-According to legend, after the "Three Sovereigns" period came the "Five Emperors" period, although of course it is unclear as to who exactly they were and how many actually existed (if any).
-Sometimes the Yellow Emperor ("Huangdi") is listed as the first emperor, but other times it is his son, Shaohao (AKA Jin Tian or Xuanxiao), who is listed as the first.
-Some legends say that Shaohao was the emperor of a paradise in the mountains to the east that was populated with lots of birds.
-Other legends say that he was the leader of the Eastern Yi (AKA "Eastern Barbarians" or "Dongyi"), but this is also unclear and confusing.
-According to some sources, after Shaohao came a dude named Zhuanxu (AKA Gaoyang) who was apparently a a grandson of the Yellow Emperor.
-The most interesting thing about his reign was that it was during this time that Heaven and Earth separated.
-Some historians suggest that this myth is actually a metaphor for social stratification; a time when the rich and powerful began to have special access to divine rituals and magical rites exclusively.
-After Zhuanxu came a dude named Ku (AKA Di Ku; Gaoxin, Gaoxin Shi, or The White Emperor), cousin of Zhuanxu and another grandson of the Yellow Emperor.
-Loved music and the arts and was responsible for having a variety of musical instruments invented.
-Also loved the ladies, as he had multiple wives, a tradition that would continue for thousands of years.
-After Zhuanxu was succeeded by his second son, Yao (AKA Yi Qi; Fangxun; or Tang Yao).
-There are also some versions which say that before Yao became emperor, his older brother, Zhi (AKA Di Zhi) was emperor first.
-Said to have invented the game Go (Wei Qi).
-The Great Flood was also during this time.
-The Yellow River flooded the entire kingdom.
-The only things weren't submerged were mountain peaks. These mountain peaks became known as The 12 Islands.
-This would happen every year.
-Yao turned to his advisors, "The Four Mountains" ("Siyue"), who recommended Yao appoint a special person to deal with the task of managing the flooding.
-Yao chose a relative (possibly his cousin?), Count Gun of Chong, to do this.
-Gao used magic soil ("Xirang"), stolen from the gods, to build magic dykes to contain the river, and while this worked for a bit, this was only a stopgap, as this wasn't enough to completely solve the problem.
-This series of unfortunate events caused Yao to believe that he was no longer worthy of being emperor, so he stepped down and gave the throne to another relative, Shun (AKA Chonghua).
-According to legend, Emperor Shun was an excellent ruler, very efficient.
-Yao couldn't give his son the throne because his son, Prince Danzhu, was an asshole.
-Shun had originally refused to become emperor when he was nominated (most likely because the land at this time was so fucked up), so this kicked off the historical Chinese tradition of refusing to accept promotions (at least in terms of being emperor) at least once, as it was seen that those who don't want to rule are actually the only ones who are fit to do so).
-Early on, however, Emperor Shun clashed with Count Gun, who surprisingly still had a job, but was acting like Donald Trump and calling into question the legitimacy of Shun's enthronement.
-Because of his insolence and incompetence, Emperor Shun had Count Gun locked away in a mountain prison.
-In order to manage his lands more efficiently, Emperor Shun appointed Count Gun's son, Yu, to replace him and oversee the situation.
-Yu opted to tackle this problem by implementing a system of drains, diversion canals, and irrigation channels into farmland.
-He accomplished this by using mythical creatures (dragons, giant turtles, etc.)
-Because of this, Emperor Shun declared Yu to be the heir to the throne. It's unclear, however, why Emperor Shun didn't name his own son, Qi, as heir.
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