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(guó)古代的神話傳說(shuō)故事。相傳，大禹是黃帝的后代?！妒酚洝は谋炯o(jì)》記載：“禹者，黃帝之玄孫而帝顓頊之孫也?！绷碛惺窌?shū)記載，鯀（禹的父親）是夏部落首領(lǐng)，大禹也曾被封于“夏地”（今河南禹州市），稱為“夏禹國(guó)”。

據(jù)古籍記載，大約在4000多年前，黃河流域洪水為患，給人民帶來(lái)了無(wú)邊的災(zāi)難。大禹受命負(fù)責(zé)治水，他從前人治水實(shí)踐中汲取經(jīng)驗(yàn)和教訓(xùn)，把中原大地的山山水水當(dāng)作一個(gè)整體來(lái)治理，并發(fā)明了疏導(dǎo)治水的新方法。他根據(jù)山川地理情況，將中國(guó)分為九個(gè)州，先治理九州的土地，通過(guò)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(xì)水流進(jìn)大河繼而匯入大海。這種變“堵”為“疏”的治理方式體現(xiàn)了古代勞動(dòng)人民的聰明才智。大禹為了治理洪水，長(zhǎng)年在外與各部落人民一起奮戰(zhàn)，相傳他曾三過(guò)家門(mén)而不入。經(jīng)過(guò)13年的奮斗，河水平緩地向東流去，農(nóng)田變成了糧倉(cāng)，人民又過(guò)上了安居樂(lè)業(yè)的生活。

大禹治水在中華文明發(fā)展史上具有重要意義。大禹作為治理洪水的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，躬親勞苦帶領(lǐng)人民櫛風(fēng)沐雨，治水除患，體現(xiàn)了艱苦奮斗、因勢(shì)利導(dǎo)、科學(xué)治水、以人為本的治水理念。治水過(guò)程中形成的以公私分明、民族至上、民為根本、科學(xué)創(chuàng)新等為內(nèi)涵的大禹治水精神，成為了中華民族精神的重要象征。