Da Yu Harnessing the Floods
This is an ancient Chinese myth about Yu, also called Da Yu (Great Yu), who was said to be a descendant of Huangdi. Shi Ji (The Records of the Grand Historian) records that he was the great-great-grandson of Huangdi and the grandson of Emperor Zhuanxu. Other historical records say that Yu's father Gun was the leader of the Xia tribe and Da Yu was enfeoffed to a place called Xia (present-day Yuzhou, Henan Province), which was known as the State of Xia Yu.
It is recorded in ancient books that more than 4,000 years ago, serious floods in the Yellow River basin inflicted immense disasters upon the local people. Da Yu was entrusted to harness the floods. Drawing lessons from his predecessors, he considered the Central Plains and the numerous mountains and rivers as a whole, and adopted a new dredging approach. Da Yu divided the country into nine parts according to the geographical conditions. He first dredged the rivers and levelled the land to fertilize the soil and then he cut paths through the mountains and cleared the water systems, so the water would flow smoothly into the rivers and then into the sea. This "dredging" rather than "blocking" approach reflected the ingenuity of the ancient people. To harness the floods, Da Yu worked away from home for years in a row alongside the people of different tribes and allegedly passed his home three times without stopping and going in. After 13 years of strenuous efforts, he successfully tamed the floods. The fields became fertile, and the people finally lived in peace.
The story of Da Yu holds a significant position in the history of the Chinese civilization. As the leader of flood control, he worked together with his people braving wind and rain and succeeded by leveraging the local conditions. The spirit formed in this process, which encompasses strict separation between public and private interests, unity among varoius tribes, putting the people first, and rational innovation, has become an essential symbol of the overall spirit of the Chinese nation.
大禹治水
大禹治水是中國古代的神話傳說故事。相傳，大禹是黃帝的后代。《史記·夏本紀》記載：“禹者，黃帝之玄孫而帝顓頊之孫也。”另有史書記載，鯀（禹的父親）是夏部落首領，大禹也曾被封于“夏地”（今河南禹州市），稱為“夏禹國”。
據古籍記載，大約在4000多年前，黃河流域洪水為患，給人民帶來了無邊的災難。大禹受命負責治水，他從前人治水實踐中汲取經驗和教訓，把中原大地的山山水水當作一個整體來治理，并發明了疏導治水的新方法。他根據山川地理情況，將中國分為九個州，先治理九州的土地，通過疏通河流、平整土地，使得大片土地變得肥沃；接著治理山路、理通水脈，使田間細水流進大河繼而匯入大海。這種變“堵”為“疏”的治理方式體現了古代勞動人民的聰明才智。大禹為了治理洪水，長年在外與各部落人民一起奮戰，相傳他曾三過家門而不入。經過13年的奮斗，河水平緩地向東流去，農田變成了糧倉，人民又過上了安居樂業的生活。
大禹治水在中華文明發展史上具有重要意義。大禹作為治理洪水的領導者，躬親勞苦帶領人民櫛風沐雨，治水除患，體現了艱苦奮斗、因勢利導、科學治水、以人為本的治水理念。治水過程中形成的以公私分明、民族至上、民為根本、科學創新等為內涵的大禹治水精神，成為了中華民族精神的重要象征。
