Posted 2016/12/31
Yu the Great is one of the legendary Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors at the dawn of Chinese civilization, enjoying an equal reputation with Yao and Sun, the sage kings. However, it's believed that he was the leader of the tribal alliance in Northern China at that time and became a hero of the Chinese nation for his subduing the floods.
It's said that a great flood lashed China about four or five thousand years ago and Yu the Great was assigned to fight against the great calamity. Drawing lessons from the predecessor's failure, he used methods of channeling and dredging instead of blocking and damming the water up. To better handle the people and eliminate the catastrophe, he divided the people into nine sections and dispatched them into nine different areas. Under his leadership, the flood water flowed into the sea through nine newly-dredged rivers. Over a decade's arduous works finally witnessed the victory of fighting against the disaster. Yu the Great thenceforth became the personification of selfless devotion and perseverance in the history of Chinese civilization with the story that "three times he passed the door of his house without going in" passing by.
After Yu the Great had the flood under control and united the tribal alliances, he passed the throne to his son - Qi, who established the first slave state Xia in China's history. Therefore Yu the Great sometimes is also called as Xia Yu.
