Based on what I’ve learned in CMLIT 108- Myths and Mythologies this semester, almost in each single major myth and belief system, there is a great flood, such as Noah as you all know, the immortal Utnapishtim in the epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian king Ziusudra, and the regular flood among other destructions in other myths. Among these stories above, all the heroes, with no exception, survived the flood with the order of their gods to build a giant vassel to contain all the good creators, therefore the bad ones would drown and perish. However, the flood in China was not dealt with such way. Our world was saved by two heroes, a father and his son.

Circa 2100 BC, before the first real dynasty was born in China, during the reign of Emperor Yao, a climate change caused the great flood that no one has ever heard of. Yao had to led his people abandon the farmlands and retreat to the mountains. He appointed his distant relative, the Prince of Chong, Gun(鲧) to control the flood. Gun tried to control the flood by building dam around the flooded area. The dam was built with 息壤(the swelling earth) for its ability of continuous self-expansion. At first, it worked very well: no matter how much the flood rose, the dam rose as well. However, this dam, nine years later, as it growing higher, collepsed. Gun failed his job. What’s more. The Soil, the swelling earth, was stealt from the god, and the god was so angry that he sent Zhurong to execute Gun at Mountain Yu(羽山).

Then, Yu(禹), the son of Gun, was appointed to control the water after his father. Unlike his father, Yu tried to drain the water rather than merely use dikes containing the water. Yu was an ambitious man unlike his father. He swore not coming home again before he finished the task. He said: “洪水滔天，浩浩懷山襄陵，下民昏墊。予乘四載，隨山刊木，暨益奏庶鮮食。予決九川，距四海，濬畎澮距川。” (The inundating waters seemed to assail the heavens, and in their extent embraced the hills and overtopped the great mounds, so that the people were bewildered and overwhelmed. I opened passages for the streams throughout the nine provinces and conducted them to the seas. I deepened the channels and conducted them to the streams.) Within the next thirteen years, for three times he passed by his home, but he just waved his hands to his wife and didn’t came in. He led the people, cut the mountains, dig canals, and finally led the flood water into the East China Sea.

To award Yu’s effort and achievement, Emperor Yao gave his throne to Yu. Many years later, after Yu died, his son Qi(启) became emperor and created the first dynasty in China, Xia(夏).

Work Cited

《尚书》卷第五 益稷第五 (Book of Documents, Chapter V)

《史记》五帝本纪第一，夏本纪第二，河渠书第七 (Record of the Grand Historian, Annal I of the Five Emperors, Annal II of Xia, Book VII of Rivers and Canals)

Wikipedia: Gread Flood (China) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_(China)