In his later years, Emperor Yao felt that his health was failing and he could no longer manage the affairs of the human race. On this day, he anxiously asked his ministers: "I have been on the throne for seventy years, which of you can follow my destiny and succeed me as emperor?" The ministers replied, "Our virtues are too despicable to dare to tarnish the throne." Yao said: "Then let's recommend it from among all the ministers and hermits with the same surname and different surnames." Fang Qi said: "Your son Danzhu Tongda Shili can take over the throne of the emperor." Yao said: "Huh! Danzhu, he is a stupid person. , Evil cannot be used." Everyone said to Yao: "There is a man named Yu Shun living among the people. His virtue is very good."
Emperor Yao said, "Well, what have I heard about him?" Siyue replied, "He is the son of a blind man. His father is ignorant, his mother is stubborn, and his brother is arrogant, but Shun can live in harmony with them and fulfill the principle of filial piety and brotherhood." The family is well managed so that they will not go to evil. "Yao said: "Then I will give him a try." So Yao married his two daughters to observe his virtue. Shun asked them to lower their nobility and live in their homes by the Gui River to observe the ways of being wives. Yao thought it was good to do this, so he let Shun take the post of Situ. He carefully followed the five ethics and morals of fatherly justice, maternal kindness, brotherly friendship, younger brotherly respect, and his son's filial piety. The people followed them and never violated them. Yao also asked him to participate in the affairs of the officials, so the affairs of the officials became orderly. Let him receive guests at the four gates of the Mingtang. The four gates are harmonious and the guests from the princes and guests from far away are respectful. Yao then sent Shun into the mountains, jungles, rivers, and swamps, They encountered a storm, thunderstorm, but Shun did not get lost. When Yao saw these, he gave Shun a set of fine grasscloth clothes, a harp, built a storehouse for him, and gave him cattle and sheep. Gusou still wanted to kill him and asked Shun to climb up to repair the barn with earth. Gusou then set it on fire from below. Shun used two bamboo hats to protect himself and jumped down as if he had wings to escape. Later, Gusou asked Shun to dig a well. When Shun dug the well, he dug a secret passage in the side wall leading to the outside. Shun dug deep, and Gusou and Xiang poured earth down to fill the well. Shun went out through the secret passage next to it and escaped again. Gusou and Xiang were very happy, thinking that Shun was dead. Xiang said: "I was the one who came up with this idea in the first place." Xiang divided Shun's property with his parents and said: "I will take the two daughters of Yao whom Shun married and the harp that Yao gave him. The cattle, sheep, and barn belong to my parents." Xiang then lived in Shun's house and played Shun's harp. Shun came back to visit him. Xiang was very surprised and then put on a gloomy look and said, "I'm missing you. It makes me so sad!" Shun said, "Yes, you are such a brother!" Shun still treated his parents and brothers like before. And more respectful. In this way, Yao tried Shun to straighten out the five ethics and morals and participated in the affairs of hundreds of officials, and he did a good job. Yao even thought that he was very smart and virtuous. He called him in and said, "In the past three years, you have done things carefully and said that you can do it. Now you can ascend to the throne of emperor." Shun refused to accept, saying that his virtue was not enough. Imperial throne. Emperor Yao said: "A capable person cannot just think that he should do more for others, and I am too old to manage the people. You are the most virtuous person I have ever met. You don't accept the emperor's rule?" Who else can accept it?"
Shun, however, firmly refused to accept the position of human emperor, so Emperor Yao had no choice but to let Shun act as the emperor's political official in order to observe whether his being emperor was in line with God's will. Shun then observed the Big Dipper to see if there were any abnormalities in the movements of the sun, the moon, and the five stars of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Then he held a temporary ceremony to worship God, and burned the sacrifices on the fire to worship the four seasons of heaven and earth. The rituals of sacrifice include worshiping famous mountains and rivers and generally offering sacrifices to various gods. He collected five kinds of jade talisman letters, Huan Gui, Xin Gui, Gong Gui, Gu Bi, and Pu Bi, held by the fifth-ranking marquis, Bozi and Gong. He chose a good month and an auspicious day to summon Siyue and the state pastors of various states and award them to them. In February, when Shun went to the east to inspect Mount Tai, he used the ritual of burning firewood to worship Dongyue, and the ritual of distant sacrifice to worship the famous mountains and rivers in various places. Then he summoned the princes in the east to coordinate and correct the four seasons, the size of the moon, and the scale of the sun. Unify the rhythm and the standards of length, capacity, and weight. He established the five etiquettes of Ji, Ji, Bin, Jun, and Jia, and prescribed the princes to use five kinds of rituals. The ministers used two kinds of animals, lambs and wild geese, and three kinds of colorful silk banners, and the officials used dead pheasants as gifts for the court. The five kinds of jade were returned to the princes after the court ceremony. In May, he went on a tour to the south; in August, he went to the west; in November, he went to the north—all the same as when he first went to the east. After coming back, he told the ancestor temple and father temple to use a cow as a sacrifice. From now on, inspections will be held every five years. During the four years during this period, all princes will come to the capital on time to pay homage. Shun generally explained to the princes how to govern the country, clearly inspected them according to their achievements, and gave them chariots, horses, and clothes according to their merits. Shun began to divide the world into twelve states and dredge rivers. It stipulates that law enforcement shall be carried out according to normal punishments, and the five punishments of tattooing, nose cutting, foot mutilation, castration, and beheading shall be reduced by the method of exile. In the government, whips shall be used for political affairs, and for education in schools, rulers shall be used for punishment. Gold may be used as atonement. Those who are at fault due to disasters will be pardoned; those who persist in causing harm will be punished.
At this time, Sanmiao caused many rebellions in the Jiang and Huaihe River basins and the Jingzhou area. At this time, Shun returned from his inspection and reported to Emperor Yao, requesting that Huandou be exiled to Chongshan Mountain in order to change the customs of the Southern Barbarians; and that Sanmiao be moved to Sanwei Mountain in order to change the customs of Xirong. Gun was executed to punish him for failing to control the flood. After punishing these criminals, everyone in the world was satisfied. After seventy years of Yao's reign, Shun resigned due to old age twenty years later, allowing Shun to take charge of the emperor's government affairs and recommend him to heaven. Yao died twenty-eight years after abdicating his throne. The people grieved and mourned as if their biological parents had died. Within three years, no one from all over the world played music in memory of Emperor Yao. Yao knew that his son Danzhu was not worthy of being passed on to him, so he tentatively gave it to Shun. If it is passed on to Shun, everyone in the world will benefit, and only Danzhu will be disadvantaged; if it is passed on to Danzhu, everyone in the world will suffer, but only Danzhu will benefit. Yao said: "After all, I can't cause harm to everyone in the world and benefit only one person." So he finally passed the world on to Shun. After three years of mourning after Yao's death, Shun gave up the throne to Danzhu and hid on the south bank of the Nanhe River. The princes who came to perform the pilgrimage did not go to Danzhu but came to Shun to file a lawsuit. They did not go to Danzhu but came to Shun to praise his merits. They did not go to Danzhu but came to praise Shun. Shun said, "This is God's will." Then he went to Kyoto and ascended to the throne of the Emperor. This was Emperor Shun.
Yu Shun's name was Chonghua. Chonghua's father is called Gusou. Gusou's father is called Qiao Niu. Qiao Niu's father is called Gou Wang. Gou Wang's father is called Jingkang. Jingkang's father is called Qiongchan. Qiongchan's father was Emperor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu's father was Changyi: from Changyi to Shun, it was seven generations. From the time when Qiong Chan became emperor to Emperor Shun, the following generations had low status and were all common people. Shun's father, Gusou, was blind. After the death of Shun's biological mother, Gusou married another wife and gave birth to Xiang Xiang, an unruly boy. Gusou liked his second wife's son and often wanted to kill Shun, but Shun escaped; if he made even the slightest mistake, he would be severely punished. Shun served his father, stepmother, and stepbrothers obediently, becoming more loyal and cautious every day without any slack. Shun plowed the fields in Mount Li, fished in Leize, made pottery on the bank of the Yellow River, made various household utensils in Shouqiu, and did business in Fuxia. Shun's father, Gusou, was ignorant, his mother was stubborn, and his younger brother, Xiang, was unruly. They all wanted to kill Shun. Shun, however, behaved respectfully and never violated the principles of being a son, loving his brothers, and being filial to his parents. When they wanted to kill him, they couldn't find him; and when they wanted to find him, he was always there.