In ancient Chinese legends, there are many statements about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and the statements that are more agreed by the historical community are:

The Three Emperors: Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi (Xuanyuan).

Five Emperors: Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, Emperor Yu.

Now briefly introduce the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and their related achievements as follows:

Fuxi: Fuxi is also known as Baoxi, and he made great contributions to the people. "Baoxi started to write the Eight Trigrams to understand the virtues of gods and to emulate the feelings of all things." He also "knit ropes to make nets to fish" to benefit the people.

Fuxi was both wise and brave, and extremely powerful, conquered many tribes in the Central Plains. He concentrated several animal characteristics that people loved at that time and created a complex of many animals, called himself the "Dragon Master" and used the dragon as the clan emblem of the Huaxia clan - totem, for this reason, the Chinese nation was called the descendant of the dragon.

Another achievement of Fuxi was that his surname was based on his own surname; he was a man and a woman; he was a net and a man and a woman; he was a net and a man and a man and a man and a hunter; he painted the gossip and replaced the knots; he made a zither and made music; he established his official position and divided the country... From then on, our ancestors moved from barbarism to early civilization.

Shennong: Shennong is the legendary Yan Emperor. Yan Emperor is the sun god in China. He also said that he is the god of agriculture and teaches people to farm. He is also the god of medicine. According to legend, Shennong tastes hundreds of herbs and creates medicine. Shennong died of the poisonous herbs he tried.

Huangdi: Huangdi is the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation. His surname is Gongsun, and he lives in the hill of Xuanyuan, so he is called Xuanyuan. The country is Youxiong, also known as Youxiong. The emperor is flexible by nature, capable of speaking with noble moral sentiments, and was possessed as the leader of the nomadic tribe in the northwest. He joined forces with Yandi to defeat the invasion of the Jiuli tribe led by Chiyou, and became the leader of the tribal alliance on behalf of Shennong, becoming the "Huangdi".

All ancient Chinese legends highly praised Huangdi. People of descendants believed that Huangdi was the ancestor of the Huaxia clan and that they were descendants of Huangdi. Because the Yan Emperor clan and the Huangdi clan were originally close relatives and later merged together, we often call ourselves Yan Huang descendants. In order to commemorate this legendary common ancestor, descendants also built a "Huangdi Mausoleum" on Qiaoshan, north of Huangling County, Shaanxi.

In history, Yao, Shun, Xia, Shang and Zhou were all descendants of Huangdi, so they were called "descendants of Xuanyuan" and "descendants of Yan and Huang".

Zhuanxu: Zhuanxu, whose surname was Ji, his nickname was Gaoyang. The grandson of Huangdi and the son of Changyi. At the age of twenty, Huangdi passed the throne to him. After ascending the throne, he carried out political reforms. He reigned for 78 years and was over 90 years old when he died. Zhuanxu had many descendants, and Qu Yuan called himself the descendant of Zhuanxu.

Emperor Ku: Emperor Ku, whose surname was Ji, his nickname was Gao Xin, was the great-grandson of Emperor Huang. When Emperor Ku was reigned, he was full of talents and governed the world very well. Emperor Ku was reigned for more than 70 years.

Emperor Yao: Emperor Yao, whose surname is Yin Qi, was named Fangxun. Because of his title in Tang, he was called "Tang Yao". Because of his high moral character, the people were fond of Emperor Yao. He was serious and respectful, shining on all directions, and clearly distinguished from the top and bottom. He could unite his tribesmen and make the nations unite as a family and live in harmony. Yao was simple, eating coarse rice and drinking wild vegetable soup. Naturally, he was loved by the people. When Yao was old, the military leader of the tribe alliance was elected by the Twelve Patriarchs of the Four Mountains and Twelve Patriarchs, and everyone unanimously recommended Shun. Emperor Yao married his two daughters to Shun, and conducted a long-term investigation on him, and finally abdicated with confidence.

Emperor Shun: Emperor Shun, whose surname is Yao, is said to have two pupils and is named "Chonghua". He likes the Yu family, so he is called Yu Shun. After his death, he abdicated in Yu.

Emperor Yu: Yu's political achievements

1. Water treatment

At that time, floods were flooding and the people were hungry and suffering. Shun ordered Yu to control the flood. Yu learned from his father Gun's failed flood control, built embankments, and blocked the rivers to diversion methods: dig a dragon gate, open the Yique, and diffuse the Jiuhe... After eight years of Yu's flood control, his wife gave birth to a child, and Yu was not allowed to love his son, so he left his family to control the flood. During the flood control, Yu had three homes but did not enter, and finally achieved success in controlling the flood control.

2. Chisel the dragon door

The Longmen is located between the Hancheng, Shaanxi and Hejin counties in Shanxi. The legend of Yu's dragon gate was first seen in "Mozi."

"Jian Ai Zhong": "In ancient times, Yu ruled the world. The west was the fishing dou of the Xihe River, and used the water of the Sun Emperor in the drainage canal. The north was the guard □, and the pen in the empress was sprinkled as the base pillar and chiseled into the dragon gate to benefit Yan, Dai, Hu, He and the people of Xihe River......" This is about Yu's affairs. Today, Shanxi and Shaanxi are called Xihe. Yu carved the dragon gate to benefit Yan, Dai, Hu, He and the people of Xihe River. But in the era of Dayu, it was not easy to produce tools and technical levels at that time. Dayu's deeds of controlling the flood were passed down to descendants, and Dayu became a representative figure of controlling the flood.

3. Pi Yique

Yique is in front of the Longmen Grottoes twenty miles south of Luoyang City, Henan Province. Two mountains confront each other here, and the Yishui passed through it, and it was called Yique. At the end of Du Fu, Yique had already been called Longmen. "Zuo Zhuan" recorded in the first year of Zhaogong: "The king of heaven sent Liu Ding to work for Zhao Meng in Ying and in Luo□. Liu Zi said: How beautiful Yu's achievements! His virtue is far away. I have a fish with a little Yu! I and Zi Bianmian entrusted them to govern the people and face the princes, which is the power of Yu." This means that when Liu Ding arrived in the He and Luo areas, he saw Yique and sighed: Yu's achievements were beautiful! If it weren't for Dayu, we might have become fish. This shows that people in the Spring and Autumn Period believed that Yique was dug by Yu, and they respected Yu's achievements in controlling the flood. The mountains on both sides of Yique were hard, and it was extremely difficult to deal with Dayu's technical conditions at that time.

Four, the nine rivers

This incident is found in "Er Ya.

In the text, the article points out the names of the nine rivers such as Taishi, Fufu, Hu Su, Tuha, Gou Pan, Gejin, Ma Jia, Jian, Jie, etc. The places where the Jiuhe Path flows through the old paths are all in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is now on the plain between Hebei and Shandong. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River flow through the yellow soil zone, full of mud and sand. It was probably before Yu controlled the flood, and it often flooded the eastern plains in summer and autumn. There were more than a dozen mainstreams here. Dayu followed the natural state of the water and deepened and widened the mainstream main roads, so that "water traveled from the middle of the earth", the upper flow had somewhere to go, and the lower flow had somewhere to leak, so that the Jiuhe would not be affected, and the eastern flood was cured, so that the people could "subdate the hills and homelands" and develop agricultural production. Just as Mencius.

"Yu sent Jiuhe Rivers to the Nine Rivers, and then he flocked to the seas." "Then China could get food." Yu sent Jiuhe Rivers to the Nine Rivers was the first major problem that Yu encountered when controlling floods in the north during the flood control period of Dayu.

Five, cast nine tripods

Legend has it that Xia Yu once cast nine tripods to determine the nine states in the world. Xia Houqi also ordered people to cast tripods in Kunwu. Kunwu was a small country with Ji surname that was attached to the Xia Dynasty. It was originally said to be in Diqiu, near Puyang, Henan; one said to be in the old Xu, east of Xuchang, Henan. There is also said to be in the first emperor Qiu, which later moved to the old Xu. Kunwu was the center of copper production at that time, and the copper produced was very famous in ancient times. "Shan Hai Jing."

Zhongshan Jing" records: "There are many red coppers on the mountain in Kunwu." Guo Pu's note: "This mountain is famous for copper, with its color as fire. It is made of blades and cut jade as if it is cut mud." Since copper tripods and copper spears were unearthed in the early Shang Dynasty, it is possible to have tripods or copper as soldiers in the Xia Dynasty. In ancient times, tripods were used as important tools for establishing a country, and nine tripods were passed on as symbols for passing on the country. The royal capital was located, that is, where the tripods were located, so it was called Dingdu.

The system of selecting scholars in the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

Tracing the origin, ancient China had implemented a democratic system of "electing wise men and capable people". "Tongdian - Election Six" records: "In the past, in the Tang Dynasty and Yu, they all visited the crowd, so Shun was the eight Yuan (the eight sons of Gao Xin), the eight Kai (the eight sons of Gao Yang), and the four Yues were Kuilong, Ji, and Qi, which was used.

It’s a big strategy for human beings.”

It can be seen that China's electoral system in ancient times had the people-oriented idea and spirit of co-governing with the people. "Book of Rites - Liyun Chapter" records: "In the way of the great way, the world is the public, selecting wise and capable, and practicing faith and harmony. Old friends do not only have relatives, not only their children but their sons. The elderly have a place to live, the strong have a place to use, the young have a place to grow up, and the widows, widows, widows, orphans, orphans, and sick have a place to support them... This is called Datong."

This is indeed imagined by Confucians in later generations, but as Mr. Fan Wenlan said: "The Confucian school, if it is not based on ancient rumors, cannot fiction the idea of ​​"Datong"." (Fan Wenlan's "Brief History of China" page 23)

This kind of world is public, "the world is not the world of one person, but the world of the world of people." Even the rulers are appointed by wise men rather than hereditary, which affirms the concept of democracy. This kind of politics should be people-oriented, which is the ideal pursued by the Chinese from ancient times to the present. The ancients used the "elective system" to achieve a great harmony in which people governed and people enjoyed harmony.

Although the ancients had the Bayuan and Bakai systems during the Shun period, the political system was still not implemented due to the simple customs of the people and the clear political situation. "Tongdian - Election 1" records: "Since Xi, since the past, he was named officials for his own things and simple affairs, and only because of virtue, he had no desires from the superiors and no stubborn people to advance from the superiors. The people were self-sufficient and safe in the country, not virtuous but not foolish, and did not seek fame but were willing to act. There was nothing to hear about the recommendation scriptures."

Therefore, it can be seen that although the electoral system in the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors lacked the proverb of historical evidence, it can reflect the ancients' methods of elections from the documents or thoughts of the ancients, which contains the Confucian concept of "legitimate statements". Everyone is content with their own composure and does not go above and below.

In addition, from Huangdi to Yao and Shun, because the politics of the country was the main priority, the selected officials also focused on the ability to deal with natural disasters. "Wenxian Tongkao - General Preface to Official Systems" says: "The ancient legal system is brief and cannot be known in detail. However, according to the classics, it is used to study it with the sacrificial sacrifice to Emperor Yao. The officials he ordered were mostly governed and the time was clear."

Emperor Yao ascended the throne and appointed Xihe as an official, and ordered him to "Qin Ruohao Tianli, the sun, moon, stars, and respectfully teach people" (Shangshu Yao Dian), and Shun's time to order Yu to control the flood. Since the society was dominated by agriculture in ancient times, everything in nature was regarded as particularly related to the people, so in order to requisition corvee without hindering the work and rest of the people, "respectfully teach people" is an important method of selecting talents.

To put it bluntly, the electoral system in the Yao and Shun era was the most ideal electoral system in the hearts of the Chinese. During the Shun era, Yu ordered him to control the flood, and later he abdicated in Yu, which enabled China to officially enter the era of family and world.
Chapter completed!