Yu Who Mend the Yellow River

Yellow River is the second large river in China. It is shaped like a hat with four sharp bends. It is so very large river that you cannot see to the other side of the water. The river runs fast and rough. It brings tonnes of sand and mud from the mountain to the lower part of the river. The water looks yellowish with the sand and mud and it was for this reason that it was given the name 'Yellow River'.

The sand and mud collects at the lover part of the river and where it bends. The river is quite shallow and floods easily, overflowing its banks, with the water spreading across a very large area.

One of the ancient kings of China decided to mend the problem of the Yellow River, so that his people would be able to live and farm the area properly. He appointed a man named Gun to be the leader of the work. Gun built walls around the cities to keep the flood waters out. Sometimes it worked but other times, the walls broke under the pressure of the water and the cities were flooded. Although Gun rebuilt the protective walls, the flooding remained a problem for many years.

The king was very angry that the flooding had not been solved and ordered that Gun was to be killed. He then appointed Gun’s son, Yu, to continue the work. Yu had only been married a short time when he was appointed the task and he knew that he would be killed if he did not do his job properly.

Yu learned from the mistakes of his father; he knew that he could not stop the water, so he decided to try and lead it in another direction. He spent a lot of time studying the land and the river. He then made a plan to lead the water to the other smaller rivers in the area and lead them all to the sea. Following this plan, Yu instructed his workers to dig routes from the Yellow River to other rivers and at the same time widen the smaller rivers.

It took Yu and his workers thirteen years to complete the work. During this period of time, he passed his home three times but did not venture in to greet his family even once. He knew that his work was important and if he failed he would never see his family again.

After Yellow River had been diverted and the flooding solved, Yu was declared successful. As a reward and appreciation of his intellect, wisdom and dedication,  when the king became old, he selected Yu to become the next king of China.