大禹治水
大禹治水是中国古代的神话传说故事。相传，大禹是黄帝的后代。《史记·夏本纪》记载：“禹者，黄帝之玄孙而帝颛顼之孙也。”另有史书记载，鲧（禹的父亲）是夏部落首领，大禹也曾被封于“夏地”（今河南禹州市），称为“夏禹国”。
据古籍记载，大约在4000多年前，黄河流域洪水为患，给人民带来了无边的灾难。大禹受命负责治水，他从前人治水实践中汲取经验和教训，把中原大地的山山水水当作一个整体来治理，并发明了疏导治水的新方法。他根据山川地理情况，将中国分为九个州，先治理九州的土地，通过疏通河流、平整土地，使得大片土地变得肥沃；接着治理山路、理通水脉，使田间细水流进大河继而汇入大海。这种变“堵”为“疏”的治理方式体现了古代劳动人民的聪明才智。大禹为了治理洪水，长年在外与各部落人民一起奋战，相传他曾三过家门而不入。经过13年的奋斗，河水平缓地向东流去，农田变成了粮仓，人民又过上了安居乐业的生活。
大禹治水在中华文明发展史上具有重要意义。大禹作为治理洪水的领导者，躬亲劳苦带领人民栉风沐雨，治水除患，体现了艰苦奋斗、因势利导、科学治水、以人为本的治水理念。治水过程中形成的以公私分明、民族至上、民为根本、科学创新等为内涵的大禹治水精神，成为了中华民族精神的重要象征。
Da Yu Harnessing the Floods
This is an ancient Chinese myth about Yu, also called Da Yu (Great Yu), who was said to be a descendant of Huangdi. Shi Ji (The Records of the Grand Historian) records that he was the great-great-grandson of Huangdi and the grandson of Emperor Zhuanxu. Other historical records say that Yu's father Gun was the leader of the Xia tribe and Da Yu was enfeoffed to a place called Xia (present-day Yuzhou, Henan Province), which was known as the State of Xia Yu.
It is recorded in ancient books that more than 4,000 years ago, serious floods in the Yellow River basin inflicted immense disasters upon the local people. Da Yu was entrusted to harness the floods. Drawing lessons from his predecessors, he considered the Central Plains and the numerous mountains and rivers as a whole, and adopted a new dredging approach. Da Yu divided the country into nine parts according to the geographical conditions. He first dredged the rivers and levelled the land to fertilize the soil and then he cut paths through the mountains and cleared the water systems, so the water would flow smoothly into the rivers and then into the sea. This "dredging" rather than "blocking" approach reflected the ingenuity of the ancient people. To harness the floods, Da Yu worked away from home for years in a row alongside the people of different tribes and allegedly passed his home three times without stopping and going in. After 13 years of strenuous efforts, he successfully tamed the floods. The fields became fertile, and the people finally lived in peace.
The story of Da Yu holds a significant position in the history of the Chinese civilization. As the leader of flood control, he worked together with his people braving wind and rain and succeeded by leveraging the local conditions. The spirit formed in this process, which encompasses strict separation between public and private interests, unity among varoius tribes, putting the people first, and rational innovation, has become an essential symbol of the overall spirit of the Chinese nation.
