CIVILIZATION DOSSIER
Yu the Great大禹
A hero of flood control and the founding monarch of the Xia dynasty.
- DIRECT FIGURES
- 5
- RELATION RECORDS
- 5
- SOURCE WORKS
- 13
RELATIONSHIP COMPASS
Yu the Great, and the people around them.
Open one chapter at a time. Each chapter gives the relationship first, then the source text behind it.
01ALLEGIANCEAllegiance
Rulers, appointments and allegiance
2 figures · 2 records＋
Allegiance
Rulers, appointments and allegiance
Qin Shi Huang→Yu the Greatsacrifice
Emperor Shun→Yu the Greatabdicate
02THE UNSEENMythic acts
Transformation, aid and divine punishment
3 figures · 3 records＋
Mythic acts
Transformation, aid and divine punishment
Wang Mang→Yu the Greatshare offering
Yang Xiong→Yu the Greatmention
Yu the Great→Bo Yiname
5 key relationships are shown here. The complete record remains below.
In history · Records of the Three Kingdoms · Records of the Grand Historian · History of Song · Old Book of Tang
An ancient emperor, worshipped by Qin Shi Huang.
In fiction · Liezi · Records of Myriad Things · Book of the Later Han · Discourses of the States · Extensive Records of the Taiping Era · Researches into Lost Records · New Book of Tang · Correct Meaning of the Zuo Tradition
A hero of flood control and the founding monarch of the Xia dynasty. During flood control, he saw the Kunpeng and traveled to the northernmost country.
Across source works
How this figure changes across texts
Works are shown side by side, not as a chronology. No influence between texts is inferred.
- Literature / legend1 profile notes
Records of Myriad Things
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history1 profile notes
Discourses of the States
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history5 profile notes
Book of Han
2 relations2 verified quotations- Wang Mang→ share offering →Yu the Great
- Yang Xiong→ mention →Yu the Great
Verified original text · 2
以夏禹配食官社
share offering · Book of Han, 郊祀志_ch. 25上
勤大禹于龙门
mention · Book of Han, 扬雄传_ch. 87上
- Official history2 profile notes
Book of the Later Han
0 relations0 verified quotations - Literature / legend1 profile notes
Huainanzi
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history2 profile notes
Old Book of Tang
0 relations0 verified quotations - Literature / legend1 profile notes
Liezi
1 relations1 verified quotations- Yu the Great→ name →Bo Yi
Verified original text · 1
大禹行而见之，伯益知而名之
name · Liezi, 汤问篇
- Official history2 profile notes
Records of the Three Kingdoms
1 relations1 verified quotations- Emperor Shun→ abdicate →Yu the Great
Verified original text · 1
虞禅夏
abdicate · Records of the Three Kingdoms, 魏书·锺繇华歆王朗传
- Official history5 profile notes
Records of the Grand Historian
1 relations1 verified quotations- Qin Shi Huang→ sacrifice →Yu the Great
Verified original text · 1
祭大禹，望于南海
sacrifice · Records of the Grand Historian, 秦始皇本纪
- Literature / legend2 profile notes
Researches into Lost Records
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history3 profile notes
History of Song
0 relations0 verified quotations - Literature / legend3 profile notes
Extensive Records of the Taiping Era
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history2 profile notes
New Book of Tang
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history1 profile notes
Bamboo Annals
0 relations0 verified quotations - Official history1 profile notes
Correct Meaning of the Zuo Tradition
0 relations0 verified quotations
History vs. fiction
The peculiarities of the flood control process and the birth of Qi.
- based on factKilled Xiangliu during flood control
Records of the Grand Historian, Annals of Xia documents in detail the arduous process of Yu the Great dredging the nine rivers and splitting mountains to control the floods, emphasizing human effort and engineering (「道河积石，至于龙门，南至华阴，东至砥柱，又东至于盟津，东过雒汭，至于大邳，北过降水，至于大陆，北播为九河，同为逆河，入于海。」 Source: Annals of Xia.txt). In contrast, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: North is full of mythological color, recording that Yu killed Xiangliu, a minister of Gonggong with a nine-headed snake body, and built the platforms of various emperors. The official history and mythological texts present strikingly different styles in the details of flood control.
- novel inventionYu transformed into a bear and the birth of Qi
后世流传大禹治水时化身为熊，涂山氏见之羞惭化为石头，石破而生启。Records in Records of the Grand Historian, Basic Annals of Xia only mention that Yu married a daughter of the Tushan clan and that she bore a son named Qi, without any mention of the supernatural (「夏后帝启，禹之子，其母涂山氏之女也。」source: Basic Annals of Xia.txt). Although there are hints in Songs of Chu, Questions of Heaven, the complete plot of Yu transforming into a bear and the stone splitting to give birth to Qi finds no explicit textual basis in the aforementioned early core classics; it is rather the result of later evolution.
Relationship network
Original text (1)
以夏禹配食官社
Original text (1)
Original text (1)
Original text (1)
勤大禹于龙门
Original text (1)
大禹行而见之，伯益知而名之