Yu the Great (Chinese:pinyin: c. 2200 - 2100 BC), was a legendary ruler in ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character.
Few, if any, records exist from the period of Chinese history when Yu reigned. Because of this, the vast majority of information about his life and reign comes from collected pieces of oral tradition and stories that were passed down in various areas of China, many of which were collected in Sima Qian's famous Records of the Grand Historian. Yu and other "sage-kings" of Ancient China were lauded by Confucius and other Chinese teachers, who praised their virtues and morals.[4]
Yu is one of the few Chinese rulers posthumously honored with the appellation "the Great".

Ancestry and early life
According to several ancient Chinese records, Yu was the 8th great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor: Yu's father Gun was the 5th great-grandson of King Zhuanxu; Zhuanxu's father Changyi was the second son of the Yellow Emperor. Yu was said to be born at Mount Wen (Chinese: 汶山), in modern day Beichuan County, Sichuan Province, though there are debates as to whether he was born in Shifang instead.[10] Yu's mother was a woman of the Youxin clan named either Nüzhi (Chinese: 女志) or Nüxi (Chinese: 女嬉).
As a child, Yu's father Gun moved the people east toward the Chinese heartland. King Yao enfeoffed Gun as lord of Chong, usually identified as the middle peak of Mount Song. Yu is thus believed to have grown up on the slopes of Mount Song, just south of the Yellow River. He later married a woman from Mount Tu (Chinese: 塗山) who is generally referred to as Tushan-shi (Chinese: 塗山氏; literally "Lady Tushan").[12] They had a son named Qi, a name literally meaning "revelation".[12]
The Nine Provinces
King Shun, who reigned after his father Yao, was so impressed by Yu's engineering work and diligence that he passed the throne to Yu instead of to his own son. Yu is said to have initially declined the throne, but was so popular with other local lords and chiefs that he agreed to become the new emperor, at the age of 53. He established a capital at Anyi (Chinese: 安邑) - the ruins of which are in modern Xia County, in southern Shanxi Province - and founded what would be called the Xia Dynasty, traditionally considered China's first dynasty.[17]
Yu's flood control work is said to have made him intimately familiar with all regions of what was then Han Chinese territory. According to the Book of History, Yu divided the Chinese "world" into nine zhou or provinces. These were Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou), Xuzhou), Yangzhou), Jingzhou (), Yuzhou), Liangzhou and Yongzhou .
Death
According to the Bamboo Annals, Yu ruled the Xia Dynasty for 45 years; and, according to Yue Jueshu , he died from an illness.It is said that he died at Kuaiji Mountain , south of present day Shaoxing, while on a hunting tour to the eastern frontier of his empire, and was buried there. The Yu mausoleum known today was first built in the 6th century CE during the Southern dynasty in his honor. It is located four kilometers southeast of Shaoxing city.[24] Most of the structure was rebuilt many times in later periods. The three main parts of the mausoleum are the Yu tomb , temple and memorial In many statues he is seen carrying an ancient plow . A number of emperors in imperial times have travelled there to perform ceremonies in his honor, notably Qin Shi Huang.[23