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Emperor Shun (p=Dì Shùn) 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. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 BC and 2184 BC. Tradition also holds that those with the surname Hu (胡) are descendants of Emperor Shun. The Duke Hu of Chen, , a descendant of Shun, became the founder of the State of Chen. Later Chen dynasty emperors such as Chen Baxian would also claim descent from Shun.
Under Emperor Yao, Shun was appointed successively Minister of Instruction, General Regulator and chief of the Four Mountains, and put all affairs in proper order within three years.Canon of Shun, v 2. Yao was so impressed that he appointed Shun as his successor to the throne. Shun wished to decline in favour of someone more virtuous, but eventually assumed Yao's duties. It was said that "those who had to try a lawsuit did not go to Danzhu, but to Shun." Danzhu was the son of Yao.
After ascending to the throne, Shun offered sacrifices to the god Shang Di (上帝), as well as to the hills, rivers, and the host of spirits (神).Canon of Shun, v 3. Then he toured the eastern, the southern, the western, and the northern parts of the country; in each place he offered burnt-offering to Heaven at each of the four peaks (Mount Tai, Huangshan, Mount Hua and Mount Heng), sacrificed to the hills and rivers, set in accord the seasons, months, and days, established uniform measurements of length and capacities, and reinforced ceremonial laws.Canon of Shun, v 4.
Shun divided the land into twelve provinces, raising altars upon twelve hills, and deepening the rivers.Canon of Shun, v 5. Shun dealt with Four Perils: banishing Gonggong to You Prefecture, confining Huan-dou (驩兜) on Mount Chong (宗山), executing or imprisoning Gun a prisoner till his death on Feather Mountain (羽), and driving the Miao people into San-Wei.Canon of Shun, v 6. Gun's son, Yu (禹), was subsequently appointed as minister of work(共工) to govern the water and the land.Canon of Shun, v 9. Later, Shun appointed Yu to be General Regulator (Prime Minister). Yu wished to decline in favour of the Minister of Agriculture, or Xie (契), or Gao Yao, but finally accepted upon Shun's insistence. Shun then appointed Chui (垂) as the new minister of work (共工).Canon of Shun, v 13. Shun also appointed Yi as Minister of Animal Husbandry to govern the beasts and trees of the land,Canon of Shun, v 14. Bo-yi as Priest of the Ancestral Temple to perform religious ceremonies,Canon of Shun, v 15. Hui as Director of Music,Canon of Shun, v 16. Long as Minister of Communications to counter deceptions and false reports.Canon of Shun, v 17.
According to the Canon of Shun, Shun began to reign at the age of 30, reigned with Yao for 30 years, and reigned 50 more years after Yao's abdication, then Shun died.Canon of Shun, v 20. The Bamboo Annals state that Yao chose Shun as his heir three years before abdicating the throne to him. Both sources agree that after abdicating, Yao lived for another 28 years in retirement during Shun's reign.
In later centuries, Yao and Shun were glorified for their virtue by Confucian philosophers. Shun was particularly renowned for his modesty and filial piety (xiao 孝).
When he was barely an adult, his stepmother threw him out of the house. Shun was forced to live on his own. Yet, because of his compassionate nature and his natural leadership skills, everywhere he went, people followed him, and he was able to organize the people to be kind to each other and do the best they could. When Shun first went to a village that produced pottery, after less than one year, the pottery became more beautiful than they had ever been. When 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. Shun taught them how to share and allocate the fishing resources, and soon the village was prospering and all hostilities ceased.
When Emperor 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. Yao asked his ministers, the Four Mountains, to propose a suitable successor. Yao then heard of Shun's tales. Wise Yao did not want to simply believe in the tales about Shun, so he decided to test Shun. Yao gave a district to Shun to govern and married his two daughters to him, with a small dowry of a new house and some money.
Though given an office and money, Shun still lived humbly. He continued to work in the fields every day. Shun even managed to convince his two brides, the two princesses, Yao's daughters, named Ehuang (Fairy Radiance) and Nüying (Maiden Bloom), who were used to good living, to live humbly and work along the people. However, Shun's stepmother and half brother became extremely jealous and conspired to kill Shun. Once Shun's half brother Xiang lit a barn on fire, and convinced Shun to climb onto the roof to put the fire out, but then Xiang took away the ladder, trapping Shun on the burning roof. Shun skilfully made a parachute out of his hat and cloth and jumped down in safety. Another time, Xiang and his mother conspired to get Shun drunk and then throw him into a dried-up well and then bury him with rocks and dirt. Shun's half-sister, never approving of her mother and brother's schemes, told Shun's wives about the scheme. Shun thus prepared himself. 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. Thus, Shun survived many attempts on his life. Yet, he never blamed his stepmother or his half brother, and forgave them every time.
Eventually, Shun's stepmother and half brother repented their past wrongs. Shun wholeheartedly forgave them both, and even helped Xiang get an office. Shun also managed to influence Emperor Yao's 9 worthless sons into becoming useful contributing members of society.
Emperor Yao was very impressed by all of Shun's achievements, and thus chose Shun as his successor and put him on the throne in the year of Jiwei (己未). Yao's capital was in Ji (冀) which in modern times is also in Shanxi province.
Shun is also renowned as the originator of the music called Dashao (大韶), a symphony of nine Chinese musical instruments.
In the last year of Shun's reign, Shun decided to tour the country. But unfortunately, he died suddenly of an illness on the journey near the Xiang River. Both his wives rushed from home to his body, and wept by the river for days. Their tears turned into blood and stained the reeds by the river. From that day on, the bamboo of that region became red-spotted, which explains the origin of spotted bamboo. Then overcome by grief, both women threw themselves into the river and drowned.
Shun considered his son, Shangjun (商均), as unworthy and picked Yu, the tamer of floods, as his heir.
Hồ is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of 胡 . Hồ Quý Ly, the founder of the Hồ dynasty, also claimed descent from Duke Hu of Chen and thereby direct descent from Shun. The Hồ family in Vietnam originated from China's Zhejiang province around the 900s.
Tian (田) and Yuan (袁) also claim descent from the State of Chen.
Han Fei also mentioned that Shun personally settled land and water disputes among farmers and fishermen by cohabitating with them.
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