Emperor Shun

“ King Wăn, the founder of the Kâu dynasty, is invariably mentioned as Wăn Wang, 'Wăn the king.' To say Wang Wăn would be felt at once by every Chinese scholar to be inadmissible; and not less so is Tî Yâo for 'the emperor Yâo.' It was the perception of this violation of usage in Chinese composition, five years ago, that first showed me the error of translating Tî Yâo and Tî Shun by 'the emperor Yao' and 'the emperor Shun.' It is true that in the early books of the Shû, we have Tî used alone, without the adjunct of Yâo or Shun, and referring to those personages. ”

“ As the Emperor Shun (2255-05 B.C.) and other rulers of that early time (presuming they are not altogether mythical) are said to have selected particular mountains for their acts of worship it seems probable that the mountains themselves, or the spirits they harboured, were the usual objects of worship; though it is possible and even probable that the imperial sacrifices to Shang Ti (still carried out annually on the Altar of Heaven at Peking) were also regularly offered up on the summits of lofty hills. ”

“ The state of CH'ÊN was ruled by the descendants of the Emperor Shun, the monarch who preceded the Hia dynasty, and who, as stated before, is supposed to have been buried in the (modern) province of Hu Nan, south of the Yang-tsz River: they were marquesses. These three last-named states were always bones of contention between Tsin and Ts'u, on the one hand, and between Ts'i and Ts'u on the other. The remaining feudal states are scarcely worth special mention as active participators in the story of how China fought her way from feudalism to centralization ”

“ The warden of the border-town of I requested an interview with Confucius, and said, "When great men have come here, I have never yet failed to obtain a sight of them." The followers introduced him; and, on leaving, he said to them, "Sirs, why grieve at his loss of office? The empire has for long been without good government; and Heaven is about to use your master as its edict-announcer."
Comparing the music of the emperor Shun with the music of King Wu, the Master said, "That of Shun is beautiful throughout, and also good throughout. ”

“ This man is the Chinese emperor Shun, who reigned from 2255 to 2206 B.C. It is said that this emperor invented the game in order to strengthen the weak mind of his son Shang Kiun. By others the invention of the game is attributed to the predecessor of Shun, the emperor Yao, who reigned from 2357 to 2256 B.C. If this theory is correct it would make the game about forty-two hundred years old. The third theory is that Wu, a vassal of the Chinese emperor Kieh Kwei (1818–1767 B.C.) invented the game of Go. To the same man is often attributed the invention of games of cards. ”

“ Discouraged by failure, he visits the grave of the Emperor Shun (chapter ii.) , and gives himself up to prayer, until at length a phœnix-car and dragons appear, and carry him in search of his ideal away beyond the domain of mortality,—the chariot of the Sun moving slowly to light him longer on the way, the Moon leading and the Winds bringing up the rear,—up to the very palace of God. Unable to gain admission here, he seeks out a famous magician, who counsels him to stand firm and to continue his search ”

“ Thither Confucius also repaired, that he might avoid the prevailing disorder of his native State. Ch'i was then under the government of a ruler (in rank a marquis, but historically called duke) , afterwards styled Ching [2] , who 'had a thousand teams, each of four horses, but on the day of his death the people did not praise him for a single virtue [3] .' His chief minister, however, was Yen Ying [4] , a man of considerable ability and worth. At his court the music of the ancient sage-emperor, Shun, originally brought to Ch'i from the State of Ch'an [5] , was still preserved. ”

“ Two centuries later, the export of tea from China had reached huge proportions, no less an amount than one hundred million lb. having been exported in one season from Foochow alone.
CHAPTER IV
KʽANG HSI
The Emperor Shun Chih was succeeded by his third son, known by his year-title as Kʽang Hsi (lasting prosperity) , who was only eight years old at the time of his accession. Twelve years later the new monarch took up the reins of government, and soon began to make his influence felt. Fairly tall and well proportioned, he loved all manly exercises, and devoted three months annually to hunting. ”

“ Shun also used the same language in handing down the appointment to Yu.
The Emperor T‘ang in his prayer, said, "I, the child Li, presume to avail me of an ox of dusky hue, and presume to manifestly announce to Thee, O God, the most high and Sovereign Potentate, that to the transgressor I dare not grant forgiveness, nor yet keep in abeyance Thy ministers. Judgment rests in Thine heart, O God. Should we ourself transgress, may the guilt not be visited everywhere upon all. Should the people all transgress, be the guilt upon ourself!" ”

“ His filial mind was the model which he supplied.'
"In the 'Book of History' it is said, 'With respectful service he appeared before Koo-sow, looking grave and awestruck, till Koo-sow also was transformed by his example.' This is the true case of the scholar of complete virtue not being treated as a son by his father."
Wan Chang said, "It is said that Yaou gave the empire to Shun; was it so?" Mencius replied, "No; the emperor cannot give the empire to another." "Yes; but Shun possessed the empire. ”

“ In the year 1661 Shun Chih, the first actual Emperor of the Chʽing dynasty, "became a guest on high." He does not rank as one of China's great monarchs, but his kindly character as a man, and his magnanimity as a ruler, were extolled by his contemporaries. He treated the Catholic missionaries with favour. ”

“ In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted the public good rather than family interest—a form of monarchy which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same Ta-yü. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, "made of the empire a family estate." ”

“ As already stated, the first emperor of the Tsʽing dynasty, Shih-tsu Hwangti, on gaining possession of the throne on the fall of the Ming, Accession of Kwang-su, 1875. or “Great Bright” dynasty, adopted the title of Shun-chi for his reign, which began in the year 1644. The legendary progenitor of these Manchu rulers was Aisin Gioro, whose name is said to point to the fact of his having been related to the race of Nü-chih, or Kin, i.e. Golden Tatars, who reigned in northern China during the 12th and 13th centuries. ”

“ Some years later, with the help of adherents in Yun-nan and Kwei-chow, he tried to regain the throne, but his army was scattered, and he was taken prisoner and strangled. Gradually opposition to the new régime became weaker and weaker, and the shaved head with the pig-tail—the symbol of Tatar sovereignty—became more and more adopted. In 1651 died Ama Wang, the uncle of Shun-chi, who had acted as regent during his nephew’s minority, and the emperor then assumed the government of the state. ”

“ The Shu-king, sometimes described as the “Canon of History,” our oldest source of pre-Confucian history, supposed to have been edited by Confucius himself, knows nothing of Fu-hi, Shön-nung and Huang-ti; but it begins by extolling the virtues of the emperor Yau and his successor Shun. Yau and Shun are probably the most popular names in Chinese history as taught in China. Whatever good qualities may be imagined of the rulers of a great nation have been heaped upon their heads ”

“ That male and female dwell together is the greatest of human relations. If Shun had informed his parents, he must have made void this greatest of human relations, and incurred thereby their resentment. It was on this account that he did not inform them."
Wan Chang said, "As to Shun's marrying without making announcement to his parents, I have heard your instructions. But how was it that the emperor gave him his daughters as wives without informing his parents?" Mencius said, "The emperor also knew that, if he informed his parents, he could not have given him his daughters as wives." ”

“ Chuan Hsü sat on the throne seventy-nine years and died at the age of ninety-eight. Ti Ku sat on the throne seventy years and died at the age of a hundred and fifty. The Emperor Yao sat on the throne ninety-eight years and died at the age of a hundred and eighteen; and the Emperors Shun and Yü both attained the age of one hundred years. At that epoch the Empire was tranquil, and the people happy in the attainment of old age; and yet no Buddha had yet reached China. Subsequently, the Emperor T‘ang of the Yin dynasty reached the age of a hundred years ”

“ The Emperor Yau, who began to reign four hundred and eighty years after the monarch, it seems, set aside his own children in favour of a young husbandman, whom he chose for his successor. This choice of an emperor out of the country, has inspired the Chinese with a great esteem for agriculture. Yu, who succeeded Shun, came to the throne after the same manner. It is said, he found out the way, by means of canals, to drain off the water into the sea, which at the beginning of the empire overflowed several low countries, and afterwards made use of them to render the soil fruitful. ”

“ The supposition of these scientists is that the second satellite of the earth was shattered, and that its fragments are the meteors which occasionally encounter our world in their flight.
“Now, in the far, far distant past, before the days of Huang-ti and Yu—even before the time of the great semi-mythical kings, Yao and Shun—there ruled in China an emperor of peculiar fame—Ssu-chuan, the Universal.
“Ssu-chuan was a man of weak character and mediocre talents, but his reign was the greatest in all Chinese history, due to the intelligence and energy of his empress, Chwang-Keang. ”

“ In repose, profoundly still; in motion, far away in the sky. No bolt can bar, no bond can bind,—such is the human heart."
"Of old, the Yellow Emperor first caused charity and duty to one's neighbour to interfere with the natural goodness of the heart of man. In consequence of which, Yao and Shun wore the hair off their legs in endeavouring to feed their people. They disturbed their internal economy in order to find room for charity and duty to one's neighbour. ”

“ Shun is composed of 頁 yeh head as radical, with 川 ch'uan streams as phonetic. It originally meant eternal principles, right, and has now come to signify flowing with, in accordance with, obedient to, etc., but is here the name given by the conquering Mings to Tohan Timur, the last Emperor of the Yüan or Mongol dynasty. ”

“ Shun is credited with selecting his successor Yu.
The Emperor Yu was the first monarch of the Dynasty of Hea. According to tradition he was the son of a star-god. It is told that one night his mother saw a falling star and became pregnant. She afterwards swallowed a pearl that had been dropped by a spirit. In due course she gave birth to Yu.
A similar myth is attached to the memory of the Irish Christian saint Ciaran of Saigir, which was probably taken over from some ancient Celtic hero, the son or grandson of Sirona (the aged one or star-goddess) . ”

“ The whole story is of course simply a satire upon the venality and injustice of the ruling classes in China.
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[431] In Book V. of Mencius’ works we read that Shun, the perfect man, stood with his face to the south, while the Emperor Yao (see No. VIII., note 63) and his nobles faced the north. This arrangement is said to have been adopted in deference to Shun’s virtue; for in modern times the Emperor always sits facing the south. ”

“ Fan Ch‘i left him, and meeting with Tsz-hiá he said, "I had an interview just now with the Master, and I asked him what wisdom was. In his answer he said, 'Lift up the straight, set aside the crooked, and so can you make the crooked straight.' What was his meaning?"
"Ah! words rich in meaning, those," said the other. "When Shun was emperor, and was selecting his men from among the multitude, he 'lifted up' Káu-yáu; and men devoid of right feelings towards their kind went far away. And when T‘ang was emperor, and chose out his men from the crowd, he 'lifted up' I-yin—with the same result." ”

“ Now the empire is a great trust; but not to sacrifice one's life for it is precisely where the man of Tao differs from the man of the world.
Shun offered to resign the empire to Shan Chuan. Shan Chuan said, "I am a unit in the sum of the universe. In winter I wear fur clothes. In summer I wear grass-cloth. In spring I plough and sow, toiling with my body. In autumn I gather in the harvest, and devote myself to rest and enjoyment. At dawn I go to work; at sunset I leave off. Contented with my lot I pass through life with a light heart. Why then should I trouble myself with the empire? ”

“ Shun-yuen, as the product and successor of warriors, of their kin but not of their kind, was really, had he known it, in the throes of a new birth. There was represented in him at the moment the line of demarcation between the forces of the blood and of the intellect. He stood far enough away from the spirit which had enthroned his dynasty to have developed wholly in the ameliorating atmosphere of the peace which that spirit had won for itself ”