brooding on you, elder brother, and strumming out my sorrow.”

舜曰：「然，爾其庶矣！」 Shun said, “Yes—you have nearly the right feeling!”

舜復事瞽叟愛弟彌謹。 Shun afterward served his father and cherished his brother with even greater care.

於是堯乃試舜五典百官，皆治。 Yao then tested Shun with the five relationships and every bureau—everything thrived.

舜舉八愷，使主后土，以揆百事，莫不時序。 Shun raised the Eight Harmonious and set them over the land to pace the hundred labors—nothing fell out of season.

舜賓於四門，乃流四凶族，遷于四裔，以御螭魅，於是四門辟，言毋凶人也。 When Shun received the lords at the four gates, he exiled the four wicked lines to the rim of the world to drive off demons; thereafter the gates stood open, and it was said that no wicked men remained.

舜入于大麓，烈風雷雨不迷，堯乃知舜之足授天下。 Shun walked the great moor in gales and thunder and never lost his way; Yao knew he could receive the mandate.

堯老，使舜攝行天子政，巡狩。 When Yao grew feeble he made Shun regent and sent him to tour the realm.

舜得舉用事二十年，而堯使攝政。 Twenty years Shun held office before Yao named him regent.

三年喪畢，讓丹朱，天下歸舜。 After mourning, he yielded to Dan Zhu, but the realm rallied to Shun.

於是舜乃至於文祖，謀于四嶽，辟四門，明通四方耳目，命十二牧論帝德，行厚德，遠佞人，則蠻夷率服。 Shun entered Wenzu, spoke with the Four Peaks, opened the four gates, sharpened sight and hearing across the realm, ordered the twelve pastors to expound Yao’s virtue, spread deep kindness, drive off sycophants—and the wild tribes submitted.

舜謂四嶽曰：「有能奮庸美堯之事者，使居官相事？」 Shun asked the Four Peaks, “Who can carry on Yao’s work with zeal and serve as minister?”

舜曰：「嗟，然！ Shun said, “So be it!

舜曰：「然，往矣。」 Shun said, “Go—you are the man.”

舜曰：「棄，黎民始饑，汝后稷播時百穀。」 Shun told Hou Ji, “The black-haired people are beginning to hunger—sow the hundred grains in their seasons.”

舜曰：「契，百姓不親，五品不馴，汝為司徒，而敬敷五教，在寬。」 Shun told Qi, “Kinship falters and the five relations waver—be Minister of Education, spread the five teachings with gentle patience.”

舜曰：「皋陶，蠻夷猾夏，寇賊姦軌，汝作士，五刑有服，五服三就； Shun told Gao Yao, “Barbarians harass the heartland and villains breed—be Minister of Crime; let the five punishments fit the crime, with three degrees of enforcement.

舜曰：「誰能馴予工？」 Shun asked, “Who will master my artisans?”

於是以垂為共工。 Shun made Chui Minister of Works.

舜曰：「誰能馴予上下草木鳥獸？」 He asked next, “Who will oversee forests, marshes, birds, and beasts?”

舜曰：「往矣，汝諧。」 Shun said, “Go—you shall work with them.”

舜曰：「嗟！ Shun cried, “Hear me!

舜曰：「嗟！ Shun cried, “Hear me!

舜曰：「然。 Shun said, “Very well.

舜曰：「龍，朕畏忌讒說殄偽，振驚朕眾，命汝為納言，夙夜出入朕命，惟信。」 Shun told Long, “Slander and deceit would shake my people—you shall be chief of reception; issue and record my orders day and night with perfect good faith.”

舜曰：「嗟！ Shun cried, “Hear me!

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 13Genealogical Tables of the Three Dynasties · 4 passages

舜屬 Line of Shun

帝舜，黃帝玄孫之玄孫，號虞。 Emperor Shun, a great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor's great-great-grandson, with the style Yu.

瞽叟生重華，是為帝舜。 Gusou fathered Chonghua, who was Emperor Shun.

陳胡公滿，舜之後。初封。 Chen: Hu Gong Man, descendant of Shun. First enfeoffment.

New Book of Tang, Chapter 178Volume 178 Biographies 103: Liu Fen · 1 passage

叔子之所務，不若虞舜舞幹。 what Shuzi makes his task cannot match Yu Shun's dancing with shields and axes.