Basic Information
Alternative names: Gaomi, Yuhuang [6]
Titles: Yu the Great, Jade Emperor [6]
Type/Species: Eastern Dragon, Ying Lung
Origin: Chinese Mythology, Shan Hai Jing
About Yu
There are many mythological and legendary tales told in China of Yu, [6] the founder of the Xia Dynasty. [1]
According to the Shan Hai Jing, Yu lived near the end of the third millennium BC, [8,13] and, as a semi-mythological figure, authorship was generally attributed to him. [7] He was the penultimate example of leadership, intelligence, and dedication to duty, and he was the ideal hero. [6]
As a semi-historical figure, Yu was the man considered to be the first Xia Emperor, [6] and one of his achievements was ending the great flood, [6,12] which was chronicled in the Shan Hai Jing. [7] This work also described Yu's defeat of Fangfeng and other troublesome beasts. [7]
Yu had a mythical birth, and like his father Gun, he was no ordinary mortal. [10] He could take the form of a dragon [5] as well as that of a bear. [10] Sometimes Yu was thought of a man who rode a dragon, [14] and he was also considered a dragon. [6]
Yu commanded the crafting of the Nine Cauldrons and had them engraved with the symbols for the Nine Regions. [13] These were passed down to Yu's descendants, and they possessed a special quality: whenever the True and Honorable ruled, they would become enormously heavy and whenever those who ruled became corrupt, the cauldrons would become light as the air. [13]
As the dragon was a symbol of primal power and transformation, Yu embodied many attributes of raw power. [14] His success didn't just come from his power; it also came from his humility and deference to authority. [10]
When Yu died, the earth had been regulated and the waters no longer flooded; thus, Yu was honored as the final August Ruler. [13]
The Birth of Yu
Yu had a magical birth with many variations recorded.
The most common motif was Yu being born from his father's carcass, [14] which itself has many versions.
In one version, Gun answered the prayers of Yao and the people to stem the flood. After many years of work failing to contain the waters, he learned of the existence of the breathing soil locked away of Heaven, so he stole a small amount. Tiandi discovered the crime and sent Zhu Rong to punish Gun. [5] At the foot of Feather Mountain, Zhu Rong killed Gun in retribution for his theft. [10] Sometimes, the reason for Gun's execution was not his theft but for his failure to stop the flood. [6]
No matter the reason for his execution, Gun was no ordinary mortal. [10] Even in death, his desire to help the people persisted. [5] For three years his body remained at the foot of the mountain without any kind of decay, [10] tended by Shamans, [14] until the day when his torso split open [10] and his son, Yu, was born. [5] In some legends, Gun returns to life by transforming his remains into a yellow bear. [10]
Other versions focused on Yu's mother. In one instance, she ate a seed she found in the mountain and became pregnant. She gave birth to Yu from her side. [6] In another, the she discovered a magic pearl after witnessing a shooting star. She swallowed it and became pregnant; she gave birth to Yu as he burst out of her chest. [6]
Another myth maintained that Yu came to life from a rock. [6]
Yu and the Great Flood
During the reign of Emperor Yao, he brought prosperity and harmony to the land. As he grew older, he considered his ten sons for a successor but found none of them suited to the post, especially after the Great Flood began. [9] Not only did the waters rise above their channels and cause great destruction, but those waters were also filled with serpents and dragons so there was no place for anyone to settle. [4] So as the emperor meditated on a proper successor, the Imperial Court sought someone to stop the flood. [9]
The cause of the Great Flood varies. According to one source, Tiandi had grown tired of the wickedness of the people and the suffering they caused one another, so he ordered Gonggong to cause a flood so great that it would sweep over the land, destroy the crops and villages, and drown all the people. [5] Another version stated that Gonggong hated Emperor Yao so much that he drummed up the waters to destroy his people.
Gun either answered their prayers [5] or was selected by the Imperial Court to stop the flooding. He attempted to tame the waters for nine years, but his channels and other works served only to cope with the issue. Exhaustion and despair drove Gun to consider a dangerous plan; he decided to seal the breathing soil from the gods. [9] He evaded the guardians of Heaven and pilfered the magic mud, but his crime caused a terrible retribution. The gods sent Zhu Rong to kill Gun. [10]
Yu, the son of Gun, took up his father's task. He either was born as a dragon and immediately started work, [5] or Shamans tend Yu until he grew to manhood. [10]
By now, Emperor Yao had decided upon a successor, Shun, who suggested that Yu, son of Gun, should take his father's place. [3] In other versions, Yao died, leaving Shun as Emperor of China. When Shun heard of Yu, he immediately sent for his assistance. Yu accepted the commission to combat the floods. [10]
Once Yu took it upon himself to tame the waters, he diligently worked to end the flooding.
By one account, Yu labored for thirteen years, plugging the 233,599 springs that flooded throughout the kingdom and marking out the nine provinces. [5] By another record, after Yu completed the Lung Men, he worked another ten years before mastering the waters. [11,12] Another account maintained that Yu, in his seventy-fifth year, finally regulated the waters. [3]
Yu opened all the blocked channels and connected them to the sea, [4] and he created passages for streams and deepened the canals. [3] His success stopped blue dragons in the suburbs of the capital, [1] and he drove all the serpents and dragons from the rivers and back to the marshy grasses. [4]
Yu traveled to Heaven and asked to use the breathing soil from the gods, who were contented with his humility, [10] which his father had lacked. One of the many things he taught the Emperor was how to build dikes and dams from this magic clay to prevent future flooding. [5]
There were many accounts of his labors. Once he had the breathing soil, he sought out locations where springs bubbled up from the earth. He then took his winged dragon form and plunged into the waters, going deep into the waters to the underground ocean itself, where he blocked the source of the spring with the magic mud, or breathing soil. [10] He would then rise to the surface to find another spring, only to dive down again and again. [11]
Thus, Yu the Great stemmed flooding as a dragon.
Yu ended the terrible flooding, but the waters had not fully receded, nor had the world dried. [11] To complete his work, Yu sought the aid of others, both mortals and deities.
In one version, Yu fell asleep on the banks of the Yellow River. He dreamed that he had swallowed the rising floods, and he saw a nine-tailed fox, white in color, on the riverbank. [11] When he woke, a white-faced creature presented him with a chart of eight Trigrams. These were instructions for taming the Yellow River. [11] As Yu used these magical directives, he thought it was odd that the gods of the lands and rivers had yet to assist in the efforts to stop the floods. So he called them all to a meeting on the mountain of Kuai Chi to petition their aid, and the gods consented to aid Yu in his work. [11]
In another version, Tiandi witness Yu's near-constant toil for thirteen years and his rage abated, so he allowed Yu to defeat Gonggong. [5] Another account maintained that a separate ying lung dragon assisted Yu with this work by using his tail to shape the ground. [1]
When Yu crafted Lung Men, he broke into a cavern deep in the bowels of the world. There he met with the formidable and great Fuxi, [11] who commended Yu for his tireless efforts and presented him with a jade tablet. This tablet contained additional directions for preventing future floods. [12] Yu followed these instructions for another ten years, working long days and nights. His fingers became worn to the born and his hair disappeared, and his body shrank to half its size. Yet it was not until the waters were tamed that he rested. [12]
Yu Shaped the Earth
When Yu worked against the flooding, he also shaped the earth. He marked the boundaries of the nine provinces. [5]
In his dragon form, Yu could split rocks with his tail, [11] and he scored the earth with deep furrows with it as well. [5] Though some traditions maintained that a ying lung dragon assisted Yu with its tail. [1]
In either case, Yu formed the mountains and dug deep banks to contain the river. [11] The channels marked out with the dragon's tail became China's great rivers, which helped moved the waters to the sea. [5] To this day, his work can be seen manifested in Lung Men, the Dagon Gate, and his fingerprints across the slopes of Hua Shan. [11]
Emperor Yu
Emperor Shun was contented with Yu's achievements, so when Shun died, Yu assumed the throne [12] and founded the Xia Dynasty. [6] As the emperor, Yu ordered the counting of the population. He also commanded the formation of the mountains at each of the cardinal points, and he then directed the measurement of the distances between north and south and east and west. All these were done and recorded under Emperor Yu. [12]
When he reigned, two dragons descended into the palace's courtyard because of the virtues of his rule, and they pulled Yu's carriage for the rest of his days. [1]
Not all Yu's dealings with dragons were amiable. When he crossed the Yangtze River, two yellow dragons threatened to upturn his vessel. Emperor Yu, however, was unafraid, and he said the following: [2]
"I received my appointment from Heaven and do my utmost to nourish men. To be born is the course of nature; to die is by Heaven's decree. Why be troubled by the dragons?"
-- Emperor Yu [2]
Knowing he spoke the truth, the two dragons abandoned their attack and ran away.
Yu and the Monster
After taming the flood, Yu defeated many monsters that threatened the people, including the monster Fangfeng.
The reason for the fight depends on the source. In one case, Yu called a meeting of all the gods and semi-divine on the mountain of Kuai Chi, and Fangfeng arrived late to insult Yu. [11] In another, Yu received word that a monster terrorized the people. [12]
Fangfeng was a serpent with nine heads and an enormous body, and he spewed vomit so vile that it as deadly to all life. [12] No one else could best the beast because his nine heads could spot any assailant a long way off, and Fangfeng would loose a torrent of venom that would surely kill anyone in its path. [12]
So when Yu approached, he transformed into a dragon and flew above the surge of venom. He swooped down and struck at each neck from above. The monster knew nothing of the attack until the winds fell around him, and by then it was far too late. [12] Thus, Yu beheaded Fangfeng, [11] who oozed blood as he jerked with death-throes. The very earth seemed to shrink in his wake. [13]
Even dead, Fangfeng tainted the land. His putrid flesh poisoned anything near it, so Yu tried to bury him. Three times his body was covered with soil, but each time it rose back to the surface just as dangerous as it was before. Finally, Yu entombed him beneath a lake, over which he built a mound, on which he erected a tower. After this, the body of Fangfeng remained at rest. [13]
Thus, Yu the Great again saved the land.
The Family of Yu
Yu had a legendary family. He was a descendant of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, and he was the man considered to be the first Xia emperor. [6]
Father
Yu's father was Gun, who was the grandson of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who brought order during the beginning of creation. [9]
Gun was associated with mythical water animals, and his ancestors organized many agricultural feats. [6] He spent nine years making channels to fight the floods before Yu was born. [9]
Gun could also take the form of a white horse. [9]
Wife
Yu married the daughter of the Earth Mountain Tushan. [6] In some legends, he married her in his later years. [5] In other legends, he married her before he fought the flood, and he and his wife made a home, despite being constantly endangered by the floods. [10]
He didn't tell his wife that he was a semi-divine being, [5] which had implications in the birth of his son.
Son
Yu's wife did not know he was a semi-divine mortal. [5] One day, she watched her husband transform into a bear, [6] or she discovered him in his bear-form unexpectedly. [5] She either fled in terror, only to die in fright, [5] or she turned to stone. [6]
Yu's son, Qi or Qui, was born from his mother's body. [5] Yu had to split open her stone body to release his son. [6] Qui became one of China's wisest emperors. [5]
Other Relatives
In addition to founding the Xia Dynasty, Yu had other connections to important legendary figures in Chinese History.
Shun shared ancestry with Gun and Yu. [10] Shun was an ugly man, with double eyes and a large mouth. His stepmother and her son attempted to kill him three times. Shun survived and remained loyal to his family despite their treachery. [10] His fidelity earned him his place as emperor. [10]
Huang Di was the great-grandfather of Yu. [9]
Thus, Yu had many relatives in Chinese History and Legend.
Physical Description
Yu was sometimes depicted as riding on a dragon, [14] though many legends maintained that he could take the form of a dragon. [5] Yu transformed into a dragon to fight the monster Fangfeng [12] and to tame the waters. [10]
Yu transformed into a winged dragon when taming the waters, [10] which meant that he was of the ying lung species.
Quick Facts
- Yu was credited as the author of Shan Hai Jing. [7]
- He lived sometime near the end of the third millennium BC. [8,13]
- He had a magical conception and was either born from his father's body [14] or his mother's. [6]
- He was known as the last August Ruler. [13]
- Yu tamed the great floods by taking the form of a dragon and plunging into the springs to stop the source of the waters. [11]
- He carved the Lung Men during his labors. [11]
- During his work, he battled Gonggong [5] and received help from Fuxi. [11]
- He was the first Xia emperor. [6]
- Yu could either take the form of a ying lung [5] or was a dragon in his own right. [6]
Term Reference
- n. The Chinese god of water who created the great flood at the order of the gods. Also called Gong-gong or Gong Gong.
- n. An evil demon or dragon that created the great flood because of his hatred for Emperor Yao. Also called Gonggong or Gong Gong.
- n. The Chinese god of water who created the great flood at the order of the gods. Also called Gong-gong or Gong Gong.
- n. An evil demon or dragon that created the great flood because of his hatred for Emperor Yao. Also called Gonggong or Gong Gong.
Footnotes
- De Visser 122
- De Visser 123
- Gould 131
- Gould 221
- Green 18
- Leeming 408
- Lin 2
- Lin 3
- Lin 22
- Lin 23
- Lin 24
- Lin 25
- Lin 26
- Lin 30
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
