there was a small period in ancient china where it
uses non imperialism or democracy system.
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For a brief outline, I should re-mention them again. The "San
Huang Wu Di 三皇五帝" (3 Clan-rulers and 5 Emperors) are said to be the
ancestors of Chinese people. Most of their stories have been passed
down as legends
The 3 clan-rulers (3 Huang) are:
1. Suiren Clan (燧人氏) [Fire clan] - said to have invented the
technique of creating fire from flint stones
2. Fuxi Clan (伏羲氏) [Fisherman clan] - said to have invented the
fish net for fishing.
3. Shennong Clan (神农氏) [Farmers clan] - said to have invented
agriculture and farming
The 3 clan-rulers was said to appear around 5000-2500 BC, during
the neolithic period
At that time, it was still a matriarchy society (female ruled
society).
By around 2500 BC, Chinese society turned towards a patriachy
society which came the legendary myths of 5 Emperors.
The 5 emperor (5 Di) are:
1. Huangdi (黄帝) [Yellow Emperor]
2. Zhuanxu (颛顼) (grand son of Yellow Emperor)
3. Diku (帝喾) (great grandson of Yellow Emperor)
4. Yao (尧), or Tang Yao (唐尧)
5. Shun (舜), or Yu Shun (虞舜)
After the 5 emperor's period, the next ruler came to be
known as Yu (禹), who was the founder of Xia dynasty (2100 BC-1600
BC). The 5 emperors period existed a form of tribal-alliance system
whereby the alliance chietain's position was passed on to the most
capable person (known as the "Shanrang system 禅让制度"), instead of to
his son or any family members. The famous story of "Yao-Shun's
Shanrang" (尧舜禅让) speaks precisely of this.
Yu, on the other hand, was famous for his action taken to help stop
the flood of the Yellow River. According to legend, his father Gun
(鲧) was summoned by Yao to solve the problem of flood from Yellow
River. Gun attempted to build dykes to stop flood, but the higher
the dykes was built, the water level rose and overflowed. Gun was
unsuccessful in solving this problem and was dismissed for this.
Yao summoned Yu to solve this problem. Yu studied this and visited
many places. He finally realised that the only solution to solve
this was to divert the flow of the river to the lower region
(delta) of yellow river. He noticed a mountain between the boundary
of Shanxi and Shaanxi province which blocked the flow, and thus
built a hole for the river to pass through to the lower region
which continued till the ocean. For this, he spent some 13 years
and was successful. For this, he was later made the chieftain of
the tribal-alliance.
After Yu died, his position was passed on to his son Qi (启), and
the system changed from "Shanrang" to "Shixi 世袭" system, whereby
the ruler's position is passed on to the next family member
(notably the ruler's son) after he died. Thus, began the existence
of dynasty (a time period ruled by a family with the same
surname).
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中国历史上的“禅让”，起源于何时？据说黄帝得天下后，曾让位给许由，许由不肯接受，后来黄帝连天下也不要了，隐居成了道人。这是“黄老之学”的传说，黄帝到底还是禅让不成，据《史记》记载，黄帝的位子还是传给他的孙子颛顼。帝位的承传，一直到尧帝这一代，都是家族政治，代代相传，尧也是黄帝的后代。
从历史的记载“尧舜禅让”，最为现代中国人津津乐道。有人认为，尧舜的“禅让”，比现代西方的民主还进步，他们不用斗争，落落大方就让政权和平过渡了，而且禅让的继承者德性很好，治理国家的能力更强。所以“尧舜”被称为圣人，“尧舜”时代是中国唯一出现过“路不拾遗，夜不闭户”的大同社会。《礼书‧礼运》就对此宣扬过。
中国人对“禅让”制的向往，以我看来，是对中国种姓专制制度无奈的一种折射反映。中国历代王朝的权力继承，都是传给自己的后代的，此举是引起社会不公和朝廷兴衰的原因之一。人们幻想能有像“尧舜”那样的“禅让”来使社会长治久安。刚好历史上出现过尧舜禅让，也就被中国人传为佳话了。
尧年迈后，问他的手下“共工”（即大臣、部长之类）谁可以接他的班？共工都说他的儿子丹朱可以接班。尧知道他的儿子不行，让共工再推荐，于是舜就出线了。尧并不是马上让位给舜，尧是有备而来的：他把两个女儿嫁给舜，对舜进行考验。整整三十年，舜才得以正式接班。尧深知他的儿子无德无能，把帝位传给舜，也算是“知人且哲”吧？
而舜禅让帝位给禹，则是最有风度和深明大义的举动。舜在位时，禹的父亲鲧因治水无能，舜亲自下令处死他。按理说，禹与舜有杀父之仇，可是舜还让禹接他父亲的班，当水利部长去了。可见舜的心胸是多么广阔。后来禹治水有功，舜毫不犹豫地将帝位禅让给他。以此来说，舜是一个很了不起的皇帝。在历史上，舜可称得上是一个大公无私的人。我认为舜是中国历史上最值得称赞的圣人。
后来历史上的“曹植七步诗”，也有人认为是曹植不愿意当皇帝，让位给他的哥哥曹丕的诗话，实则曹植这个“煮豆诗”是出于无奈，不忍见骨肉相残而自动放弃皇位。且曹植也没有当上皇帝，谈不上“禅让”。
中国现代史上，说得上禅让的，可能是孙中山让位给袁世凯了。武昌起义成功，中华民国成立，孙中山已被推举为临时大总统。后来孙为了中国的前途，主动让位给袁世凯做总统。这也算是一个禅让的佳话吧？@*