Tang Yao and Yu Shun Abdicating in Favor of Others. Thousand Character Classic 千字文 – Line 12.

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推位让国, 有虞陶唐。
(tuī wèi ràng guó), (yǒu yú táo táng)。

推 (deciline) 位 (position) 让 (let) 国 (country),

Declining position for the sake of the country. There are many noble and unselfish men who declined or abdicated their positions in favour of others who can better lead the country. Sadly, this is a rare virtue indeed.

有 (there is) 虞 (Yu) 陶 (Tao) 唐 (Tang)。

There is Tang Yao 唐堯 Táng Yáo also known as Taotang 陶唐 Táotáng who is said to have invented the game of 围棋 wéiqí or “Go”. He is often extolled as the morally perfect sage-king whose benevolence and diligence served as a model to future Chinese monarchs and emperors. He passed his throne to Yu Shun 虞舜 Yú Shùn to whome he gave his two daughters in marriage instead of his slow-witted son Danzhu 丹朱 Dān Zhū.

Yu Shun 虞舜 was reputed to be a very noble character who treated his stepmother and stepbrother well even though they badly mistreated him to the extent of trying to murder him. He is also remembered for being the orignator of the the music called Dashao 大韶 dàsháo which is composed of a symphony of nine Chinese music instruments. He relinquished his power to Yu the Great 大禹 Dà-Yǔ, the founder of the Xia Dynasty. His ministers however favored passing the throne to Yu's son, Qi 啟 qǐ thereby instituting the beginning of hereditary monarchy.

The Bamboo Annals 竹書紀年; Zhúshū Jìnián, a chronicle of ancient China however painted a less romantic picture. It recorded that Yu Shun rebelled and imprisoned Tang Yao leaving him to die in prison. Yao’s son Danzhu was exilled and later defeated by Shun. Yu the Great also rebelled and banished Shun.

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