This is the fourth in a series of "The Epoch Times" articles that explores the foundations of Chinese civilization and explains the traditional Chinese worldview. This series of articles provides an overview of Chinese history and highlights the contributions that prominent personalities have made to the creation of a divinely inspired culture in China. This issue focuses on the ancient Chinese legend of the Great Flood.
At the end of the reign of Emperor Yao, the whole world was flooded due to strong storms and flood waters. The Great Flood is told in the myths of many cultures around the world, including Chinese.
The Classic Work on Mountains and Seas, a collection of legends compiled during the Warring States period some 2,500 years ago, describes the Great Flood as a precipitous onset of waves and torrential rains.
The Great Western Sea flooded the mountains of western China and Inner Mongolia. The waters have made their way into the Yellow River and the very heart of China. Flooded and destroyed fields and dwellings. People and livestock died in the depths of water.
Legends of the Great Flood in cultures around the world
The descriptions of the Great Flood in various legends and myths around the world have much in common. Each notes that the gods sent this catastrophe to humanity as punishment for the decline of morals and that only a minority survived - only decent and honest people.
The civilizations around the world have suffered enormous damage. Western legends tell of the complete destruction of an existing culture, and the Chinese book Shujing, which is attributed to Confucius, says that the Flood is a dividing line between history and prehistoric times.
Promotional video:
Michelangelo's "Flood"
Photo: PD-US
In the book “Genesis” of the Christian Bible it is written: “The Lord saw that people on earth were corrupted, and all their thoughts are constantly leaning towards evil … And the Lord said: I will wipe out the human race that I have created from the face of the earth. I will destroy both people and animals, and reptiles, and birds of the air."
Even in pre-Christian times, the ancient Greeks believed that Zeus decided to destroy humanity with a huge flood, when he noticed that people had become cruel and neglected the requirements of justice and decency.
In the book about the creation of the world of Mayan culture "Popol Vuh" it is written that at the dawn of time the gods created people, but later people consigned to oblivion their creators and dared to show disrespect to the gods. This caused the legendary Flood recorded in that culture.
In Testimony of the Great Flood, an epic poem transmitted by the Yi people in southern China, a similar story is told about the creation of the world, moral decay, and the targeted destruction of people. Only a few worthy people were left to revive civilization.
Folk tales by ethnic Koreans from northeastern China tell of a brother and sister who survived a flood by fleeing to the summit of Mount Paektusan, on the border of China and North Korea.
The Lhoba people, a small ethnic minority in China, live in the Tibetan region at an altitude of 3000 meters. There is no Flood legend in their culture.
Yao confronts disaster
During the reign of Yao, China was divided into nine kingdoms, surrounded by "four seas", behind which were "eight deserts". The chronicle of the 12th century says that the capital of Yao was in the kingdom of Ji.
Faced with a catastrophe that was destroying his empire, Yao began looking for people who could contain the flood. Huan Dou, one of the unscrupulous ministers who held office before Yao ascended the throne, recommended Labor Minister Kong Ren to do this.
The emperor was not happy with this. He announced, “Kong Ren is a cunning person, outwardly he expresses consent, but willful behind his back. At first glance, he may be respectful and careful, but does not act in accordance with the Tao and disregards the Gods. He cannot be entrusted with the fight against the flood."
But Agriculture Minister Hou Ji lamented that, unfortunately, there was no one else who had the skills to match the task. Therefore, Yao had to appoint Kong Ren after all.
Later, Yao sent Hou Ji to Kunlun Mountain, where the gods lived. There he met the goddess Sivanma, who informed him that the Great Flood was an event caused by the will of the gods.
Image of the goddess Sivanmu of the Japanese Edo era
Photo: Kimbell Art Museum / Public Domain
The goddess said that the key to the salvation of humanity is also in the hands of the gods, and twenty years later she will return to personally help the ruler who will be destined to end the disaster.
People watch the seething water on the dam on the Yellow River. July 23, 2013
Photo: STR / AFP
Mountain swimmers
In Chinese folklore legends about the Great Flood, it is said that the waters broke beyond the Mengmen Pass (now Ji County in Shanxi Province), and the streams of the mighty Huaihe and Yangtze rivers turned back and merged together.
"Information about the empire in the Taiping period", edited in the era of the Song dynasty, says that "in the kingdom of Ji there is Mount Fushan (that is," floating mountain "," mountain of swimmers ") … in ancient times people (sailed and moored) fastened their boats to the boulders, on which you can still see broken locks.
Only the mountain itself remained dry, towering above the waves. Since Emperor Yao used it to shelter from the flood, it was also called Mount Yao.
Today, Fushan county still exists in the mountainous Shanxi province of northern China.
Hou Ji suppresses the Sanmiao rebellion
The Sanmiao people, living between the large lakes of central China, were descendants of Chi Yu, the formidable ancient leader of the tribe. They are related to the modern Hmong people of southern China and Southeast Asia.
Primitive Chinese drawing, which depicts the battle against Chi Yu. Tribe leader - the second large figure from the right
Photo: Public Domain
This region was ruled by Huan and his son, brutal and aggressive, who undermined tradition. They had long conspired to revolt, and the flood gave them that chance. When China was in chaos due to flooding, Huan Dou raised the mighty Sanmiao to revolt. They attacked weaker neighbors and seized their lands.
Hou Ji was sent to confront Huan Dou and San Miao. He met with the rebels in the decisive battle at Tanshui and utterly defeated them. After the rebels surrendered, Huan Dou was exiled to Mount Chun. The terror and torture in the Sanmiao region was ended, and the victims of the uprising were given their lands back.
