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The theme of virtuous emperors wanting to cede their empires to hermits was a common one and presumably attests to the virtue of both the hermits and the worthy emperors. 許由 Xǔ Yóu does not appear in the literature prior to Zhuangzi but he does appear once shortly after in the Confucian Xunzi and then multiple times in Hanfeizi, so I don't think Zhuangzi made him up since I doubt if they would have regarded him as a credible source. He appears in 1:04 and again in 6:08.
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