Dayu was an important figure in Chinese history. The Xia Dynasty founded by him was the first dynasty in Chinese history, the head of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Although the Xia Dynasty was just a tribal alliance, which was very different from the centralized autocratic dynasties after the Qin and Han Dynasties, it finally had a state form, making Chinese history move from the era of legend to the era of trustworthy history. Dayu's flood control was another major event in Chinese history. Although many ethnic groups in the world have legends about floods, floods in China must have been particularly serious, which is why the idiom "flood beast" came into being, believing that floods are more terrifying than beasts. Dayu controlled the floods and made everyone live and work in peace and contentment. He won the support of many tribes and succeeded Shun as the leader of the tribal alliance.
In archaeological work, although no direct historical materials of the Xia Dynasty have been found so far, considering ancient documents and archaeological discoveries, many scholars believe that the first and second phases of the ancient cultural sites in Erlitou should be from the Xia Dynasty. cultural legacy. 4200 years ago, the Central Plains had already established a national-scale Xia Dynasty, which was not a problem; the leader of this dynasty was Dayu, who was good at controlling floods. system, this is not a problem. However, in recent years, there have been many complicated and divergent views on Dayu and the matter of water control, which are difficult to unify. Different views can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the traditional view, and the other is the new view.
Regarding Dayu himself, the traditional saying is that Dayu was born in the Chinese ethnic group (according to "Xia is a Chinese"), and the place where he was born is western Sichuan (according to "Yu Xing in the West") Qiang"). The new theory is that Dayu was born in the ancient Yue people (Baiyue ethnic group). In the era of great national integration in the Central Plains, he entered the Central Plains from the southeast region with some advantages of the southern agricultural culture to strive for leadership status. The discovery of ancient cultural sites in Hemudu, Zhejiang, and Chengtoushan, Hunan, dating back six to seven thousand years, have provided strong support for the new theory. The so-called "Xia people are Chinese" was a saying that came into being after the Zhou Dynasty. Before the Zhou Dynasty, many historical sites of Xia people's activities were actually in the East. The monuments related to Dayu are concentrated in the southeastern region. The phrase "Yu flourished in the Western Qiang" was said by Sima Qian, which refers to Yu's later development in the West. It does not mean that "Yu was born in the Western Qiang". Through comparison of some unearthed cultural relics, it is not difficult to see that the tripod, yue and many jades, which were important national weapons of the Xia Dynasty, originated from the Guyue people area in the southeast.
As for which "water" Dayu controlled when he controlled floods, and how to control it? The traditional view seems to be exaggerated. The legendary Dragon Gate is located between Hancheng, Shaanxi and Hejin, Shanxi. The Yellow River reaches this point. The steep cliffs on both sides of the bank are very dangerous. According to legend, the Dragon Gate was dug by Dayu, so the Dragon Gate is also called Yu's Gate. But according to the construction technology level of the Xia Dynasty, such a large project could never be completed. It is also said that Dayu divided the world (the whole country) into Kyushu based on different water systems. In fact, the territory in the early Xia Dynasty was never so large. Many legends are inevitably contradictory and difficult to justify.
The new theory is: Dayu's flood control was not to control the surging Yangtze River and Yellow River water. The floods at that time were actually sea transgression, that is, the sea level rose and the seawater poured back into the land. This is worldwide, so many peoples have legends of being flooded. After the floods receded, the ground became muddy, making it difficult to farm without treatment. It was this kind of management of field canals that Dayu managed. This is roughly consistent with what Confucius said: "Try your best to drain the ditch." "Mencius. "Teng Wengong" said: "In the time of Yao, the floods flowed across the world and overflowed across the world." "In the time of Yao, the water flowed backward and overflowed in China." Most of the rivers in China originate in the west and flow eastward. No matter how big or small the water is, it will never be a "cross current" or a "retrograde flow." Only during sea intrusion, when seawater pours in from east to west, will "cross flow" or "retrograde flow" occur.
The traditional saying is: Shun ordered Gun to control the flood, but Gun only knew the methods of digging and filling. After his failure, he was killed by Shun. Gun's son Yu accepted the lesson of his father's failure to control floods and switched to diversion methods, which finally succeeded. The historical facts are not so simple, and Gun would not be so stupid. Failure or success is always caused by a variety of factors. Ancient books such as "Guoyu" say that Dayu also used the method of digging and filling to control floods, such as "filling floods with breath" and "filling floods with resting soil". It was not until the Warring States Period that the book "Mozi" said that Dayu used diversion methods to control floods. From the time of Dayu to the Warring States Period, more than a thousand years apart, our ancestors' methods of water control must have been improved again and again, and many achievements were made. The traditional view actually attributes many of the achievements in flood control over the past thousand years to Dayu alone, exaggerating history.
As a leader of the tribal alliance who was born in the Baiyue ethnic group and was able to go north to the Central Plains to develop, Dayu's talents were of course not limited to water control. He also used bronzes to develop production, establish national systems, and use troops to fight off foreign troops. He also made many achievements in aspects such as the attack on the Miao tribe), but later generations chose to commemorate and worship him, but chose his main achievement-water control. This is not difficult to understand. As a leader in an agricultural society, the first thing you should care about and devote yourself to is the national economy and people's livelihood and agricultural production. If you can't handle this big thing well, you won't be able to handle other things well.
It has been more than 4,000 years since the time of Dayu. It is still difficult for us to cure floods, and we still have to worry about flood control every year. Our ancestors thousands of years ago were worried about this man who "worked hard and thought hard and lived abroad for thirteen years in order to control floods." One can imagine the gratitude and reverence of Dayu who dared not enter his home. As for the fact that he led the masses to build water conservancy at that time, it was limited by objective conditions and the level of productivity development. He could only do it bit by bit. No miracles were possible, so it would last for 13 years. In order to commemorate him, later generations also credit him with many of his posthumous achievements in flood control, which is easy to understand. This is the true story of how Dayu's deeds of controlling floods spread more and more widely.