Yu The Great - Ancestry and Early Life

Ancestry and Early Life

For a family tree, see: Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors

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 Emperor 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. 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"). They had a son named Qi, a name literally meaning "revelation".

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