1
黃帝者，少典之子，姓公孫，名曰軒轅。 生而神靈，弱而能言，幼而徇齊，長而敦敏，成而聰明。
The Yellow Emperor was a son of the house of Shaodian; his clan name was Gongsun, and he was called Xuanyuan. From birth he showed a numinous nature; while still a babe he could speak; as a boy he was quick to learn; grown up he was steady yet perceptive; as a man he was wise and discerning.
2
軒轅之時，神農氏世衰。 諸侯相侵伐，暴虐百姓，而神農氏弗能征。 於是軒轅乃習用干戈，以征不享，諸侯咸來賓從。 而蚩尤最為暴，莫能伐。 炎帝欲侵陵諸侯，諸侯咸歸軒轅。 軒轅乃修德振兵，治五氣，藝五種，撫萬民，度四方，教熊羆貔貅貙虎，以與炎帝戰於阪泉之野。 三戰然後得其志。 蚩尤作亂，不用帝命。 於是黃帝乃徵師諸侯，與蚩尤戰於涿鹿之野，遂禽殺蚩尤。 而諸侯咸尊軒轅為天子，代神農氏，是為黃帝。 天下有不順者，黃帝從而征之，平者去之，披山通道，未嘗寧居。
In Xuanyuan’s day the Shennong lineage had waned for many generations. The regional lords raided one another and tyrannized the people, and Shennong lacked the power to punish them. Then Xuanyuan trained his forces in weapons and armour to chastise those who withheld tribute, and the lords came in homage and submitted to him. Chiyou was the worst of them—so violent that no one could bring him down. The Flame Emperor tried to bully the regional lords, and they all rallied to Xuanyuan. Xuanyuan then cultivated his virtue and mobilized his hosts, set in order the five phases, sowed the five grains, soothed the myriad peoples, surveyed the four quarters, and trained bears, brown bears, leopard-cats, lynxes, and tigers for war, meeting the Flame Emperor on the field of Banquan. After three engagements he prevailed. Chiyou rose in revolt and defied the sovereign’s orders. The Yellow Emperor then called up the armies of the lords, met Chiyou in the wilderness of Zhuolu, captured him, and put him to death. The lords acclaimed Xuanyuan Son of Heaven in Shennong’s place—this ruler is called the Yellow Emperor. He campaigned against every corner of the realm that refused submission; once pacified he moved on, cutting passes through hills and carving roads, never settling long in one place.
3
東至于海，登丸山，及岱宗。 西至于空桐，登雞頭。 南至于江，登熊、湘。 北逐葷粥，合符釜山，而邑于涿鹿之阿。 遷徙往來無常處，以師兵為營衛。 官名皆以雲命，為雲師。 置左右大監，監于萬國。 萬國和，而鬼神山川封禪與為多焉。 獲寶鼎，迎日推筴。 舉風后、力牧、常先、大鴻以治民。 順天地之紀，幽明之占，死生之說，存亡之難。 時播百穀草木，淳化鳥獸蟲蛾，旁羅日月星辰水波土石金玉，勞勤心力耳目，節用水火材物。 有土德之瑞，故號黃帝。
To the east he went as far as the sea, ascending Mount Wan and reaching the sacred peak of Tai. To the west he reached Hollow Tong and ascended Chicken Head Mountain. To the south he reached the Yangzi and climbed Bear and Xiang peaks. To the north he drove off the Hunyu tribes, met the lords to join tallies at Mount Fu, and founded his seat on the southern slopes of Zhuolu. He wandered without a fixed capital, making his camps and palisades wherever his army halted. He named every office after a cloud and organized his officers as cloud marshals. He appointed paired grand overseers of the left and right to watch over the myriad domains. The myriad regions lived in harmony, so sacrifices to gods, spirits, mountains, and rivers—and the great feng and shan rites—multiplied under his reign. He gained the sacred tripod and, facing the sunrise, worked the divining stalks to reckon the calendar. He promoted Feng Hou, Li Mu, Chang Xian, and Da Hong to administer the people. He followed the patterns of heaven and earth, read the omens of hidden and manifest powers, studied doctrines of life and death, and weighed the crises of survival and ruin. He sowed the hundred grains and nurtured plants in their seasons; he gentled birds, beasts, and crawling things; he charted sun, moon, stars, tides, soil, stone, metal, and jade; he taxed mind, sinew, ear, and eye; and he husbanded water, fire, wood, and every resource. An omen of earth’s virtue appeared, so he took the style Yellow Emperor.
4
黃帝二十五子，其得姓者十四人。
The Yellow Emperor fathered twenty-five sons, fourteen of whom founded separate surnames.
5
黃帝居于軒轅之丘，而娶于西陵之女，是為嫘祖為黃帝正妃，生二子，其後皆有天下：其一曰玄囂，是為青陽，青陽降居江水； 其二曰昌意，降居若水。 昌意娶蜀山氏女，曰昌仆，生高陽，高陽有聖德焉。 黃帝崩，葬橋山。 其孫昌意之子高陽立，是為帝顓頊也。
The Yellow Emperor lived on Xuanyuan Mound and married a daughter of the western mound people—Leizu, his chief consort—who bore two sons whose descendants would rule: the elder, Xuanxiao, also called Qingyang, was sent downriver to dwell along the Yangzi. The younger was Changyi, who was sent to dwell beside the Ruo River. Changyi married a Shu-shan woman called Changpu and fathered Gaoyang, who showed sage-like virtue. When the Yellow Emperor died he was interred at Bridge Mountain. His grandson Gaoyang, Changyi’s son, succeeded him—this is Emperor Zhuanxu.
6
帝顓頊高陽者，黃帝之孫而昌意之子也。 靜淵以有謀，疏通而知事； 養材以任地，載時以象天，依鬼神以制義，治氣以教化，絜誠以祭祀。 北至于幽陵，南至于交阯，西至于流沙，東至于蟠木。 動靜之物，大小之神，日月所照，莫不砥屬。
Emperor Zhuanxu, whose dynastic name was Gaoyang, was grandson to the Yellow Emperor and son of Changyi. Deep as a pool, he formed plans; clear in judgment, he grasped every affair. He developed the land’s resources, aligned the seasons with heaven’s pattern, invoked spirits to set right conduct, harmonized qi to teach the people, and offered sacrifice in unstained devotion. His sway ran north to Dark Mound, south to Jiaozhi, west to the Drifting Sands, and east to Coiling Tree. Every moving and resting creature, every great or petty deity within the reach of sun and moon acknowledged his authority.
7
帝顓頊生子曰窮蟬。 顓頊崩，而玄囂之孫高辛立，是為帝嚳。
Emperor Zhuanxu had a son called Qiongchan. When Zhuanxu died, Gaoxin, grandson of Xuanxiao, came to the throne—Emperor Ku.
8
帝嚳高辛者，黃帝之曾孫也。 高辛父曰蟜極，蟜極父曰玄囂，玄囂父曰黃帝。 自玄囂與蟜極皆不得在位，至高辛即帝位。 高辛於顓頊為族子。
Emperor Ku, styled Gaoxin, was the Yellow Emperor’s great-grandson. Gaoxin’s father was Jiaoji; Jiaoji’s father was Xuanxiao; Xuanxiao’s father was the Yellow Emperor. Neither Xuanxiao nor Jiaoji ever ruled; Gaoxin was the first of that line to take the throne. Gaoxin was a younger clansman of Zhuanxu.
9
高辛生而神靈，自言其名。 普施利物，不於其身。 聰以知遠，明以察微。 順天之義，知民之急。 仁而威，惠而信，修身而天下服。 取地之財而節用之，撫教萬民而利誨之，歷日月而迎送之，明鬼神而敬事之。 其色郁郁，其德嶷嶷。 其動也時，其服也士。 帝嚳溉執中而遍天下，日月所照，風雨所至，莫不從服。
Gaoxin was born with an uncanny spirit and already knew his own name. He spread blessings far and wide, never hoarding them for himself. Keen of hearing, he grasped distant events; clear of sight, he detected the smallest signs. He obeyed heaven’s right pattern and understood the people’s pressing needs. He combined benevolence with majesty, kindness with good faith; by perfecting his own person he won the submission of the realm. He drew on earth’s bounty yet spent frugally; he nurtured and guided the myriad folk with kindly lessons; he tracked the courses of sun and moon; he clarified the cult of spirits and served them with reverence. His bearing was composed and stately; his virtue rose sheer like a peak. His every act matched the season; his dress befitted a true gentleman. Emperor Ku held fast the golden mean until it flooded the world; wherever sun and moon shone or wind and rain reached, none refused his rule.
10
帝嚳娶陳鋒氏女，生放勛。 娶娵訾氏女，生摯。 帝嚳崩，而摯代立。 帝摯立，不善（崩），而弟放勛立，是為帝堯。
Emperor Ku took a Chenfeng woman to wife and she bore Fangxun. He also married a Zouzi woman and she bore Zhi. When Emperor Ku died, Zhi succeeded him. Zhi proved an unworthy ruler and soon died; his younger brother Fangxun took the throne—this is Emperor Yao.
11
帝堯者，放勛。 其仁如天，其知如神。 就之如日，望之如雲。 富而不驕，貴而不舒。 黃收純衣，彤車乘白馬。 能明馴德，以親九族。 九族既睦，便章百姓。 百姓昭明，合和萬國。
Emperor Yao’s personal name was Fangxun. His kindness embraced all like heaven itself; his wisdom pierced like a spirit’s. To draw near him felt like standing in sunlight; to look on him was like beholding drifting clouds. Though wealthy he showed no arrogance; though exalted he never grew careless. He wore a dark robe with yellow turban bands and rode a vermilion chariot drawn by white horses. He could refine his virtue and draw the nine agnates into harmony. Once the nine branches of the clan were at peace, he brought light to every lineage. When every house stood clear in duty, he knit the myriad states into concord.
12
乃命羲、和，敬順昊天，數法日月星辰，敬授民時。 分命羲仲，居郁夷，曰暘谷。 敬道日出，便程東作。 日中，星鳥，以殷中春。 其民析，鳥獸字微。 申命羲叔，居南交。 便程南為，敬致。 日永，星火，以正中夏。 其民因，鳥獸希革。 申命和仲，居西土，曰昧谷。 敬道日入，便程西成。 夜中，星虛，以正中秋。 其民夷易，鳥獸毛毨。 申命和叔； 居北方，曰幽都。 便在伏物。 日短，星昴，以正中冬。 其民燠，鳥獸氄毛。 歲三百六十六日，以閏月正四時。 信飭百官，眾功皆興。
He charged Xi and He to reverence High Heaven, to calculate the courses of sun, moon, and stars, and to teach the people the calendar in due season. He separately ordered Xi Zhong to reside at Yuanyi, the Bright Valley of the east. There Xi Zhong was to reverence the sun’s rising path and set the spring work of the eastern quarter. At noon when the Bird asterism culminated, they fixed mid-spring. The people went abroad to their tasks; birds and beasts paired and grew soft new fur. He next ordered Xi Shu to take post at Southern Intersection. There Xi Shu arranged the southern tasks and reverently observed midsummer. On the longest day, when the Fire asterism stood at zenith, they fixed midsummer. The people sought the heights; birds and beasts moulted their winter pelage. He then sent He Zhong west to the land called Gloom Valley. He Zhong reverenced the sun’s setting path and ordered the autumn labors of the western quarter. At midnight when the Void asterism crossed the meridian, they fixed mid-autumn. The people grew calm; birds and beasts grew sleek new coats. Finally he ordered He Shu. He Shu was to dwell in the north at Dark Capital. There he regulated the dormant creatures of winter. On the shortest day, when Mao culminated, they fixed midwinter. The people kept to the warmth indoors; birds and beasts grew heavy winter down. The year was reckoned at three hundred sixty-six days, with intercalary months to true the four seasons. He disciplined the hundred bureaus with strict faithfulness, and every undertaking throve.
13
堯曰：「誰可順此事？」 放齊曰：「嗣子丹朱開明。」 堯曰：「吁！ 頑凶，不用。」 堯又曰：「誰可者？」 讙兜曰：「共工旁聚布功，可用。」 堯曰：「共工善言，其用僻，似恭漫天，不可。」 堯又曰：「嗟，四嶽，湯湯洪水滔天，浩浩懷山襄陵，下民其憂，有能使治者？」 皆曰鯀可。 堯曰：「鯀負命毀族，不可。」 嶽曰：「異哉，試不可用而已。」 堯於是聽嶽用鯀。 九歲，功用不成。
Yao asked, “Who can be charged with these affairs?” Fang Qi answered, “Your heir Dan Zhu is bright enough for the task.” Yao sighed, “Ah— the boy is stubborn and depraved; he will not do.” Yao asked again, “Who then is fit?” Huan Dou proposed Gonggong: “He gathers merit on every side; appoint him.” Yao replied, “Gonggong talks fair but acts crooked; he feigns reverence while scorning heaven—he is unfit.” Yao cried, “O Four Peaks, the deluge rolls to the very sky; it swallows hills and clasps ridges, and the people below lament—who can be sent to tame it?” All cried, “Let Gun try.” Yao said, “Gun defies orders and shames his clan; he will not do.” The Peaks urged, “At least try him—if he fails you may cast him aside.” Yao yielded to the Peaks and gave Gun the work. Nine years passed and Gun accomplished nothing.
14
堯曰：「嗟！ 四嶽：朕在位七十載，汝能庸命，踐朕位？」 嶽應曰：「鄙德忝帝位。」 堯曰：「悉舉貴戚及疏遠隱匿者。」 眾皆言於堯曰：「有矜在民閒，曰虞舜。」 堯曰：「然，朕聞之。 其何如？」 嶽曰：「盲者子。 父頑，母嚚，弟傲，能和以孝，烝烝治，不至姦。」 堯曰：「吾其試哉。」 於是堯妻之二女，觀其德於二女。 舜飭下二女於媯汭，如婦禮。
Yao said, “Ah! O Four Peaks, seventy years I have held the throne—will any of you take my charge and mount my seat?” The Peaks answered, “Our virtue is too slight—we would disgrace the throne.” Yao said, “Search out everyone, near kin or far, known or hidden.” The assembly told Yao, “Among the commoners there is a bachelor named Shun of Yu.” Yao said, “I have heard of him.” What sort of man is he?” The Peaks answered, “He is the son of a blind father. 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.” Yao said, “Then I shall test him.” Yao therefore married his two daughters to Shun to see how he treated them. Shun settled the princesses on the south bank of the Guirui, and they kept every rule of a wife’s conduct.
15
堯善之，乃使舜慎和五典，五典能從。 乃遍入百官，百官時序。 賓於四門，四門穆穆，諸侯遠方賓客皆敬。 堯使舜入山林川澤，暴風雷雨，舜行不迷。 堯以為聖，召舜曰：「女謀事至而言可績，三年矣。 女登帝位。」 舜讓於德不懌。 正月上日，舜受終於文祖。 文祖者，堯大祖也。
Pleased with Shun, Yao set him to put the five relationships in order, and they fell into harmony. He next sent him through every ministry, and each office kept its proper season. He stationed him at the four outer gates; all was dignity, and lords from afar came as guests in awe. Yao sent him into hills and marshes in howling wind and driving rain; Shun never lost his way. Seeing his sagacity, Yao called Shun and said, “Three years you have planned the work of state and every word has borne fruit. Mount the throne.” Shun declined out of modesty and would not presume to accept. On an auspicious day in the first month Shun received the great charge in Wenzu’s temple. Wenzu was the temple of Yao’s supreme ancestor.
16
於是帝堯老，命舜攝行天子之政，以觀天命。 舜乃在璿璣玉衡，以齊七政。 遂類于上帝，禋于六宗，望于山川，辯于群神。 揖五瑞，擇吉月日，見四嶽諸牧，班瑞。 歲二月，東巡狩，至於岱宗，祡，望秩於山川。 遂見東方君長，合時月正日，同律度量衡，修五禮五玉三帛二生一死為摯，如五器，卒乃復。 五月，南巡狩； 八月，西巡狩； 十一月，北巡狩：皆如初。 歸，至于祖禰廟，用特牛禮。 五歲一巡狩，群后四朝。 遍告以言，明試以功，車服以庸。 肇十有二州，決川。 象以典刑，流宥五刑，鞭作官刑，撲作教刑，金作贖刑。 眚災過，赦； 怙終賊，刑。 欽哉，欽哉，惟刑之靜哉！
Yao had grown old, so he ordered Shun to act as regent and govern as Son of Heaven while heaven’s favor was read. Shun aligned the seven luminaries with the pearl-sphere and jade sight-tube. He ranked sacrifices to High Heaven, offered smoke to the six tutelary powers, looked toward the great mountains and streams, and sorted the lesser gods. He assembled the five regalia, chose lucky days, convened the Four Peaks and regional lords, and handed out the tallies. Every second month he toured east to Tai Shan, kindled the great fire sacrifice, and offered to the peaks and rivers in due order. He then greeted the eastern chiefs, set calendar and seasons in accord, unified pitch-pipes, bushels, and balances, polished the five courtesies and the jade tokens, silks, and guest-gifts of live animals; when the rites ended he restored the regalia. In the fifth month he toured the south. In the eighth month he toured the west. In the eleventh month he toured the north—each circuit followed the same pattern. On his return he reached the shrines of founder and distant ancestors and sacrificed a bull with the highest rite. He toured the realm once in five years, and the lords presented themselves at court on the four years between. He proclaimed his orders in speech, tested officers by their deeds, and rewarded merit with carriages and robes. He first carved the realm into twelve provinces and dredged their streams. He took the standing statutes as models for punishments, used exile to commute the five corporal pains, appointed the lash for official faults, the rod for moral instruction, and fines of metal for redeemable crimes. Accidents and first faults he forgave. Habitual evil he punished without mercy. Be vigilant, be reverent—see that justice stays measured and calm.”
17
讙兜進言共工，堯曰不可而試之工師，共工果淫辟。 四嶽舉鯀治鴻水，堯以為不可，嶽彊請試之，試之而無功，故百姓不便。 三苗在江淮、荊州數為亂。 於是舜歸而言於帝，請流共工於幽陵，以變北狄； 放讙兜於崇山，以變南蠻； 遷三苗於三危，以變西戎； 殛鯀於羽山，以變東夷：四罪而天下咸服。
Huan Dou praised Gonggong; Yao refused the post but still tested him as minister of works, and Gonggong proved wanton and corrupt. The Four Peaks urged Gun to master the flood; Yao doubted him, yet at their insistence gave him trial; Gun failed, and the people suffered for it. The Three Miao tribes along the Yangzi, Han, and Jingzhou rose again and again. Shun then reported to Yao and asked to exile Gonggong to Youling to chasten the northern Di. He banished Huan Dou to Chongshan to awe the southern Man. He removed the Three Miao to Sanwei to humble the western Rong. He slew Gun on Mount Yu’s slopes to warn the eastern Yi—with these four punishments the realm submitted.
18
堯立七十年得舜，二十年而老，令舜攝行天子之政，薦之於天。 堯辟位凡二十八年而崩。 百姓悲哀，如喪父母。 三年，四方莫舉樂，以思堯。 堯知子丹朱之不肖，不足授天下，於是乃權授舜。 授舜，則天下得其利而丹朱病； 授丹朱，則天下病而丹朱得其利。 堯曰：「終不以天下之病而利一人」，而卒授舜以天下。 堯崩，三年之喪畢，舜讓辟丹朱於南河之南。 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。 舜曰：「天也」，夫而後之中國踐天子位焉，是為帝舜。
Seventy years Yao reigned before he found Shun; twenty years later, enfeebled, he made Shun regent and commended him to heaven. Twenty-eight years after yielding the throne Yao died. The people mourned as though they had lost their own parents. For three years no music sounded within the four seas, so deep was the grief for Yao. 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. To give the throne to Shun would bless the world yet wound Dan Zhu alone; to give it to Dan Zhu would torment the world while only Dan Zhu profited. Yao declared, “I will never harm the myriad people for one man’s sake,” and in the end he ceded the empire to Shun. After Yao’s death and the three years’ mourning, Shun yielded the throne to Dan Zhu south of the southern river. Lords who attended court went to Shun, not Dan Zhu; plaintiffs sought Shun, not Dan Zhu; ballad-makers praised Shun, not Dan Zhu. Shun said, “This is heaven’s choice,” entered the central plain, and took the throne—Emperor Shun.
19
虞舜者，名曰重華。 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。 自從窮蟬以至帝舜，皆微為庶人。
Shun of Yu was styled Chonghua. 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. From Qiongchan down to Emperor Shun the line had sunk to commoners.
20
舜父瞽叟盲，而舜母死，瞽叟更娶妻而生象，象傲。 瞽叟愛後妻子，常欲殺舜，舜避逃； 及有小過，則受罪。 順事父及後母與弟，日以篤謹，匪有解。
Shun’s father Gu Sou was blind; Shun’s mother had died; Gu Sou remarried and fathered Xiang, a proud and overbearing son. Gu Sou doted on the second wife’s child and often plotted Shun’s death; Shun slipped away. When charged with petty faults he bore the blame. Yet he served father, stepmother, and brother with growing devotion and never slackened.
21
舜，冀州之人也。 舜耕歷山，漁雷澤，陶河濱，作什器於壽丘，就時於負夏。 舜父瞽叟頑，母嚚，弟象傲，皆欲殺舜。 舜順適不失子道，兄弟孝慈。 欲殺，不可得； 即求，嘗在側。
Shun came from the Ji region. He ploughed Mount Li, fished Thunder Marsh, threw pots along the Yellow River, forged tools at Shouqiu, and hired out his labor at Fuxia. His father remained brutish, his stepmother spiteful, his brother Xiang arrogant; all three still schemed against his life. Shun stayed filial and brotherly and never broke a son’s duty. When they tried to kill him they could never catch him. Whenever they looked for him he was still at hand to serve.
22
舜年二十以孝聞。 三十而帝堯問可用者，四嶽咸薦虞舜，曰可。 於是堯乃以二女妻舜以觀其內，使九男與處以觀其外。 舜居媯汭，內行彌謹。 堯二女不敢以貴驕事舜親戚，甚有婦道。 堯九男皆益篤。 舜耕歷山，歷山之人皆讓畔； 漁雷澤，雷澤上人皆讓居； 陶河濱，河濱器皆不苦窳。 一年而所居成聚，二年成邑，三年成都。 堯乃賜舜絺衣，與琴，為筑倉廩，予牛羊。 瞽叟尚復欲殺之，使舜上涂廩，瞽叟從下縱火焚廩。 舜乃以兩笠自捍而下，去，得不死。 後瞽叟又使舜穿井，舜穿井為匿空旁出。 舜既入深，瞽叟與象共下土實井，舜從匿空出，去。 瞽叟、象喜，以舜為已死。 象曰：「本謀者象。」 象與其父母分，於是曰：「舜妻堯二女，與琴，象取之。 牛羊倉廩予父母。」 象乃止舜宮居，鼓其琴。 舜往見之。 象鄂不懌，曰：「我思舜正郁陶！」 舜曰：「然，爾其庶矣！」 舜復事瞽叟愛弟彌謹。 於是堯乃試舜五典百官，皆治。
At twenty his filial name was known everywhere. At thirty, when Yao asked for worthy men, the Four Peaks together named Shun of Yu. 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. Shun lived on the Guirui bend and daily refined his private virtue. The two princesses never flaunted their rank over Shun’s family but kept every wifely duty. Yao’s nine sons grew steadier under Shun’s influence. When he ploughed Mount Li, the hill-folk yielded him the wider furrows. When he fished Thunder Marsh, the shore-dwellers gave him the better stands. When he threw pots on the Yellow River, no potter along the bank turned out cracked ware. Within a year his hamlet swelled to a village, in two to a town, in three to a city. Yao then gifted him fine cloth and a zither, built granaries for him, and presented oxen and sheep. Gu Sou still plotted murder: he sent Shun to roof the high granary, then fired the stacks from below. Shun opened two wide bamboo hats like wings and floated down, escaping the flames. Later Gu Sou ordered him to dig a well; Shun cut a secret lateral tunnel and climbed out. When Shun had gone deep, Gu Sou and Xiang dumped earth down the shaft; Shun slipped through the side passage and vanished. Father and brother rejoiced, sure Shun was dead. Xiang said, “The scheme was my idea.” Xiang divided the booty with his parents, saying, “Shun’s wives, Yao’s daughters, and his zither belong to me. The herds and granaries go to you.” Xiang marched into Shun’s quarters, took the zither, and played. Shun walked in on him. Xiang jolted, sullen, said, “I was brooding on you, elder brother, and strumming out my sorrow.” Shun answered gently, “Yes, you are still my brother.” Shun afterward served his father and cherished his brother with even greater care. Yao then tested Shun with the five relationships and every bureau—everything thrived.
23
昔高陽氏有才子八人，世得其利，謂之「八愷」。 高辛氏有才子八人，世謂之「八元」。 此十六族者，世濟其美，不隕其名。 至於堯，堯未能舉。 舜舉八愷，使主后土，以揆百事，莫不時序。 舉八元，使布五教于四方，父義，母慈，兄友，弟恭，子孝，內平外成。
The Gaoyang line once had eight brilliant sons whose gifts blessed the age—the “Eight Harmonious.” The Gaoxin line had eight more paragons whom men called the “Eight Pures.” These sixteen houses handed down their virtue and never stained their fame. Yet even under Yao they had not been promoted. Shun raised the Eight Harmonious and set them over the land to pace the hundred labors—nothing fell out of season. He raised the Eight Pures to spread the five teachings abroad—fathers just, mothers tender, elder brothers kind, younger brothers deferential, sons filial—so that home was calm and the realm perfected.
24
昔帝鴻氏有不才子，掩義隱賊，好行凶慝，天下謂之渾沌。 少暤氏有不才子，毀信惡忠，崇飾惡言，天下謂之窮奇。 顓頊氏有不才子，不可教訓，不知話言，天下謂之梼杌。 此三族世憂之。 至于堯，堯未能去。 縉云氏有不才子，貪于飲食，冒于貨賄，天下謂之饕餮。 天下惡之，比之三凶。 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。
Long ago the Hong clan bred a villain who smothered right and nursed evil, delighting in cruelty—men named him Chaos. The Shaohao line had a rogue who broke faith and spurned loyalty, trumpeting slander—men called him Wretch. The Zhuanxu clan produced a brute who would not learn or heed counsel—men called him Blockhead. For generations these three houses were the scourge of the age. Even Yao could not uproot them. The Jinyun clan added a glutton who gorged on food and wine and stuffed his purse—men called him Glutton. The people loathed him and classed him with the three fiends. 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—so the gates stood open and none dared call evil “minister.”
25
舜入于大麓，烈風雷雨不迷，堯乃知舜之足授天下。 堯老，使舜攝行天子政，巡狩。 舜得舉用事二十年，而堯使攝政。 攝政八年而堯崩。 三年喪畢，讓丹朱，天下歸舜。 而禹、皋陶、契、后稷、伯夷、夔、龍、倕、益、彭祖自堯時而皆舉用，未有分職。 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。 舜謂四嶽曰：「有能奮庸美堯之事者，使居官相事？」 皆曰：「伯禹為司空，可美帝功。」 舜曰：「嗟，然！ 禹，汝平水土，維是勉哉。」 禹拜稽首，讓於稷、契與皋陶。 舜曰：「然，往矣。」 舜曰：「棄，黎民始饑，汝后稷播時百穀。」 舜曰：「契，百姓不親，五品不馴，汝為司徒，而敬敷五教，在寬。」 舜曰：「皋陶，蠻夷猾夏，寇賊姦軌，汝作士，五刑有服，五服三就； 五流有度，五度三居：維明能信。」 舜曰：「誰能馴予工？」 皆曰垂可。 於是以垂為共工。 舜曰：「誰能馴予上下草木鳥獸？」 皆曰益可。 於是以益為朕虞。 益拜稽首，讓于諸臣朱虎、熊羆。 舜曰：「往矣，汝諧。」 遂以朱虎、熊羆為佐。 舜曰：「嗟！ 四嶽，有能典朕三禮？」 皆曰伯夷可。 舜曰：「嗟！ 伯夷，以汝為秩宗，夙夜維敬，直哉維靜絜。」 伯夷讓夔、龍。 舜曰：「然。 以夔為典樂，教稚子，直而溫，寬而栗，剛而毋虐，簡而毋傲； 詩言意，歌長言，聲依永，律和聲，八音能諧，毋相奪倫，神人以和。」 夔曰：「於！ 予擊石拊石，百獸率舞。」 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。」 舜曰：「嗟！ 女二十有二人，敬哉，惟時相天事。」 三歲一考功，三考絀陟，遠近眾功咸興。 分北三苗。
Shun walked the great moor in gales and thunder and never lost his way; Yao knew he could receive the mandate. When Yao grew feeble he made Shun regent and sent him to tour the realm. Twenty years Shun held office before Yao named him regent. Eight years as regent, then Yao died. After mourning he yielded to Dan Zhu, but the realm rallied to Shun. Yu, Gao Yao, Qi, Hou Ji, Boyi, Kui, Long, Chui, Yi, and Peng Zu had served since Yao’s day without fixed portfolios. 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. Shun asked the Four Peaks, “Who can carry on Yao’s work with zeal and serve as minister?” All answered, “Lord Yu as Minister of Works can finish what Yao began.” Shun said, “So be it! Yu—you must tame the flood; bend every effort to it.” Yu kowtowed and tried to yield to Ji, Qi, and Gao Yao. Shun said, “Go—you are the man.” Shun told Hou Ji, “The black-haired people are beginning to hunger—sow the hundred grains in their seasons.” Shun told Qi, “Kinship falters and the five relations waver—be Minister of Education, spread the five teachings with gentle patience.” 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. Exile has five grades and three dwelling zones—only a clear judge wins trust.” Shun asked, “Who will master my artisans?” All named Chui. Shun made Chui Minister of Works. He asked next, “Who will oversee forests, marshes, birds, and beasts?” All named Yi. He appointed Yi master of the royal preserves. Yi kowtowed and tried to yield to Zhu Hu and Xiongpi. Shun said, “Go—you shall work with them.” He named Zhu Hu and Xiongpi as assistants. Shun cried, “Hear me! O Four Peaks—who will superintend the three great rites?” All named Boyi. Shun said, “Then, Boyi, you shall be Director of the Ancestral Order—watch day and night, upright, calm, and stainless.” Boyi tried to yield to Kui and Long. Shun said, “Very well. Kui shall be Director of Music to train the heirs—straight yet kind, broad yet disciplined, stern without cruelty, plain without arrogance. Poetry voices the mind, song draws out the words, melody follows the drawn tones, pitch rules the melody—when the eight timbres blend without usurping one another, gods and men are reconciled.” Kui answered, “Ah! When I strike and tap the sounding-stone, the hundred beasts all fall into step.” 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.” Shun said, “You twenty-two—be vigilant; each in season help heaven’s work.” Every third year he reviewed their deeds; after three reviews the unworthy fell and the worthy rose, and every task near or far throve. He broke the power of the Three Miao and drove them north.
26
此二十二人咸成厥功：皋陶為大理，平，民各伏得其實； 伯夷主禮，上下咸讓； 垂主工師，百工致功； 益主虞，山澤辟； 棄主稷，百穀時茂； 契主司徒，百姓親和； 龍主賓客，遠人至； 十二牧行而九州莫敢辟違； 唯禹之功為大，披九山，通九澤，決九河，定九州，各以其職來貢，不失厥宜。 方五千里，至于荒服。 南撫交阯、北發，西戎、析枝、渠廋、氐、羌，北山戎、發、息慎，東長、鳥夷，四海之內咸戴帝舜之功。 於是禹乃興九招之樂，致異物，鳳皇來翔。 天下明德皆自虞帝始。
Those twenty-two all proved their worth: Gao Yao as judge was even-handed and the people trusted his verdicts. Boyi kept the rites and high and low deferred with grace. Chui as minister of works made every craft succeed. Yi as warden opened hills and marshes. Qi as lord of grain made every crop thrive in its season. Qi as minister of education knit the clans in harmony. Long as master of guests drew far peoples in. The twelve pastors rode circuit and none in the nine provinces dared defy them. Yet Yu’s work towered above the rest—he cut passes through nine ranges, channeled nine swamps, dredged nine rivers, and settled nine provinces, each paying tribute in kind without fault. His domain ran five thousand li square to the wild frontier. South to Jiaozhi and Beifa, west to the Rong tribes, north to Mount Rong, Fa, and Sushen, east to the long coast and bird Yi—all within the seas praised Shun’s virtue. Yu then performed the Nine Summons; prodigies appeared and phoenixes wheeled overhead. The luminous virtue that spread through the realm began with Emperor Shun of Yu.
27
舜年二十以孝聞，年三十堯舉之，年五十攝行天子事，年五十八堯崩，年六十一代堯踐帝位。 踐帝位三十九年，南巡狩，崩於蒼梧之野。 葬於江南九疑，是為零陵。 舜之踐帝位，載天子旗，往朝父瞽叟，夔夔唯謹，如子道。 封弟象為諸侯。 舜子商均亦不肖，舜乃豫薦禹於天。 十七年而崩。 三年喪畢，禹亦乃讓舜子，如舜讓堯子。 諸侯歸之，然後禹踐天子位。 堯子丹朱，舜子商均，皆有疆土，以奉先祀。 服其服，禮樂如之。 以客見天子，天子弗臣，示不敢專也。
Famed for filial piety at twenty, chosen at thirty, regent at fifty, he mourned Yao’s death at fifty-eight, and at sixty-one inherited the throne. Thirty-nine years he reigned, then died on his southern tour in the wilds of Cangwu. He was buried south of the river at Jiuyi—what men call Lingling. On taking the throne he rode with imperial pennons to visit blind Gu Sou, trembling with the awe a son owes a father. He ennobled his brother Xiang as a lord. His son Shangjun proved unworthy, so Shun long before had commended Yu to heaven. Seventeen years he reigned after that, then died. After mourning Yu yielded to Shun’s son as Shun had once yielded to Yao’s son. The lords rallied to Yu, and he then took the throne. Dan Zhu and Shangjun kept fiefs to tend their fathers’ shrines. They wore their fathers’ vestments and kept their fathers’ music and rites. The reigning king received them as guests, not vassals, to show the throne was never a private possession.
28
自黃帝至舜、禹，皆同姓而異其國號，以章明德。 故黃帝為有熊，帝顓頊為高陽，帝嚳為高辛，帝堯為陶唐，帝舜為有虞。 帝禹為夏后而別氏，姓姒氏。 契為商，姓子氏。 棄為周，姓姬氏。
From Huangdi through Shun and Yu the line shared one surname yet changed dynastic titles to mark their shining virtue. Thus Huangdi styled his house Youxiong, Zhuanxu Gaoyang, Ku Gaoxin, Yao Taotang, Shun Youyu. Emperor Yu founded Xia and took the clan name Si. Qi founded Shang with the clan name Zi. Qi founded Zhou with the clan name Ji.
29
太史公曰：學者多稱五帝，尚矣。 然尚書獨載堯以來； 而百家言黃帝，其文不雅馴，薦紳先生難言之。 孔子所傳宰予問五帝德及帝系姓，儒者或不傳。 余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱黃帝、堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是。 予觀春秋、國語，其發明五帝德、帝系姓章矣，顧弟弗深考，其所表見皆不虛。 書缺有閒矣，其軼乃時時見於他說。 非好學深思，心知其意，固難為淺見寡聞道也。 余并論次，擇其言尤雅者，故著為本紀書首。
The Grand Historian remarks: Learned men praise the Five Emperors—yet their age lies far in the past. The Classic of Documents begins only with Yao. The hundred philosophers tell of the Yellow Emperor, yet their language is coarse and doubtful, which gentlemen seldom repeat. Confucius handed down Zai Wo’s “Virtues of the Five Emperors” and the “Imperial Genealogies,” yet many Ruists decline to teach them. I have ridden west to Hollow Tong, north beyond Zhuolu, east to the sea, and south along the Yangzi and Huai; everywhere elders still pointed out where Huangdi, Yao, and Shun dwelt, though local lore varied—yet what agrees with the old documents is likeliest true. Reading the Spring and Autumn Annals and Discourses of the States, I find their accounts of the Five Emperors’ virtue and the royal genealogies lucid, though scholars rarely study them in depth; what they record is not idle tale. The Documents have lacunae; stray passages surface in other works. Without fond learning and deep thought to seize their sense, one cannot expound them for the shallow-minded. I have ordered and selected the most polished accounts, and therefore place them at the opening of the annals.