If you shun someone or something, you deliberately avoid them or keep away from them. From that time forward everybody shunned him He has always shunned publicity. to deliberately avoid someone or something. v. In Chinese mythology, one of the three legendary emperors, along with Yao and Da Yu, of the golden age of antiquity ( 23rd century BC), singled out by Confucius as models of integrity and virtue. Though his father repeatedly tried to murder him, Shun remained loyal to him. Because heaven and earth knew of Shun's virtue, animals assisted him in all his labours. The emperor Yao bypassed his own son to select Shun as his successor, and he gave Shun his two daughters in marriage. Shun is credited with standardizing weights and measures, regulating waterways, and organizing the kingdom into provinces