Dayu, according to legend, was abdicated to the throne by Emperor Shun because of his merits in flood control. Li Bing, known as Lu Hai, was a famous water conservancy engineering expert during the Warring States Period. Dayu and Li Bing were separated by thousands of years, but one thing they had in common was that they were both masters of water control. But, do you know the reason why Dayu and Li Bing succeeded in water control? Uncover the reasons why Dayu and Li Bing succeeded in water control.
Dayu's flood control
According to legend, during the Yao and Shun periods, during the reign of Emperor Yao, flooding in the Central Plains caused flood disasters and made the people miserable. Emperor Yao ordered Gun to control the floods, and Gun was ordered to control the floods. Gun used the water barrier method, that is, setting up river embankments on the shore, but the water flooded higher and higher. It took nine years to quell the flood disaster. Then Yu was appointed Sikong and took over the task of controlling floods. Yu immediately, together with Yi and Houji, summoned the people to come to help. He inspected the river and reviewed the reasons for Gun's failure to control the water.
Yu summed up the lessons from his father's failure in water control, and reformed the water control method to dredge rivers and dredge the Jiuhe River by taking advantage of the natural tendency of water to flow to lower areas.
During the flood control period, Yu climbed over mountains and ridges, swam across rivers, and took measuring instruments and tools from west to east to measure the height of the terrain, set benchmarks, and plan waterways. He led the migrant workers working on water control all over the country. According to the benchmarks, they dug up mountains and built embankments wherever they encountered depressions to dredge waterways and divert floodwaters into the sea. Yu worked hard to control the floods. He was not afraid of hard work and did not dare to rest. He personally led the people to sleep in the open air, pass through the house without entering, and spend all day dredging the rivers in the muddy water, guiding the accumulated water from the plains into rivers and then into the ocean. After 13 years of management, we finally achieved success and eliminated the disaster of flooding in the Central Plains. Because of his meritorious service in controlling floods, people respectfully called him Dayu, the great Yu, to express their gratitude to him.
Li Bing controls water
In his last years, King Zhaoxiang of Qin was the governor of Shu County. He presided over the construction of Dujiangyan, China's early irrigation project, at the mouth of the Minjiang River in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, thus making the Chengdu Plain prosperous. . According to records of Huayang Guozhi and Shu Zhi, Li Bing installed a stone man water gauge in Dujiangyan, which was China's early water level observation facility. He also dug shoals and dredged waterways in today's Yibin and Leshan. He also built irrigation and shipping projects such as the Wenjing River, Baimu River, Luoshui, and Mianshui, as well as repaired cable bridges and opened salt wells. He also built a five-foot road connecting the Central Plains, the Mingshan District Police Station in Ya'an City, Sichuan, and Yunnan. The people remembered his achievements and built temples to commemorate him. After the Northern Song Dynasty, there was also a story about Li Bing's son Li Erlang assisting Li Bing in flood control.
The reasons why Dayu and Li Bing succeeded in water control
Yu summed up the lessons from his father’s failure in water control, and reformed the water control method to focus on dredging rivers and taking advantage of the natural tendency of water to flow to lower places. The trend has dredged up the Nine Rivers. Li Bing, on the other hand, dug shoals and dredged waterways in today's Yibin and Leshan. He also built irrigation and shipping projects such as Wenjing River, Baimu River, Luoshui, and Mianshui, as well as repaired cable bridges and dug salt wells.
So, it can be seen that the reason why Dayu and Li Bing succeeded in water control was that they helped dredge the river water and drain the floodwater into the sea instead of building dams to block the water. This is what people say that blocking is worse than sparing.