The first Chinese emperor in history was said to be Yao. He was the descendant of Huangdi, the ancestor of the Han nationality in China. Yao was intelligent and kind to people, and was elected chief of its tribe at the age of 16. He set up his capital in Pingyang in today’s Linfen, Shanxi Province.

Yao rewarded those who did good things and punished those doing the evil, so that politics was pretty transparent at the time. He educated its people to be friendly with each other. He also built up friendly relations with other tribes. During his time, the whole society lived in peace and harmony.

He also had the first lunar calendar made. With this calendar, people could arrange their plantation activities accordingly. As a result, agriculture was greatly developed. He fought the enemies in person. Legendarily, he had sent Hou Yi the archer to shot down 9 Suns to alleviate people from misery. Because of these, he was made emperor.

When he turned old, he decided to find his successor. Shun was recommended by chiefs from various tribes. Shun was named for his filial piety and good moral record.

Yao decided to find out about the young man himself. He married his two daughters to Shun, to see if the young man could well manage his domestic relations, which Shun handled very well.

He asked Shun to educate people to be filial to parents, respectful to one’s senior, kind to one’s  siblings and so on so forth. People was most wanting to follow Shun’s example.  

Finally, Yao sent Shun to live in a secluded mountain to meet the challenge of Mother Nature. After close observation, Emperor Yao nominated Shun as his successor.

The Emperor Shun was still modest and worked just as hard alongside his people. During his rein, the society was stable, people were polite and satisfactory. They had enough to eat and dressed warmly. When Shun got old, he chose the very able and widely respected Yu as his successor, much in the same way Yao chose himself.

Shun died at the age of 110. He along with Yao were praised throughout history for their fair management of society and their moral integrity.