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Chinese Mythology - Part 2
Apart from the creation myths, there are many other myths and legends.
The Great Flood
Shun passed on his place as leader of the Huaxia tribe to Yu the Great. According to legend, the Yellow River was prone to flooding, and overflowed into a huge flood during the Yao period. Yu’s father, Gun, was put in charge of flood control by Yao, but failed to alleviate the problem after 9 years of trying. So,he was executed by Shun. Drawing lessons from his predecessor’s failure, he used methods of channeling and dredging instead of blocking and damming the water up. To better handle the people and eliminate the catastrophe, he divided the people into nine sections and dispatched them into nine different areas. Under his leadership, the flood water flowed into the sea through nine newly-dredged rivers. After more than a decade of arduous works, the disastrous situation was finally overcome. Yu the Great thenceforth became the personification of selfless devotion and perseverance in the history of Chinese civilization with the story that “three times he passed the door of his house without going in” passing by.
Xia Dynasty
The establishment of the Xia Dynasty (21st – 16th century BC) is an important milestone in the history of Chinese civilization and marks the end of the primitive Society and the beginning of the Class Society. It is the first dynasty in Chinese history, it lasted nearly 500 years and included the reigns of 17 emperors.
Upon Yu’s death, his position as leader was not passed on to his deputy, but was inherited by his son Qi. Various sources differ as to the process by which Qi rose to this position. Currently, the most accepted version in China says that Yu named Bo Yi as successor, because Bo Yi had achieved fame through teaching the people to use fire to drive animals during hunts. Bo Yi had the popular support of the People and Yu could not go against this easily. But Yu gave Bo Yi the title of successor, without giving  Bo Yi anymore responsibilities. Instead Yu gave his own son all the responsibilities of managing the country. After a few years, Bo Yi lost popularity without additional achievements, and Yu’s son Qi became more popular among the People. Then Yu named Qi as the successor. Bo Yi, however, did not lose willingly. Bo Yi challenged Qi for leadership, and a civil war ensued. Qi with great support of the People, managed to defeat Bo Yi’s forces, killed Bo Yi, and solidified his rule. In any case, Qi’s succession broke the previous convention of meritorious succession, and began what is traditionally regarded as the first dynasty in Chinese history. The dynasty is called “ Xia “ after Yu’s centre of power.
The Xia Dynasty is considered at least semi-mythological. The Records of the Grand Historian(史记) and the Bamboo Annals（竹书纪年） record the names of 17 kings of the Xia Dynasty. However, there are no conclusive archaeological clues as to its capital, nor is there any substantial evidence proving it ever existed as a state of any significant size. Archaeological evidence does not point towards a significant urban civilization until the Shang Dynasty.
The Shang Dynasty
Jie , the last king of the Xia Dynasty, is said to have been a bloodthirsty despot. Tang of Shang, a tribal leader, revolted against Xia's rule and eventually overthrew Jie and  established the Shang Dynasty, based in Anyang. In book5 of Mozi, Mozi described the end of the Xia dynasty and the new Shang dynasty. During the reign of King Jie of Xia, there was a great climactic change. The paths of the sun and moon were different, the seasons were mixed up and the five grains dried up. Ghouls were crying in the country and cranes shrieked for ten nights at a time. Heaven ordered Shang Tang to receive the heavenly commission from the Xia dynasty. The Xia dynasty had failed morally and Heaven brought about its demised. Therefore, Shang Tang was commanded to destroy Xia with the promise of Heaven’s help. In the dark, Heaven destroyed the fortress’ pool. Shang Tang then gained victory easily.
The Shang Dynasty ruled from 1766 B.C. to 1050 B.C. It came to an end when the last despotic ruler, Zhou of Shang, was overthrown by the new Zhou Dynasty. The end of the Shang Dynasty and the establishment of the Zhou is the subject of the influential mythological fiction, Investiture of the Gods(封神演义). Book 5 of Mozi also described the shift itself. During the reign of Shang Zhou, Heaven could not endure his moral weakness and his neglect of timely sacrifices. It rained mud for ten days and nights. The nine cauldrons (presumably used either for astronomy purposes or to measure earth movements) shifted positions. Pontianaks appeared and ghosts cried at night. There were women who became men, the heavens rained flesh and thorny brambles covered the national highways. A red bird brought a message reading “Heaven decrees that King Wen of Zhou shall punish Yin and control his empire”. The Yellow River formed charts and the earth brought forth mythical horses. When King Wu became king, three gods appeared to him in a dream, telling him that they had drowned Shang Zhou in wine and that King Wu was to attack him. On the way back from victory, the heavens gave him the emblem of a yellow bird.
Unlike the preceding Xia Dynasty, there is clear archaeological evidence of a government centre at Yinxu in Anyang, and of an urban civilization in the Shang Dynasty. However, the chronology of the first three dynasties remains an area of active research and much controversy.
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