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Overview The translated histories identify Yao as a ruler. This record brings together 2 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.
Names Type English Chinese Pinyin
Personal
Yao
堯
Yao
Personal name
Yao
堯
Yao
Identity
Historicity Legendary
Identification Named
Sex Uncertain Life and dates Attested activity References in the histories Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 83 Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang · 2 passages
今人主誠能去驕傲之心，懷可報之意，披心腹，見情素，墮肝膽，施德厚，終與之窮達，無愛於士，則桀之狗可使吠堯，而蹠之客可使刺由；
If a ruler today could truly cast off his arrogance, harbor the desire to repay loyalty, bare his innermost heart, reveal his true feelings, offer up his very liver and gall in trust, bestow generous virtue, share in his scholars' poverty and success alike, and show no stinginess toward men of talent—then even the dogs of the tyrant Jie could be made to bark at Yao, and even the followers of the bandit Zhi could be sent to assassinate a sage like Xu You.
今夫天下布衣窮居之士，身在貧賤，雖蒙堯、舜之術，挾伊、管之辯，懷龍逢、比干之意，欲盡忠當世之君，而素無根柢之容，雖竭精思，欲開忠信，輔人主之治，則人主必有按劍相眄之跡，是使布衣不得為枯木朽株之資也。
Now consider the scholars of the realm who dwell in poverty and low estate. Though they may possess the arts of Yao and Shun, wield the eloquence of Yi Yin and Guan Zhong, and harbor the devotion of Long Pang and Bi Gan, wishing to devote their utmost loyalty to the ruler of their age—yet lacking anyone to introduce them or vouch for their worth—no matter how they exhaust their minds and seek to offer their faithfulness, the ruler will inevitably greet them with a hand on his sword and a suspicious glare. This is what prevents men of humble birth from gaining even the advantage of the gnarled log and the rotten stump.