Dàyǔ( 大禹) — the Master Water Controller

The Yellow River (Huáng Hé黄河) is the cradle of the Chinese nation. She has fostered generations of Chinese but she has also brought troubles with her floods. The diligent Chinese people have been struggling to control the water of the river for generations.

Dàyǔ was a famous water controller in the first dynasty of China more than 4000 years ago. His father Gǔn (鲧) was also a water controller, who was sentenced to death by the king Shùn (舜) because of his failure to control the water by plugging up its flow. Dàyǔ inherited his father’s experience, and after much investigation and research, he found the reason for the floods. He thought that the floods damaged the banks in the lower areas because of the speed of the flow pouring from its high cradleland. He led his people dredging, dispersing and leading the flow down to the lower area then successfully preventing the water from flooding.

Dàyǔ worked very hard. He had been working in controlling water for 13 years. During these periods he did not go back his home, even 3 times stopping by. This became a good example of which Chinese people are proud. The legend about him is in reality a reflection of the ancient Chinese people who struggled against the floods of the Yellow River.

Because of his success in controlling water Dàyǔ obtained the crown vacated by Shùn according to the doctrine of handing the crown to the talented after abdication of the king. But it was Dàyǔ who passed his power to his own son Qǐ (启) by establishing the hereditary system. Then Qǐ founded the Xià (夏) Dynasty, the first Chinese dynasty recorded.