Simaqian said: There are plenty of documentation about the Five Emperors and the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. However, we just don't have a complete picture of what those pre-Yin nobles were up to. Things only get a bit clearer once we hit the Zhou dynasty. Confucius compiled the "Spring and Autumn Annals" based on historical records, recording the year numbers and correcting the dates; this work was done very meticulously. However, his organization of the "Book of Documents" was a bit slapdash; many places didn’t include dates, and even where they did, there were many omissions, so he couldn't copy everything down. So, when encountering doubtful places, he directly recorded the doubts, which shows he was a careful guy.
I have read some historical notes and found that from the Yellow Emperor onwards, specific years have been recorded. But after carefully consulting the calendar, genealogy, and the transmission of the Five Virtues, I found that there are huge discrepancies between ancient versions. What was his deal? Therefore, I put together a family tree, using stuff from the "Book of Documents" and other historical accounts, from the Yellow Emperor to the Republican period (the first year of the Republic, 841 BC).
Mr. Zhang asked Mr. Chu, "The *Shijing* says Qi and Houji were born without fathers. But every other history book says they did have fathers, and they were both sons of the Yellow Emperor. Isn't that a bit weird, considering what the *Shijing* says?"
Mr. Chu said: "No. The poem says that Qi was hatched from an egg, and Hou Ji was born from footprints, indicating that they were destined and sincere. But gods and spirits don't just appear; they need human involvement. How could a child be born without a father? The poem sometimes says there is a father and sometimes says there is no father, so the story has two versions. Yao knew that Qi and Hou Ji were both virtuous people, born from heaven, so he gave Qi seventy square li of land, passing down through more than ten generations to King Tang of Shang, who then became the king of the world. Yao knew that Hou Ji's descendants would also become kings in the future, so he granted him a hundred li of land. His descendants continued for thousands of years, until the time of King Wen of Zhou when the world was unified. The poem says: 'Tang's ancestor Qi, born without a father. Qi's mother and sisters were bathing in Xuanqiu water when a swallow dropped an egg. Qi's mother picked it up, accidentally swallowed it, and gave birth to Qi. Qi was born very wise, and Yao appointed him as Chief Engineer, giving him the surname Zi. "Zi" means "son" or "descendant," signifying greatness. The poet praised him, saying, "The Shang dynasty thrived, the divine bird sent by Heaven descended to give birth to Shang." "Shang" is real; "Yin" is the country name. King Wen's ancestor was Hou Ji, who was also born without a father. Hou Ji's mother was named Jiang Yuan; she saw a big man's footprint when she went out, stepped on it, and became pregnant, giving birth to Hou Ji. Jiang Yuan thought the child had no father and was very lowly, so she abandoned him on the roadside, and even the cows and sheep avoided stepping on him. She then carried him to the mountains, where he was raised by the forest. She also threw him into a big pond, and the birds used their wings to cover him and find food for him. Jiang Yuan was very surprised and realized he was the son of heaven, so she raised him. Yao knew he was very talented, so he appointed him as the Grand Farmer and gave him the surname Ji. "Ji" means fundamental, origin. The poet praised him, saying, "He was the ancestor of the people," cultivating and refining himself, constantly striving for self-improvement; this is a description of the origin of Hou Ji."
Confucius said, "In the past, Yao granted the Xie clan to Qi, in order to have Shang Tang in the future; entrusted the Ji family to Hou Ji, in order to have King Wen of Zhou in the future; the Zhou royal family appointed Ji Li, which was a divinely ordained omen; it was only after Tai Bo went to the state of Wu that the Wu state came to be." The Mandate of Heaven is inscrutable; only a sage can understand it. Shun, Yu, Qi, and Hou Ji are all descendants of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor governed the world with the Mandate of Heaven, his grace extended to future generations, so his descendants ruled as emperor once again; this is Heaven's reward for those with virtue. People do not know this, thinking they all rose from obscurity. How could commoners suddenly become rulers of the world for no reason? It must have been the Mandate of Heaven!"
"Why were the descendants of the Yellow Emperor able to reign as kings for so long?"
It is said, "The ancients said, if a king of the world can atone for the people's sins and beg for their lives, then he is a true son of heaven, able to enjoy blessings for generations! The Yellow Emperor was like this. If governance is just and righteous, able to uphold propriety and righteousness, wage war according to Heaven's timing and win, such a king can enjoy blessings for a thousand generations. The King of Shu is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, and even now, he is five thousand li southwest of the Han capital, regularly paying tribute; is this not because of the virtues of his ancestors, passing down grace to future generations? So, rulers must never neglect virtue!"
Han Dynasty general Huo Qubing, whose courtesy name was Zimeng, was also a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Only someone really smart would get this; it's way over the head of most people. Why do I say this? Back then, people used their country's name as their last name. Huo is the name of an ancient country. King Wu gave his brother Shu the land of Huo as a fiefdom, later Duke Xian of Jin destroyed the state of Huo, and the people of Huo became regular folks, settling down in Pingyang. Pingyang is in Hedong, which was the land of the Jin state and later split into the state of Wei. You can even trace it back to the Zhou Dynasty, if you believe the *Shijing*. Legend says the Zhou Dynasty's founder, Houji, was born without a father. But family trees from those times show Houji's dad was Gaoxin, the Yellow Emperor's great-grandson. The Yellow Emperor prophesied that over a century after the Han Dynasty started, a guy of average height from Baiyan would rule the land, even while the emperor was still a baby, still riding around in his carriage. General Huo, his hometown is in Baiyan, Pingyang. Back when I was a low-level official, I was chatting with some fortune tellers at the Qiting pavilion, and that's what they said. Pretty wild, right?
The tables in Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) are not translated. If you are interested in these tables, you can click on the Republic of China flag above to view the Traditional Chinese page.
