Sima Qian claimed in Annals of the Five Emperors () that Shun descended from Yellow Emperor through the latter's grandson Emperor Zhuanxu. The Bamboo Annals (048) recorded the name of Shun's mother as Wodeng (), and Shun's birthplace as Yaoxu (). Wodeng died when Shun was very young. Shun's blind father Gusou (, literally: "blind elder"; by semantic extension "old fool") remarried soon after Shun's mother's death. Shun's stepmother then gave birth to Shun's half brother Xiang () and a half-sister (Liènǚ Zhuàn, Ch. 1). Shun's stepmother and half brother treated Shun terribly, often forcing Shun to do all the hard work in the family and only giving him the worst food and clothing. Shun's father, being blind and elderly, was often ignorant of Shun's good deeds and always blamed Shun for everything. Yet, despite these conditions, Shun never complained and always treated his father, his stepmother, and his half brother with kindness and respect.