Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun are the two sage monarchs in ancient China, and they are also listed as the "five emperors", occupying an important position in the history of the development of Chinese civilization.
Sima Qian used three-quarters of his pen and ink to describe the deeds of Yao and Shun in "Records of the Five Emperors", which shows the importance of the two emperors in Tai Shigong's mind.
According to the records of "Records of the Five Emperors", Yao and Shun were both descendants of the Yellow Emperor. Yao also married his two daughters to Shun, that is to say, they are in the relationship between Weng and Son.
According to reports, Emperor Yao had been in power for seventy years and was very old, so he asked the ministers who could succeed him, and the ministers recommended Shun.
In order to investigate Shun, Yao married his two daughters, Ehuang and Nuying, to Shun, in order to "appreciate his virtues from his two daughters."
As a result, under Shun's training, these two noble women were "like a woman's ceremony" in her husband's house (abiding by the way of women).
Yao thought that Shun did a good job, and through a series of other investigations, he finally passed the throne to Shun three years later.
This is the "concession" that has been praised and praised by the historians of the past dynasties .
Regarding Yao marrying his two daughters to Shun, Ming Dynasty writer Yang Shen once commented: “Shun married Yao's two daughters. According to the Shiji, he was a great-grandmother-aunt, and human ethics must not be true.”
In other words, according to the records of the lineages of Yao and Shun in the "Historical Records", Yao's two daughters were Shun's great-grandmothers. This marriage is not in line with the principles of human ethics.
So, how does the "Historical Records" record the blood relationship between Yao and Shun?
According to Sima Qian's account, they are all descendants of the Yellow Emperor.
Huangdi and his concubine Leizu gave birth to two sons, one named Xuan Xiao and the other named Chang Yi .
Let's first look at the branch of Chang Yi : Chang Yi gave birth to a son named Gao Yang, who inherited the throne after the death of the Yellow Emperor. This is Zhuan Xu , one of the "Five Emperors".
Zhuanxu's son is called Qiongchan, Qiongchan's son is Jingkang, Jingkang's son is called Juwang, Juwang's son is called Qiaoniu, Qiaoniu's son is called Fengsuo, and Fengsuo's son is called Chonghua, this is Shun .
The six generations from Qiongchan to Shun were ordinary people, until Yao gave the emperor to Shun and became one of the "five emperors."
In other words, until Emperor Shun, there were two monarchs in the Changyi lineage, Zhuan Xu (Gaoyang) and Emperor Shun (Chonghua), both of whom were among the "Five Emperors."
Let's look at Xuan Xiao's branch again : Xuan Xiao's son is Xuan Ji, Xuan Ji's son is Gao Xin. After Zhuan Xu died, he passed the throne to Gao Xin. This is Emperor Xuan , one of the "five emperors."
Emperor Ku gave birth to two sons (half-parent), Zhi and Fangxun. After Di Ku (Gao Xin) died, Zhi was succeeded to the throne; after Di Zhi died, his brother Fang Xun succeeded to the throne. This is Yao , one of the "Five Emperors".
In other words, there were three monarchs in the Xuan Xiao lineage-Di Ku (Gao Xin), Di Zhi, and Di Yao (Fang Xun), among which Di Ku and Di Yao were among the "Five Emperors."
To summarize briefly:
Huangdi passed the throne to his grandson, Zhuanxu (Gaoyang) of the Changyi lineage; Zhuanxu passed the throne to his nephew, the emperor Yu (Gaoxin) of the Xuanxiao lineage; Emperor Yu passed the throne to himself The son of Zhi; Di Zhi passed the throne to his younger brother Yao (Fang Xun).
The Emperor Yao of the Xuanxiao lineage finally passed the throne to Shun (Chonghua) of the Changyi lineage.
According to the above-mentioned descent, Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun's great ancestor (grandfather of grandfather) Jingkang are of the same generation, so Emperor Yao's daughter is Emperor Shun's great ancestor, so Yang Shen said that Shun married Yao's second daughter because he married himself. Great-grandfather.
The gap between Yao and Shun by so many generations probably aroused Yang Shen's suspicion: Will Sima Qian have any problems with the records of Yao and Shun's lineages?
However, considering that the life span of ordinary people in the ancient times was not long, and according to the records, Yao had a particularly high life span, it is not entirely impossible that Yao is the great ancestor of Shun.
As for the "ethics" to discuss the ruler's marriage, it is unavoidable to be a bit roundabout. Marriage between rulers often uses the marriage of their children as political bargaining chips, mainly for political considerations, and for others to be of secondary importance.
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