帝舜有虞氏
Emperor Shun of the Youyu Clan
曰重華。稱都君。黃帝八代孫。黃帝生昌意。昌意生顓頊。顓頊生窮蟬。窮蟬生康敬。康敬生句芒。句芒生蟜牛。蟜牛生瞽瞍。瞽瞍生舜。姚姓。舜母死。繼母生象。父母及象。常欲殺舜。舜盡孝悌之道事父母。待其弟尤恭。耕於歷山(河東)。漁於雷澤(兗州)。陶於河濱(今濟陰定陶西南陶丘亭)。所居成聚。二年成邑。三年成都。二十以孝聞。年三十堯以二女妻之。將遜以位。舜舉高陽氏高辛氏之子八凱八元。凱主后土。元布五教於四方。堯於是使舜攝位。帝鴻氏有不才子。號曰渾沌。驩兜也。少皡氏有不才子。號曰窮奇。共工氏顓頊氏有不才子。號曰檮杌。鯀也。縉雲氏有不才子。號曰饕餮。三苗也。是謂四凶。仕於堯。堯未能去。舜皆投諸四裔。舉禹以治水。舜攝堯位二十八年。堯崩舜即天子位。以土德王。都蒲阪(今晉寧路河中府也)。彈五弦琴歌南風。璇璣玉衡以齊七政。正曆數閏餘成歲。作樂曰九韶。苗民逆命。敷之德舞干羽于兩階七旬。有苗來格。子商均不肖。舜薦禹於天。使之代己位。在位五十年。南巡狩崩于蒼梧之野(今廣西道梧州路郡名蒼梧荊州域)。壽一百一十歲。禹避舜之子商均於陽城。天下之人不歸商均而歸禹。禹遂即天子位。國號夏 舜欲造漆器。遇諫而止(又見唐太宗貞觀十七年)。
He was called Chonghua and also known as the Lord of the Capital. He was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor eight generations removed. The Yellow Emperor fathered Changyi. Changyi fathered Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu fathered Qiongchan. Qiongchan fathered Kangjing. Kangjing fathered Jumang. Jumang fathered Jiaoniu. Jiaoniu fathered Gusou. Gusou fathered Shun. His family name was Yao. Shun's mother died, and his stepmother gave birth to Xiang. His parents and Xiang constantly wanted to kill Shun. Shun fulfilled the way of filial piety and brotherly love in serving his parents, and treated his younger brother with special respect. He farmed at Mount Li(in Hedong). He fished at Lei Marsh(in Yanzhou). He made pottery by the riverbank(now Taoqiu Pavilion, southwest of Dingtao in Jiyin). Wherever he lived, people gathered. Within two years it became a town. Within three years it became a city. By age twenty he was known for his filial piety. At age thirty, Yao gave him two daughters in marriage, intending to abdicate the throne to him. Shun promoted the eight Kais and eight Yuans, sons of the Gaoyang and Gaoxin clans. The Kais governed the earth. The Yuans spread the five teachings in all four directions. Yao then had Shun act as regent. The Di Hong clan had an unworthy son named Hundun, who was Huandou. The Shaohao clan had an unworthy son named Qiongqi. The Gonggong and Zhuanxu clans had an unworthy son named Taowu, who was Gun. The Jinyun clan had an unworthy son named Taotie, who was Sanmiao. These were called the Four Evildoers. They served under Yao, and Yao could not remove them. Shun banished them all to the four frontiers. He promoted Yu to control the floods. Shun acted as regent for Yao for twenty-eight years. When Yao died, Shun took the position of Son of Heaven. He ruled by the power of Earth. He established his capital at Puban(now Hezhong Prefecture in Jinling Circuit). He played the five-stringed zither and sang of the southern wind. He used the jade astronomical instruments to regulate the seven celestial bodies. He corrected the calendar and the intercalary months so that the year was completed. He composed music called the Nine Shao. The Miao people defied his commands. He spread virtue and had shields and feathers danced on the two stairways for seventy days. The Miao came to submit. His son Shangjun was unworthy. Shun recommended Yu to Heaven and had him take his place. He reigned for fifty years. On a southern tour of inspection, he died in the wilds of Cangwu(now Wuzhou Circuit in Guangxi, county name Cangwu, in the Jingzhou region). He lived to be one hundred and ten years old. Yu avoided Shun's son Shangjun at Yangcheng. But the people of the world did not turn to Shangjun; they turned to Yu. Yu then took the position of Son of Heaven. The dynasty was named Xia. Shun wanted to make lacquerware, but stopped when he encountered remonstrance(see also the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong of Tang).
瑞誕 大星如虹下流。華渚女節感而生少皡(史記)。有星如虹感女樞而生顓帝(書疏)。舜母感大虹而生舜(帝王世紀)。
Auspicious births: A great star like a rainbow descended, and the woman Jie of Huazhu conceived and gave birth to Shaohao. A star like a rainbow influenced Nüshu, and she gave birth to Zhuanxu. Shun's mother conceived Shun through the influence of a great rainbow.
少皡之前。天下之號象其德。顓頊以來。天下之號因其名。若高陽高辛。皆所興之地。
Before Shaohao, the titles used for rulers throughout the world reflected their virtues. From Zhuanxu onward, these titles were based on their names—such as Gaoyang and Gaoxin, which were the places where they rose to power.
宋神宗元豐三年。祕書丞劉恕字道原著外紀曰。六經惟春秋及易彖象文言說封序卦雜卦仲尼所作。詩書仲尼所刪定。皆不稱三皇五帝三王。易下繫曰。古者包犧氏之王天下也。包犧氏沒神農氏作。神農氏沒黃帝堯舜氏作。繼世更王而無三五之數。或以包犧至舜為五帝。孔子未甞道。學者不可附會臆說也。管子稱。明一者皇。察道者帝。通德者王。謀得兵勝者霸。孔頴達曰。管子書或是後人所錄。非本書也。莊子列子皆寓言誕妄。秦漢學者宗其文辭論議。故競稱三皇五帝。而不知古無其人。仲尼未甞道也。梁武帝以伏犧神農燧人為三皇。黃帝少皡帝嚳帝摯帝堯為五帝。舜非三王。亦非五帝。與三王為四代其指不通。歷世紛紛莫知定論也。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。宰予問五帝德及帝繫姓。儒者或不傳。余甞西至崆峒。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。索隱曰。古文即帝德帝繫二書也近是。聖人之語子觀春秋國語其發明五帝德帝繫姓章矣。顧第弗深考。其所表見皆不虛。書缺有間矣。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。
In the third year of the Yuanfeng era of Emperor Shenzong of Song, Liu Shu, Assistant Secretary of the Palace Library, whose courtesy name was Daoyuan, wrote in his Outer Records: Among the Six Classics, only the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Yi—including its Tuan, Xiang, Wenyan, Shuogua, Xugua, and Zagua commentaries—were composed by Confucius. The Book of Songs and the Book of Documents were edited and finalized by Confucius. None of them refer to the Three August Ones, the Five Emperors, or the Three Kings. The Lower Appended Remarks of the Yi says: "In ancient times, Fuxi ruled all under heaven. After Fuxi passed away, Shennong arose. After Shennong passed away, the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun arose." Successive generations of rulers replaced one another, yet there was no numbering of three or five. Some treat Fuxi through Shun as the Five Emperors, but Confucius never spoke of this. Scholars must not force interpretations or make conjectures.
The Guanzi states: "One who understands the One is an August One. One who discerns the Way is an Emperor. One who comprehends Virtue is a King. One who wins through strategy and military victory is a Hegemon." Kong Yingda said: "The Guanzi may have been recorded by later people; it is not the original text."
The Zhuangzi and the Liezi are both full of fables and fantastic tales. Scholars of the Qin and Han dynasties followed their rhetoric and arguments, and so they competed to speak of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors, not realizing that in ancient times there were no such persons and that Confucius never spoke of them.
Emperor Wu of Liang took Fuxi, Shennong, and Suiren as the Three August Ones, and the Yellow Emperor, Shaohao, Diku, Dizhi, and Yao as the Five Emperors. Shun was neither one of the Three Kings nor one of the Five Emperors. Together with the Three Kings he made a group of Four Dynasties—his reasoning does not hold together. Through the ages there has been endless confusion, and no settled conclusion has ever been reached.
The Grand Historian said: "Scholars have long spoken much of the Five Emperors. Yet the Book of Documents records only from Yao onward, and when the various schools speak of the Yellow Emperor, their accounts are not refined or orderly. Learned gentlemen find it difficult to discuss them. What Confucius transmitted—Zai Yu's questions about the virtues of the Five Emperors and the genealogies of the emperors—some Confucians did not pass down. I once traveled west to Kongtong, north past Zhuolu, east to the sea, and south across the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. Everywhere I went, the elders often spoke of the places of the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun. Their customs and teachings were indeed different, but on the whole, those accounts that did not depart from the ancient texts came closest to the truth."
The Suoyin commentary says: "The ancient texts are precisely the two books, the Virtues of the Emperors and the Genealogies of the Emperors—'came closest to the truth.'"
The words of the Sage—when I look at the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Discourses of the States, their elucidation of the virtues of the Five Emperors and the genealogies of the emperors is very clear. But one simply does not examine them deeply enough. What they set forth is all trustworthy. The texts are missing and have gaps, yet the scattered remnants still appear from time to time in other accounts. Unless one loves learning, thinks deeply, and understands their meaning in the heart, it is truly difficult to explain them to those of shallow views and little learning. I have arranged and evaluated them all, selecting the most refined of their sayings. Therefore I have composed the Basic Annals and placed them at the beginning of the book.