1. Emperor Shun was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors.
24 Facts About Emperor Shun
1. 2.
Emperor Shun wished to decline in favour of someone more virtuous, but eventually assumed Yao's duties.
3.
Emperor Shun divided the land into twelve provinces, raising altars upon twelve hills, and deepening the rivers.
4.
Emperor Shun dealt with Four Perils: banishing Gonggong to You Prefecture, confining Huan-dou on Mount Chong, executing or imprisoning Gun a prisoner till his death on Feather Mountain, and driving the San-Miao into San-Wei.
5.
Later, Emperor Shun appointed Yu to be General Regulator.
6.
Emperor Shun then appointed Chui as the new minister of work.
7.
Emperor Shun appointed Yi as Minister of Animal Husbandry to govern the beasts and trees of the land, Bo-yi as Priest of the Ancestral Temple to perform religious ceremonies, Hui as Director of Music, Long as Minister of Communications to counter deceptions and false reports.
8.
In later centuries, Yao and Emperor Shun were glorified for their virtue by Confucian philosophers.
9.
Emperor Shun was particularly renowned for his modesty and filial piety.
10.
Yet, despite these conditions, Emperor Shun never complained and always treated his father, his stepmother, and his half brother with kindness and respect.
11.
When Emperor Shun first went to a village that produced pottery, after less than one year, the pottery became more beautiful than they had ever been.
12.
When Emperor Shun went to a fishing village, the people there were at first fighting amongst themselves over the fishing grounds, and many people were injured or killed in the fights.
13.
Emperor Shun taught them how to share and allocate the fishing resources, and soon the village was prospering and all hostilities ceased.
14.
When Emperor Shun Yao became old, he became distressed over the fact that his nine sons were all useless, only knew how to spend their days enjoying themselves with wine and song.
15.
Yao gave a district to Emperor Shun to govern and married his two daughters to him, with a small dowry of a new house and some money.
16.
Emperor Shun continued to work in the fields every day.
17.
Emperor Shun even managed to convince his two brides, the two princesses, Yao's daughters, named Ehuang and Nuying, who were used to good living, to live humbly and work along the people.
18.
Emperor Shun skilfully made a parachute out of his hat and cloth and jumped down in safety.
19.
Emperor Shun pretended to get drunk, and when he was thrown into the well, he had already a tunnel pre-dug to escape to the surface.
20.
Emperor Shun wholeheartedly forgave them both, and even helped Xiang get an office.
21.
Emperor Shun is renowned as the originator of the music called Dashao, a symphony of nine Chinese musical instruments.
22.
Emperor Shun considered his son, Shangjun, as unworthy and picked Yu, the tamer of floods, as his heir.
23.
Gui Man, a direct descendant of Emperor Shun, became known as Chen Hugong or Duke Hu of Chen, meaning Duke Hu who founded the State of Chen.
24.
Han Fei mentioned that Emperor Shun personally settled land and water disputes among farmers and fishermen by cohabitating with them.