Yu the Great
The embodiment of the flood-control legend, said to have founded the Xia dynasty and begun hereditary rule.
Life
Continuing his father's flood control
Yu the Great is said to have been a descendant of the Yellow Emperor who lived in the time of Yao and Shun. According to legend, floods were then ravaging the Yellow River valley and the people suffered greatly; his father Gun worked at flood control for nine years without success and was executed, and Yu was ordered to continue his father's work. Changing from blocking the waters to channeling them, he finally tamed the floods after great hardship.
Nine Provinces and the hereditary realm
According to the Records of the Grand Historian and other texts, after his success in flood control he was chosen by Shun as his heir; he marked out the Nine Provinces and cast the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to symbolize the unity of the realm. After Shun died Yu became Son of Heaven. Before his death he intended to abdicate in favor of a worthy man, but his son Qi seized power and killed his rival; from then on the traditional system of abdication gave way to hereditary rule of the realm, and the Xia dynasty began.
Debate over historicity
Many scholars regard the Erlitou site as the archaeological counterpart of Xia culture, but the site itself has yielded no written material that can confirm it belonged to the "Xia" or to "Yu." Whether Yu the Great really existed and whether his flood-control deeds are true have long been debated; his image was elaborated layer upon layer by texts such as the Book of Documents and the Records of the Grand Historian, and the shift from abdication to hereditary rule of the realm bears a strong flavor of later political parable.
Legacy
In Chinese tradition Yu the Great is the model of selfless public service and diligent rule for the people; the story of his flood control has been handed down through the generations, and "the traces of Yu" became a byword for the Chinese realm. Organized around the Nine Provinces, the "Tribute of Yu" records mountains, rivers and products and is an important document of early Chinese geography, but it was composed long after the legendary Yu. In modern times the Doubting Antiquity school questioned whether he really existed, and archaeologists still differ over the relationship between Xia culture and the Erlitou site.
Major works & achievements
- Tamed the floods by dredging channels instead of building dams
- Demarcated the Nine Provinces (see the "Tribute of Yu" in the Book of Documents)
- Said to have cast the Nine Tripod Cauldrons
- His son Qi began hereditary succession
Did you know? The saying "passed his own door three times without entering" comes from the Mencius, which says Yu "spent eight years away, passing his door three times without going in."
Key dates
- 2100 BCETamed the floods on Shun's orders
- 2085 BCEGuided the mountains and dredged the rivers, marking out the Nine Provinces
- 2070 BCESucceeded Shun as overlord of all under heaven
- 2065 BCEReplaced abdication with hereditary rule of the realm
- 2060 BCEDied; Qi succeeded him and founded the Xia