Source: Chapter 005 of Five Thousand Years Up and Down Yao Shirende
Original text:
Yao in history is very wise. Yao's father is the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, gave birth to Xuantao, which is considered as a white Venus. When he grew up, the Yellow Emperor named him Shao Hao. The Yellow Emperor also gave Shao Hao a piece of land called Shao Hao. Shao Hao is smart and capable. He has managed this land very stably and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Therefore, Emperor Shao Hao was loved by the local people. Later, Shao Hao's nephew Zhuan Xu came to learn how to govern the country, while Zhuan Xu was only 10 years old. A few years have passed, and Zhuan Xu has made little progress, but his skill in playing the piano is much higher.
One day, the Yellow Emperor listened to Zhuan Xu play the piano. Judging from his beautiful and magnificent music and his calm sitting posture, he would be an ambitious young man. The Yellow Emperor loved him very much and often asked Zhuan Xu to play the piano for him and talk with him about the way of governing the country. When Zhuan Xu was only 20 years old, the Yellow Emperor passed the throne to this grandson. At that time, the society was relatively democratic, and the people could directly raise their dissatisfaction or suggestions to the leaders, or climb the ladder to tell the gods and reflect the human situation. Immortals also descended through ladders to help people exorcise evil spirits. Zhuan Xu believes that as a leader, a person should be to the letter, and the people have no right to directly blame the leader. So Zhuan Xu cut down the ladder. The people are very dissatisfied, because there is no ladder and they can't directly comment on the leaders. Moreover, Zhuan Xu also stipulates that women must avoid men, or they will be punished. Many women are even more dissatisfied with this rule. The two regulations reflect that human society has begun to move towards a class society, and the sense of superiority that men are superior to women has been formed. Zhuan Xu's measures met with everyone's rebellion. Since then, people's hearts have been unstable and society has been in turmoil. Zhuan Xu was depressed, and within a few years, Zhuan Xu died of illness. His successor is Di Ku, the grandson of Emperor Shao Hao. Yao is the son.
Yao was only 20 years old when he became king. The capital is Pingyang (now Linfen City, Shanxi Province). Because it was sealed in Tao and Tang, it is also called Tao and Tang people.
Yao is very clever and kind, and is respected by people. Yao is another most famous tribal leader after the Yellow Emperor. During Yao's reign, the world was peaceful and people's lives were greatly improved, but Yao himself was very frugal.
Yao attached great importance to agriculture, and ordered people to observe the astronomical phenomena and draw up a calendar, so as to facilitate people to master the agricultural seasons and solar terms.
Yao always thinks of people everywhere. He lives in a thatched cottage that hasn't even been whitewashed. When it rained outside, small raindrops penetrated into the room, but Yao didn't complain. He ate brown rice and wild vegetable soup. He won't put on new clothes unless his clothes are in rags. When people saw Yao like this, they all sympathized with him and said to him, "You are our leader. You have worked hard all day. Food, clothing, housing and transportation should be the best. We will not complain. " Yao said sincerely: "The world is so big, I don't know if there are still people who are hungry and cold, and whether there is a house to live in. I don't want anything else I just hope that everyone has food, clothing, housing and a stable and happy life. If one person in the world is hungry, it's my fault! " Therefore, Yao is more supported and loved by people. People admire him and trust him. Moreover, Yao never goes his own way and attaches great importance to democracy. He discusses everything with everyone. He often holds tribal meetings to solicit opinions from everyone and let them make suggestions together.
Yao also attaches great importance to the cultivation and use of talents. He established the earliest effective administrative organization in the history of China, which was the bud of China's political system. Yao can govern the country so powerfully because of his cadres. At that time, there were many famous officials under him, including Shun, who was in charge of civil affairs (Shun later succeeded to the throne), Qi, who was in charge of military and political affairs, abandoned agriculture, was in charge of justice, and some people who were capable and dared to take responsibility. Yao is old, and Yao holds tribal meetings as usual. People are willing to let Yao continue to be the leader, but they can't bear to watch the elderly Yao continue to work. Everyone decided to recommend one of Yao's nine sons as an heir. Yao said: "Corruption is not enough to teach the world. Teach shun, the world benefits, get sick; If Dani is awarded, the world will get sick and Dani will benefit. In the end, I will not benefit one person because of the disease in the world. " So he gave the throne to Shun. This spirit of serving the whole world makes people admire this venerable old leader even more. The ninth grandson of the Yellow Emperor, Shun, was born in Yao Ruins (now north of Yongji County, Shanxi Province 10 km). His ancestors sealed Yu, so Shun is also called Yu's and Yu Shun. Shun's father was called Pianpian, and his mother died young. His stepmother and stepbrother often tortured and framed him. Later, he couldn't stay at home, so he ran away from home. He is honest, virtuous and helpful, and people like him very much. Before Shun ascended the throne, Yao personally sent someone to inspect it. Yao married his two daughters and built a granary for him and sent many cattle and sheep. When Shun's half-brother got the news, he tried his best to kill Shun, married two beautiful women and took possession of the property. One day, he and his father tricked Shun into the top of the warehouse, removed the ladder and made Shun unable to get down, and then set off a big fire. Shun jumped down at the sight of the fire. Because he was wearing a big hat, he was not hurt at all when he jumped down. The big hat became a lifesaving parachute. As soon as I saw that I didn't achieve my goal, I came up with another plan. He and his father tricked Shun into a dry well, saying that there were many treasures in the well, and Shun could go down and get them. Shun was skeptical, but his father's orders were hard to disobey, so he continued. However, as soon as Xiang and his father got to the bottom of the well, they threw stones into it, trying to kill Shun. There happened to be a side hole next to the dry well, and I hid in the side hole unscathed. When Xiang and his father robbed the property in Shun's house, Shun appeared in front of them unscathed. But Shun said nothing and remained very filial to his parents. Yao was very moved when he learned that, so at the tribal meeting, he strongly recommended Shun, who has both ability and political integrity, to replace him.
After Shun succeeded to the throne, he appointed the sages "Eight Enlightenments" and "Eight Yuan", got rid of the "Four Fierces" and formulated the "Five Penalties", which made brilliant achievements. Shun also established his official position.
Time has passed year by year, and Shun is getting old. He saw that Dayu had made great contributions to water control and virtue, so he decided to cede the throne to Yu. He took his two wives and lobbied around to help establish prestige among the people. Dayu was very moved. During the cruise, due to his advanced age (1 10), Shun suddenly fell ill during the trip and died of overwork in Cangwu. E Huang and Nv Ying were heartbroken, and the bamboo on the roadside was wet with tears. Now you can still find the bamboo with tears, that is, the fragrant bamboo. E Huang and Nv Ying finally drowned in Hunan and became the goddess of the lake. To commemorate Shun, Dayu held a grand funeral for him and built Lingling and Heshun Temple. The half-brother who once framed Shun was influenced by Shun De. After Shun's death, he really became an elephant, quietly farming in Shun's grave, and tirelessly walked from cold to summer. Although Yao and Shun are historical figures, both of them have the virtues of the Chinese nation: selecting and employing people, being generous and open-minded. Their noble virtues have been praised by generations.
Yao (leader of ancient tribal alliance in China)
Yao was born in the Tang Dynasty (now Yaodu District, Linfen, Shanxi). The leader of the ancient tribal alliance in China. Mother Chen's son is one of the "Five Emperors". At the age of thirteen, he assisted the younger brother's imperial system and sealed it in pottery. At the age of fifteen, he was renamed Tang and named Tao. At the age of eighteen, Yao became the son of heaven and made Pingyang his capital. Yao Li has been successful for seventy years. Twenty years later, Yao Lao and Shun replaced Yao in power, and Yao gave way, and died twenty-eight years later. Yao inherited the throne from his father and abdicated to Shun.
He ordered He to determine and deduce the calendar, set the age at four o'clock, and reward the people with farming time. The vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice are determined. Yao set up the drum of advice and let everyone in the world do their best; Build a tree of slander and let people all over the world attack his mistakes.
Emperor Yao is highly respected and the people fall in love with him. He is serious and respectful, radiant and clear from top to bottom. He can unite people, make them unite as a family and live in harmony. Yao people live a simple life, eat coarse rice and drink wild vegetable soup, which is widely loved by the people. It was regarded as a typical sage monarch by later Confucianists.
Up and down five thousand years (popular reading of children's history)
China is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, with a history of about 5,000 years, so "5,000 years" is the whole history of China. Five Thousand Years Up and Down by Lin Handa, a famous modern linguist and educator, tells the true history of China from three emperors and five emperors to the Revolution of 1911. It is an excellent historical reading that integrates the development history of China, major historical events and celebrity profiles. The author selects important and famous people and events, arranges and deletes them according to historical materials, and writes them in modern language, which is easy to understand.
What made Five Thousand Years Up and Down famous was China's first popular children's history book, Five Thousand Years Up and Down. Edited by famous linguist, professor of history educator and modern writer Cao. The professor wrote a writing outline and some articles, while Cao wrote the rest. The first edition was published in five volumes on 1979, and was partly written by He Cao before the Eastern Han Dynasty. Influenced and inspired by it, the related reading "Five Thousand Years Up and Down in China" was published, and then the children's literature reading "Five Thousand Years Up and Down in the World" was published. But these books are not real history books, and cannot be compared with "general history", dynastic history, China history and world history.