Yu Rebuilds the Earth

Author: Traditional

Time Period: 999 BCE–1 BCE

Country or Culture: China

Genre: Myth

PLOT SUMMARY

The Yellow Emperor rules over China, and while he does his best to support his people and bring them happiness, he is unable to prevent the terrible flooding that unleashes itself again and again onto the land. The only trick he has is to gather magic dirt, which he drops into the floodwaters to absorb them, but this dirt is never enough to keep the destruction back.

One day, his son Kun steals the magic dirt, thinking he will be able to help the people better than his father can. Kun travels all over China, dropping the dirt and building dams. The mounds of magic dirt swell as they absorb water, and the farmers gather these mounds and spread them across their fields. Unfortunately, Kun’s dams regularly burst open and flood the fields once again. When the Yellow Emperor learns that his son has stolen the magic dirt, he sends the fire god, Zhu Rong, to kill him. Zhu Rong chases Kun all the way to the glaciers at the end of the world, slices him with his sword, and leaves his body to freeze. After several years, the Yellow Emperor sends Zhu Rong back to check on the body. When the fire god cuts open the ice to expose Kun, however, he accidentally slices the body again, releasing a gigantic dragon that had been inside. This dragon is Yu the Great, the son of Kun, and he magically knows all the things that Kun knew in life.

Yu has the same desires as his father, but he knows that the Yellow Emperor will not tolerate any betrayal or lies. Thus, Yu goes to the emperor and asks his permission to fight the floods. The Yellow Emperor eventually agrees, giving Yu a large dragon and a magic turtle to accompany him on his quest. Yu then carefully measures the earth and divides it into nine regions. With the turtle carrying the magic dirt and the dragon helping him carve canals into the landscape, he travels through all of China, gradually redirecting the rivers to the sea. This work is long and arduous and takes a severe toll on Yu’s body. He appears as a human while laboring so as not to frighten the farmers, and as he continues to rebuild the earth, his body shrivels and becomes malformed. He also loses his wife and son, who abandon him because of his obsession with fighting the floods.

In the end, Yu manages to build up the farms and repair the land from the horrendous floods. From then on, the people are safe from the floods and able to grow vast amounts of food. The people are so thankful that the Yellow Emperor decides to name Yu his successor. As the new emperor, Yu ushers in the Xia dynasty, and his subjects never forget to thank Yu for the great sacrifices he has made for them.

SIGNIFICANCE

The myth of Yu as a legendary leader, traversing the expanses of China and carving the landscape apart with a dragon and a giant turtle, is based on the historical leader Yu, who reigned around 2000 BCE. A great deal of time separates modern audiences from the story of Yu, so historical details are somewhat difficult to separate from the legendary figure who appears in the myth. It is generally accepted that Yu lived during a period of intense flooding in central China, especially in his home along the Yellow River. His father battled the floods by building dams but was not able to prevent the destruction before his death. Yu, however, came up with a plan to build irrigation canals that both worked with the natural flow of the water and supported local agriculture. By directing the floods in this manner, he helped to usher in a period of prosperity in his homeland. These accomplishments made Yu so popular that the emperor, Shun, made Yu his successor instead of his own son. Yu would go on to initiate a patrilineal tradition, establishing the first dynasty in Chinese history, the Xia dynasty, by naming his firstborn son emperor.

The shift from historical reality to mythological tale indicates a great deal about the impact Yu had on Chinese culture and politics. In the fictional narrative, Yu does not simply create a system of irrigation in his own land but rather radically restructures the entirety of the Chinese landscape and geography. In addition to this, he is the first figure to map all of China and the first leader to divide the land into the nine provinces. This is an intense and systematic level of ordering that contrasts with the disorder and chaos brought about by the floods. Tied in with the development of the first dynasty and the establishment of a political system that would endure for thousands of years, Yu came to represent the righteousness and prosperity made possible through an organized, structured civilization. This is further stressed by linking Yu to the Yellow Emperor; while the legendary ruler seems to have actually been many generations behind Yu, the close linking of the two famed leaders further emphasizes the importance of the dynasty system and the value of the emperors’ accomplishments.

Throughout China, local myths praising Yu and linking regional leadership to the legendary emperor became increasingly popular in the centuries following his death. As his mythology expanded and the divide between the historical reality and the fantastical narratives grew wider, the diverse stories of Yu continued to influence the development of Chinese politics and culture. A figure of great sacrifice and pure morals, Yu would be praised throughout Chinese history by many thinkers, including the philosopher Confucius, as an ideal leader and citizen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Birrell, Anne. Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993. Print.

Collier, Irene Dea. Chinese Mythology. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2001. Print.

Lee, Jacob. “Xia Dynasty.” History Reference Center. EBSCOhost, 2007. Web. 2 July 2013.

Lewis, Mark Edward. The Flood Myths of Early China. Albany: State U of New York P, 2006. Print.

Suh, Kyung-Ho. Rev. of The Flood Myths of Early China, by Mark Edward Lewis. China Review International 15.1 (2008): 125–31. Print.