Ancient China · Ruler

Yao 堯

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 4
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Yao was a ruler.

Life and dates

Death

died when Shun was fifty-eight 堯崩
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 261

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 261

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Dan Zhu (丹朱)
son 子
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 270

Origins and identity

same surname line from Huangdi 同姓
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 273

Places and affiliations

Taotang 陶唐
Relation Ruled as
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 274

Events and relationships

Relation Predecessor of · Person Shun (舜)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 1, passage 261

References in the histories

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 1Annals of the Five Emperors · 4 passages

舜年二十以孝聞，年三十堯舉之，年五十攝行天子事，年五十八堯崩，年六十一代堯踐帝位。 Famed for filial piety at twenty, chosen at thirty, regent at fifty, he mourned Yao’s death at fifty-eight, and at sixty-one inherited the throne.

故黃帝為有熊，帝顓頊為高陽，帝嚳為高辛，帝堯為陶唐，帝舜為有虞。 Thus, Huangdi styled his house Youxiong, Zhuanxu Gaoyang, Ku Gaoxin, Yao Taotang, Shun Youyu.

然尚書獨載堯以來； The Classic of Documents begins only with Yao.

余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱黃帝、堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是。 I have traveled west to Kongtong, north beyond Zhuolu, east to the sea, and south along the Yangzi and Huai; everywhere elders still pointed out where Huangdi, Yao, and Shun dwelt, though local lore varied. In the end, what agrees with the old documents is nearest the truth.