Yu the Great Controls the Flood

Tradition says that in the time of Yao and Shun, floods swamped the Yellow River basin, drowning crops and houses and bringing great suffering. Yao ordered Yu's father Gun to control the floods; Gun tried building dikes to block the water, but after nine years failed and was later executed by Shun at Mount Yu. Shun then ordered Yu to continue the work. Learning from his father's failure, Yu switched to dredging: following the lay of the land, he cut channels and led the floodwater into rivers and finally into the sea. He is said to have devoted himself wholly to the task, traveling for more than ten years and “passing his own door three times without entering,” his hands and feet calloused as he labored alongside the people. After years of effort the floods were finally ended, and the people could again live in peace and farm. Because of his success, Yu was loved by the people and honored as “Yu the Great.” When Shun grew old, he yielded the leadership to Yu. Yu is also said to have divided the realm into Nine Provinces and cast Nine Tripod Cauldrons as symbols of state power. After Yu died, his son Qi succeeded him and founded the Xia dynasty. The story appears in the Book of Documents, Mencius, the Records of the Grand Historian and other works; though legendary, it reflects early people's struggle against natural disasters. Yu's spirit of selflessness, hard work, fearlessness and working with nature is still celebrated. Many sites and place names are associated with Yu, such as the Mausoleum of Yu in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and the Yu King Terrace in Dengfeng, Henan; he has been honored through the generations, and the “spirit of Yu the Great” is a treasured part of Chinese heritage.