After the Yellow Emperor, several outstanding tribal alliance leaders appeared in the Yellow River valley of China, namely Yao, Shun and Yu. Legend has it that Yao was born in Fenshui, Shanxi. Shun's tribe originally lived in the northern and central parts of today's Henan; The first generation of Yu lived in Hetao area and moved to western Henan when he was in danger. According to historical records, Yao is also called, so it is called. Shun is a member of You Yu's family, so it's called You Shun. Yu is a human being. About, Tang Tao, Youyu and Xia Hou are the names of their clans or tribes.
China tradition calls the beauty of Yao, Shun and Yu period "the age of sages". Mao Zedong once wrote in the poem "Seven Laws to Send Sorrow to the Gods": "Spring breeze willows and Qian Qian, and 600 million China are in harmony", which means that under the socialist system, hundreds of millions of people in new China have played their traditional virtues and become saints who created a new society like Yao Shun. During the period of Yao, Shun and Yu, Chinese civilization further radiated brilliant brilliance. It is said that the social management in Yao period was orderly, and agriculture, handicrafts, law, music and education were all managed by fixed personnel. These managers are experts in his field. For example, Hou Ji, as an agricultural teacher, taught people farming methods by "sowing various crops", and "everyone follows the rules and the world benefits". Later, Hou Ji was honored as "the god of agriculture". Yao Shi's music official named Kui is said to be a weirdo with only one foot, but he has extraordinary musical talent. According to the ancient book "The Emperor's Century Collection", he imitated the sound of mountains and rivers and made a piece of music called "Zhangda". After listening to his music, people naturally calm down and reduce a lot of unnecessary disputes. This is probably the first music recorded by historical materials in China. During this period, China's paintings also developed by leaps and bounds. It is said that Gu Gui, Shun's half-sister, is an outstanding female painter. She can draw animal paintings and carve large murals with dexterous hands. A large number of primitive rock paintings found in Yinshan and Wulanchabu, Inner Mongolia, may be the origin of paintings in that period.
Because of the good moral character of Yao, Shun and Yu, when they led clans and tribes, there appeared a rare scene of peace and tranquility in primitive society. Later generations recalled the world at that time and said, "The world of Emperor Yao was peaceful and the people had nothing to do." . People live a free life of "working at sunrise, resting at sunset, digging wells and drinking, plowing and eating". When he arrived in Shun, even the phoenix, the god bird in the sky, flew to meet him. According to the records in the ancient books Shangshu and Historical Records, Shun ordered musicians Yan Yi and Deng Yi to play complex music with multiple strings, and they were also called "Xiao Shao" because they played with fine music such as Xiao and Sheng. The idiom "90% Xiao Shao, the phoenix comes to the instrument" tells the above story.
These myths and legends are naturally exaggerated and beautified and idealized by later scholars. However, these legends do reflect that there was no class, exploitation and oppression in primitive society. At the same time, it also shows that China's society has developed to the Yao, Shun and Yu period, and civilization has indeed made great progress. Whether it is social life such as agriculture, industry and commerce, or art such as music and art, it has reached a certain level. Although Yao, Shun and Yu were idealistic sages, their time was indeed a crucial period for the development of Chinese civilization.
Yao Shunyu's "golden mean" is the embodiment of noble morality.
Yao Shunyu's most famous story is "abdication". To abdicate means to automatically give the throne to the sage. This is actually a democratic election system for tribal leaders in primitive society. "The public servants in the clan society are temporarily elected, which is the so-called abdication system".
Regarding the specific process of abdication, Fan Wenlan, a famous contemporary historian in China, has a brief narrative:
It is said that Yao was in the audience at that time, consulting with Siyue, and Siyue recommended Yu Shun as his successor. After various experiments, Shun took up an administrative post. After Yao died, Shun officially acceded to the throne. Shun also consulted everyone and chose Yu as the administrative affairs. Shun died and Yu succeeded to the throne. When Yu was in power, he was elected as his successor. After Hao Tao's death, Boyi, the son of Hao Tao, was appointed as the heir. After his death, he seized the independence of Boyi. The abdication system was abandoned.
According to the textual research of historians such as Fan Wenlan, the story of abdication was first recorded in Shangshu Yaodian. As well as articles such as Yao Dian, "it is probably the historians of the Zhou Dynasty who fill in the gaps and form a systematic record." Historians believe that the Zhou Dynasty, which has been practiced for many years since the father passed on the family line, can never be forged at this point, but should be "a historical fact left over from ancient times". Shang Yue, another famous historian, said: "In clan society, clan members have both the right to recommend and the right to recall tribal chiefs. Therefore, the clan society is a democratic society. Naturally, the democratic system of clan society cannot be over-idealized, because this system is based on underdeveloped productive forces, collective cooperation of clan members and narrow blood relationship, which is essentially different from the modern democratic system. "
However, the story of Yao Shunyu's abdication is widely circulated in China after all. Why is this? On the one hand, it must be related to the intentional beautification of later Confucianism; On the other hand, their virtue passed down from generation to generation in stories has become a recognized moral norm of the Chinese nation. In this way, the historical facts of their abdication can be passed down from generation to generation, and their noble morality can be told among the people for a long time and be immortal.
What are the virtues of Yao, Shun and Yu in ancient legends? Let's start with Yao. His main virtues are frugality and love for the people. The ancient book Han Feizi said that although he was the leader of the tribal alliance, he lived in a rugged thatched house, drank wild vegetable soup, ate coarse rice and wore coarse clothes. When the weather was cold, he added a deerskin to keep out the cold, and the utensils he used were only earthen bowls and earthen pots. Later generations were moved by his frugal style and sighed, "I'm afraid I'm just a little doorman, and my life is much better than Yao's." However, although Yao is very self-denying, he is very concerned about the people. According to ancient records, someone in the tribe he ruled was hungry and said, "I made him hungry." Someone in the tribe was cold and said, "I told him to be cold." When someone in the tribe committed a crime and should be punished, he said, "This is because I can't stand education." In this way, Yao was greatly respected by people and was called "Ren Jun" by later generations. Shun's main virtues are generosity and setting an example. According to ancient books, Shun was framed by his stepmother and half-brother, and suffered several life-threatening disasters, all of which were brought about by the clever design of his virtuous and witty wife. However, when he was elected as the leader of the tribal alliance, he treated his stepmother and brother generously, regardless of his previous hostility, so that all his enemies were affected in a good way. Shun is also strict with himself, setting an example everywhere and uniting people around him. Historical records say:
Shun Li Gengshan, Li Shanren gave way; Razer fishing, Razer people make way; Taohe riverside and riverside utensils are not bitter. One year, they lived together, two years, they became cities, and three years, they became Chengdu.
It can be seen that Shun's appeal is so great! It is precisely because of his noble character that he is very popular among clans and tribes and enjoys high prestige. In the democratic elections of clans and tribes, he naturally became the leader in everyone's mind.
Dayu, a symbol of the Chinese nation's hard work and wisdom, manages water.
How did Dayu get the support of the masses? Mainly due to his contribution to water control. This is a great project that shocked the world at the end of primitive society, so much so that1the French scholar Ray Miaosai said in amazement at the beginning of the 9th century: "Dayu has governed two big rivers", whose flow rate is equal to and width is almost equal to that of the big rivers in the United States, and floods from hundreds of rivers have been introduced into more than 65,438+million square leagues. This feat made the famous sinologist praise China for being "human".
Water control by Yu was a great project in ancient China, which once benefited mankind and became a symbol of strength and wisdom of ancient people in China. It was not until 1 0,000 years later in the Spring and Autumn Period that a man named Liu said, "Beauty is beautiful, but virtue is far away.". Wei Yu, I am a fish! " It means that Yu's contribution is so great that his legacy to mankind is far-reaching. If there were no spare time, we would have become fish and shrimp. Historians have also verified that in the ancient bronze inscriptions in China, there are also records about Yu Zhishui, saying that he was "a man who pacified Kyushu." It can be seen that Yu's water control is a very old and universal myth.
Myth and reality are often interlinked. This myth reflects the truth of history in twists and turns. Historian Fan Wenlan analyzed the historical significance of Dayu's flood control from the viewpoint of historical materialism;
Yu was the object of worship of ancient emperors. Many ancient nationalities said that there was flood in ancient times, which was an irresistible natural disaster. According to the myth of Huangyan, the flood was "leveled". This great spirit that man can conquer nature and man can conquer nature is the true meaning of Yu Shui-zhi's myth.
Like the Yellow Emperor, Yu is a figure beautified and exaggerated by ancient myths in China. His deeds actually condensed the noble character of industriousness and wisdom of the ancient working people in China. There are many legends in ancient mythology about him taking the lead, sharing weal and woe with the masses and taking the world as his own responsibility. For example, he didn't get married until he was 30 years old, and lived a single life in order to concentrate on treating floods. After marriage, just four days after marriage, they left their new house in a hurry and rushed to the water control site. It is also recorded in ancient books that when Yu was managing water, he personally took a dustpan and shovel and walked in front of the wind and rain. He spent a whole 13 years away from home, but he didn't go back to see his home three times. His hands and feet were ground with thick cocoons, his nails were polished, and the hair on his legs and stomach was corroded by alkaline water. Before he was old, he was sick all over. But he still limped back and forth to direct the water control site.
Yu's selfless spirit will always be told by later generations and become an important part of the excellent traditional virtues of our people. Today, in many parts of our country, there are sites about Yu. There is a "Yuwangtai" in Kaifeng, Henan. It is said that he once lived here during the flood control. There is a "Yu Wang Suojiao Sutra" in Yuxian County. According to legend, Yu once surrendered to the dragon who made waves here. There are "Yu Temple" and "Dayu Tomb" in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. It is said that he died here in his later years. In addition, Hejin County in Shanxi Province has "Yumenkou" and Xiaxian County has "Yuwangcheng". It is said that Yu once dug mountains in these places to control water and so on. These sites all show people's nostalgia and respect for this ancient water control hero.
The story of gun and Yu's treatment of water
The legend of Yu's water control is well known. However, according to feudal historians, people have always held a negative attitude towards water control with guns.
However, in some ancient poems and myths, the gun was a great hero. His contribution is somewhat similar to Prometheus who stole fire from the world in Greek mythology. According to China's ancient myth "Shan Hai Jing", Gun stole a secret "resting place" from the Emperor of Heaven in order to stop the flood for the people. This means that you can keep growing, as long as you let go. It soon piled up into a dam and people were very grateful to him. However, just as Gun was about to subdue the flood, the thief was discovered by the Emperor of Heaven. The Emperor of Heaven was very angry and immediately sent Zhu Rong, the Vulcan, to execute the execution in Lengyu Mountain, where he had not seen the sun for many years, and regained his resting place. In this way, the flood spread again.
Probably because people miss this hero, in some ancient myths, some say that he became a yellow bear after his death, while others say that he became a "abstruse fish" like a dragon. It is often said that he was still fighting the flood after the gun died.
Gun's cause of water control was inherited by his son Yu. According to myths and legends, he grew up in the barrel of a gun. Three years after Gun's death, his body didn't rot. He gave birth to Yu with his own blood and soul In fact, Yu is the embodiment and rebirth of the gun.
When I grew up, I didn't live up to my father's wishes. He was also appointed commander-in-chief of water conservancy by Shun. He is cleverer than his father. He didn't steal soil and fill it, but dug sand to control water. According to this myth, Yu dug a drainage ditch and led the flood to the East China Sea. Yu also got a river map from Hebo, and he used it to design a water control scheme. These myths reflect people's initial scientific knowledge at the end of primitive society in China.
Water control by Yu is a huge project and an earth-shattering undertaking in ancient China, which embodies the great wisdom of the working people in ancient China. There are many interesting legends about this flood control. There are many place names in our country, which are said to have been handed down during the flood fighting. For example, the ancient name Huiji in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province is the place name left by Yu. There is a mountain in Huiji, formerly known as Maoshan, which was renamed as "Huiji" after gathering the weather of the world and discussing the flood control strategy. Sanmenxia, Henan Province, is also said to be a place name handed down from Yu's flood control. According to legend, when Yu was harnessing the Yellow River, he split a mountain that blocked the river into several sections, so that the river diverted and crossed the Three Gorges, like Sanmenxia, which was later called "Sanmenxia". There are also relics left by the Three Gorges in Wushan, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It is said that Yu once punished a stupid dragon who crossed the canyon without authorization, and Yu beheaded this incompetent dragon for public. So Wushan county still has such place names as "staggered gorge" and "Duanlongtai".
Yu's spirit of serving the public wholeheartedly and not thinking about personal interests has always been praised by people. Legend has it that he has been in charge of water control projects for thirteen years and never went home to visit relatives. He once "went home three times and didn't enter." Yu's wife is called an arrogant woman. She is an elegant woman with good looks and has a good relationship with Yu. In order to express her love for her, she sends a maid to wait at the passing place at the southern foot of Tushan every day, without waiting left and right. The arrogant woman was so anxious that she wrote a song: "How long does it take to wait for someone!" " ! This song became the first love song in southern China. Later, the arrogant woman finally married her beloved jade, but after only four days of marriage, jade went to perform his task of water control.
After thirteen years of water control, Yu finally subdued the flood. Because of Yu's contribution and selflessness, people chose him as Shun's successor. After Shun's death, Yu became the leader of the tribal alliance in the Central Plains, but he was still conscientious and often patrolled the water situation everywhere, and later died in Huiji. Today, in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, there are still Yudong ancient sites.