In China, agriculture first appears about 6000 BC along the Yellow River. Omnipresent in the beginnings of the Chinese civilization is the legend of its founding hero, Yu the Great. In about 2000 BC Yu was apparently “master of River Control.”
“In ancient times Emperor Уй deepened the rivers and saved the empire from flood, bringing relief and security to the nine provinces.”[17]
During this time, according to legend, “the flood waters rose as high as the sky”.[18]
Yu’s father, Kouen, had earlier been given the responsibility to curb the floodwaters, and constructed dikes over a nine-year period. But he failed in his assignment and thus was banished. Yu then decided to sacrifice himself to the river, taking the sins of all upon himself. The river, it was said, took half of Yu (tradition has it that half his face was shriveled and that he dragged one leg). He took a different approach from his dikebuilding father. During a period of 13 years, during which he never once returned to his home (according to legend), Yu dug canals and channels and dredged the rapids.
“He led the Rivers to the sea, as lords file to the court”.
Tradition credits Yu with a superhuman exploit: digging the channel of the Door of the Dragon (Longmen pass, see Figure 8.2) to provide an outlet for the waters of the Yellow River. Yu succeeded where Kouen had failed, and became the founder of the legendary first dynasty of Xia.
In ancient China, animals and even humans were sacrificed to the Yellow River before the followers of Confucius put an end to this practice. The battle to control the rivers, and to provide protection from their floods, is a constant theme in the hydraulic history of China. We return to this theme in Chapter 8.
