There was once a period, in ancient times, when the Yellow River Valley was flooded for quite some time. It caused great disaster to residents of the region. There had been a man named Gun, who was responsible for solving the problem, but unfortunately after nine years of unsuccessfully solving the problem, he was killed by Emperor Shun (舜, Shùn). Yu(禹，Yǔ), the son of Gun, was appointed by Emperor Shun to tame the floods.
Unlike his father, who built dikes and dams or just covered the water with earth, Yu drained and dredged the water and diverted the flood into the sea. Through 13 years of hard work, he finally succeeded in bringing the Yellow River under permanent control. Those who had lost their homes due to the flooding, were resettled and the ground became fertile fields for planting crops. It is said, that in order to control and tame the flood, Yu passed by his home many times without entering, and during one time, his wife gave birth to his son Qi, and he passed by the door and heard the baby crying but still did not enter.
Due to his hard work and achievements in taming the flood, he was honored as a Dayu（大禹） and later succeeded Shun as the leader of the tribal alliance.
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