The mystery of the birth of the Xia Dynasty: solving the real Dayu flood control

the third of the three legendary emperors who created the Chinese state

This paper holds that “flood” and “water vibration through joint efforts” are actually the differentiation in different documents of the same history. The historical background of the myth of water control of Ganyu is that the Ganyu tribe in the middle reaches of the Yellow River (now Ruicheng area, Shanxi Province) blocked an important tributary of the Yellow River – the common water, causing a breach and diversion in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The zhurong tribe, which suffered the most, attacked Ganyu westward and exiled him. With his special identity, Yu coordinated the relationship between the upstream and downstream, and made all tribes dismantle the dikes on the tributaries of the Yellow River that hindered the discharge of floods. It was in the process of water control that the Xia Dynasty, the first state power that could control the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, was born. In ancient times, the alternation of state power and hegemony in the Central Plains was mostly related to the struggle of various power groups in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Now everyone almost agrees that the flood myth that spreads all over the world originates from the memory of the real floods, and more or less contains historical facts. In other words, euhemerosis should be partially applicable to flood mythology. Guyu flood control is the most famous flood myth in China. The historical facts implied in it are of great significance to us. It is likely that this flood led to the establishment of the first state power in China’s history. Therefore, it is necessary for us to re explore the historical background of this myth and further investigate the details.

one

From the perspective of literature, the earliest record of the myth of Yu’s flood control is the book of history, Hong Fan: its cloud:

I heard that in the past, there were floods and five elements. The emperor was furious and didn’t let his Hongfan nine domains, Yi Lun you did V curl up, Chao Kui, Yu Nai Si Xing.

It is also the book of history, and Yao Dian records this matter as follows:

The emperor said, “Zi, the four mountains! The soup and the flood are cutting, and the mountains and the mausoleums are vast. The people’s advice can give you v?” Jin said, “Yuya!” The emperor said, “Yu! Jiao Bian corrects the ruined clan.” Yue said, “it’s strange! Try it.” The emperor said, “go, Qin!” For nine years, the achievements have been achieved with Fu Cheng.

In addition, it is also recorded in the Shanhaijing – haineijing, which says:

The flood was overwhelming, and the emperor’s land was covered with flood water, which did not wait for the emperor’s life. The emperor ordered Zhu Rong to kill Yu Jiao. Yu was born again, and the emperor ordered Yu to lay the earth to settle Jiuzhou.

It can be seen that the records of this matter have begun to differentiate in the same book of history. According to Jizi’s words in “Hong Fan”, it is speculated that the flood control was not approved by the “emperor”. According to the “Yao code”, the flood control was recommended by the four mountains. The emperor of Yao raised objections and finally approved the flood control. The first statement is relatively close to the records in the book of mountains and seas, which is obviously a more primitive statement. The second statement obviously has traces of future national systems, which should be a relatively new statement.

Since the 1998 Yangtze River flood in the last century, we have a more intuitive understanding of the flood. In 1998, “if people don’t give water for a way out, water won’t give people a way out”, which left a very deep impression on us. On the basis of this perceptual knowledge, we will undoubtedly have a new understanding if we re-examine this famous flood myth.

My new interpretation of the myth of Yu’s flood control is based on two assumptions. The first is the assumption of history: in my imagination and understanding of the Yu era, the Yellow River Basin has not yet become a unity, but is inhabited by many tribes, and the relationship between tribes is at most a loose alliance. This is not a new point of view, it should belong to common sense. The second is the hypothesis of phonology. I think that ? and Gonggong are different records of the same name. In ancient times, ? belongs to the part of seeing mother, which belongs to seeing mother, and Gonggong belongs to the East. The two are very close. Urgent reading means “hard work”, and slow reading means “joint work”. The pronunciation difference between the two is mainly caused by regional differences. Although this is a new point of view, I am confident that it is not far fetched. Because it is not only because “Yi” and “Gonggong” are similar in pronunciation, but also because their deeds are surprisingly consistent. Here, it is necessary to make a more detailed argument.

First of all, in historical records, Gonggong and Liu made the same mistake, and Gonggong also harmed the world by blocking the flood. According to Guoyu · zhouyu Xia: “In the past, Yu Yu worked together… Yu Yu lost his body in zhanle, and wanted to block all rivers and fall into the sky, so as to harm the world. The emperor was blessed, the common people were helped, disasters and chaos flourished, and the joint work was used and destroyed. In Yu, there was worship of Bo Yu, spreading his lust, which was called the fault of joint work, and Yao used it in Yushan. Later, Bo Yu thought about the former non degree, adjusted the amount, like the world of things, compared with hundreds of rules, instrument to the people, and degree to the group, which was high and low from sun Siyue, Dredging the river leads to stagnation, Zhong Shui enriches things, seals the nine mountains, and decides to gurgle the nine rivers… Connecting the four seas… Huangtian Jiazhi, Zuo yitianzhi. ” “Huainanzi · this Sutra” says: “in the time of Shun, we worked together to shake up the surging flood, with thin air mulberry. The dragon gate was not opened, the Luliang river was not sent, the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers flowed all over, and the four seas were bright, the c-nest was built, and the shovel went to the trees.” Xu Xusheng said that the legends about Gonggong are almost all related to water, which is extremely true. Even the most well-known “Huainanzi astronomy chapter” records: “in the past, Gonggong and Zhuanxu fought for the emperor, but they were angry and touched the mountains of the Zhou Dynasty, the pillars of the sky were broken, and the earth was destroyed. The sky was leaning northwest, so the sun, moon and stars moved; the earth was dissatisfied with the southeast, so the water and dust returned.” It is still a mythical explanation of the southeast of the current.

Second, he was killed by Zhu Rong. Quoting the Shanhaijing haineijing, he said, “the emperor ordered Zhu Rong to kill him in Yujiao.” Gonggong also had a war with Zhu Rong and was invincible. “Textual research of the notes of the historical records society” quoted Sima Zhen’s “supplement to the annals of the historical records of the Three Emperors” as saying: “the princes have Gonggong surname, who can be strong in wisdom and punishment, but not the king. Riding on wood with water is a war with Zhu Rong, which is invincible and angry, but the head can’t touch the mountains around, the pillars of the sky are broken, and the earth is short.” Of course, what is recorded in the literature is more about the struggle between Gonggong and Zhuanxu, such as “Huainanzi astronomy chapter”: “in the past, Gonggong and Zhuanxu fought for the emperor, and they were angry and touched the mountains, the pillars of the sky were broken, and the earth was destroyed.” “The strategy of war” also said: “joint work is a water disaster, so Zhuanxu killed it.” “Historical records – law book” also says: “Zhuan Xu has a formation of joint work to calm water disasters.” But this is not contradictory to the war with Zhu Rong, because Zhu Rong was originally Zhuanxu’s successor. “Zuo Zhuan” Zhao Gong said in the 29th year: “Zhuanxu had a son called Li, which was Zhu Rong.” “The book of mountains and seas · the great wilderness West Sutra” said: “Zhuanxu gave birth to an old boy, and the old boy gave birth to Zhu Rong.” Zhuanxu’s capital is now Puyang. Huangfumi, quoted in the collection of “historical records · the chronicles of the Five Emperors”, said, “dudiqiu is Puyang in the East County today.” Another quote from “Huanglan” said: “Zhuanxu tomb is in Guangyang lane outside chudun gate, Puyang County, east county”. Guo Pu in “Shanhaijing overseas North classic” noted: “Zhuanxu is a Gaoyang tomb, which is now in Puyang, so emperor Qiu is also.” The descendants of Zhu Rong, Kunwu, whose surname is Ji, and Zhuwei, whose surname is Peng, have all lived or ever lived in Puyang. According to this, the main force of fighting with Gonggong should be the Kunwu and Zhuwei tribes in Puyang. They are not wrong after claiming to be Zhuanxu.

Third, their ending is the same. It has been recorded in various documents that he turned into a yellow bear and entered the Yuyuan: Guoyu · Jinyu 8: “the former man violated the emperor’s order, and he turned into a yellow bear to enter the Yuyuan.” “Zuo Zhuan” Zhao Gong also said in the seventh year: “in the past, Yao Yu Yu Yu Yu mountain, its deification into a yellow bear to enter the Yu Yuan.” And Gonggong also has the legend of entering the Abyss: Huainanzi Yuandao “contains:” in the past, the power of Gonggong touched the mountains beyond the perimeter, made the earth tilt southeast, and fought for the emperor with Gaoxin, so it dived into the abyss, the clan was destroyed, and the heirs died. “

Fourth, both of them have a son who peacefully ruled Kyushu. Yu Shiqian’s son is well-known. In Guoyu Lu language, “Gonggong’s tyrant Jiuyou, whose son is called Houtu, can level the nine lands.” Jiuyou and jiutu here all mean Jiuzhou. Although the name is different from Dayu, his deeds are exactly the same. We can’t imagine that in the same era, two people peacefully ruled Kyushu. Obviously, they are actually one person.

To sum up, the deeds of Gonggong and Kan are actually just the differentiation of the same historical facts. Flood myths spread in different clans, tribes and regions, and local people have different attitudes towards their masters. In the legend of the “g” system, people sympathize with “g” and describe him as a hero who can’t control the water. For example, there is a saying in “Li Sao” that “g will die directly”; In the legend of the co working system, it is described as a culprit causing floods. Besides, I agree with Mr. Xu Xusheng on almost all the facts. I think Mr. Xu Xusheng’s research on this flood is only one step away from the truth of history. Now let’s finish the last step.

two

In the records of the book of mountains and seas, I have always wondered why Zhu Rong killed him when he failed to control the water? In the era of Emperor Yao, Zhu Rong was not in charge of punishment, but Gao Tao. Now I try to solve this question.

First of all, we have a well-known fact, that is, chi (Gonggong) uses the method of “blocking” to resist floods. Guo Pu’s annotation of “Kaishi” in the Shanhaijing haineijing said: “the surging flood has no end, and Bo Chi Nai uses the rest stone and soil to fill the flood.” That is, the “falling high” in Guoyu, which means that the high place is shoveled down and the low place is padded up. The main way is “falling high”. This has no different meaning in various records. The specific method of blocking should be to heighten the embankment of the river. According to Xu Xusheng, it is similar to the method of building earth fences. Therefore, in historical legends, he is also the creator of Chengguo. “Lu’s spring and autumn · Jun Shou” said: “Xia GUI is a city.” The book of rites, the law of sacrifice, justly explained “Yi”, quoting “Shiben” to say that he was “a city Guo.” “Shuijingzhu” Volume II “River” quoted from “Shiben” said: “make a city.” The city here, as I understand it, is to protect the high embankment of the tribal settlements in order to resist floods.

However, this water control method has caused the dissatisfaction of other princes, which is also clearly stated in the literature. “Huainanzi Yuandao” said: “Xia Jia is a city of three Ren, surrounded by princes, and there is a cunning heart overseas.” According to the above quotation of “Guoyu · zhouyuxia”, the result of “blocking hundreds of rivers and falling into high walls” is “harming the world”, so “the emperor is blessed, the common people are helped, disasters and chaos thrive, and work together to destroy.” According to Huainan Zi, the commoners of Fu Zhu and the princes on the opposite bank should all be foreigners, and they are not the same tribe as Gu. Why does the method of “Guan” cause the dissatisfaction of other princes? Let’s take a look at the region where the GaN (Gonggong) tribe is located.

The settlement of Gonggong tribe should be in Gongdi. There were five place names and country names in ancient times. That is: 1. Afterword to the history of the road: biography of Gonggong, cloud Gonggong’s founding in Shen and Fen, in today’s Shaanxi county, Henan Province; 2. “Shan Hai Jing · Bei CI San Jing” said: “Mount Tai tou, a total of water out of Yan, South note in the pool.” When in Wutai County, Shanxi Province. 2. “Zhongshan classic” said: “sweet jujube mountain, a total of water Yan, and the West flows into the river.” “Under the river”, Volume IV of the notes to the water classics, quoted this article and said: “today, the Polygonum water is diagnosed, and the river flow tends to help with the common water”. It is based on the Polygonum water as the common water, which is in the southwest corner of Shanxi Province, Ruicheng County. 3. According to the sixth chapter of the Zhongshan Sutra, “the mountain of feldspar… There is a valley in the west, which is called gonggu. There are many bamboos, and the water flows out. The southwest flows into Luo.” This article has been quoted in “Shui Jing Zhu Luo Shui Xia”. It is located in Xin’an County, Henan Province. 4. “Poetry · Daya · emperor Yi” said: “secret people are disrespectful, dare to stay away from the big country and invade Ruan Yugong.” This may be in today’s Jingchuan County, Gansu Province. 5. “Hanshu · geographical records” has a total of counties in Hanoi Prefecture, and Ban Gu annotated himself as “ancient country”, which is located in Huixian County, Henan Province today.

Xu Xusheng’s view is that it is located in Huixian County, where there is a small river flowing into the river, which is equivalent to the current Wei River, which flows into the Yellow River together with Qi water. The Yellow River receives many tributaries here. It has abundant water and is first entering the plain, so it is easy to suffer. Later, the common water became a public name – flood. This statement has many advantages. The most important advantage is that the floods of all dynasties occurred in this region. The disadvantage is: except for the rising material “Hanshu”, Gonggong lives in Huixian, and there is no other material as evidence.

If you and Gonggong are regarded as one person, we will have more materials and clues. It is a relatively consistent record in ancient documents that the fief of Kuai was worshipped, but there are several statements about where the worshipping was. The first is a more common saying, that is, this “Chong” is Chongshan, now known as Songshan, in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. The second is the worship of the Marquis and the tiger. In the east of Lixian County, Shaanxi Province, this worship is a vassal state of Commerce, which has nothing to do with Qi. It is a conclusion and can be ignored. The third is the worship invaded by Zhao Chuan. “Tai Ping Yu Lan” volume 15-5 quoted the “Emperor Century” as saying: “Xia GUI was granted Chongbo. Therefore, the” spring and autumn biography “said that ‘you Chongbo’, and the country was between the Qin and Jin Dynasties. The” Zuo Shi biography “said: ‘it is also true that Zhao penetrated and invaded Chongbo.'” although this place cannot be accurately referred to, Wang Fu’s “barnyard grass Shu” said: “this Chongguo must be on the North Wei River, although it is with Qin, and the place is close to Jin.” This statement is very credible. Why is there “worship” in Jindi of Weibei “This place name is probably related to the migration of the Kan tribe. Although it is somewhat suspicious that Kan is the father of Yu, it must have a close relationship with the Xia nationality. According to archaeological excavations, it has been confirmed that the southwest of Shanxi Province should be an important area for the activities of the Xia people. The ruins of the great Xia Dynasty are located in the southwest of today’s Shanxi Province, that is, the hometown of Yu capital in the early summer, so it has the name of Xia Xu. Therefore, it is generally believed that the Xia people had a migration when Ku and Yu, from Yiluo region of Henan Province moved to the southwest of Shanxi Province.

Therefore, I think the settlement of the Kan tribe is based on sharing water with Ruicheng. The place of worship of “Zhao chuanchong” should not be out of the scope of Ruicheng. Dongxiafeng site, one of the types of Erlitou culture, is very close to Ruicheng. Yongji, Yuncheng, Houma, Wenxi, Xinjiang, Xiangfen, Jiangxian and Linfen in the north of Rui county have all found sites of the Dongxiafeng type of Erlitou culture. The purpose of building a dam in Ruicheng is obviously to protect the tribal residents in the lower reaches of the common water.

The flood in the lower reaches of the Yellow River mainly comes from the three river sections in the middle reaches, namely, between Hekou town and Longmen (hereinafter referred to as helongjian); Between Longmen and Sanmenxia (longsanjian for short); Between Sanmenxia and Huayuankou (Sanhuajian for short). The flood generated by these three intervals is the main component of the downstream flood. The floods from the above three different source areas constitute three different types of floods at Huayuankou Station: the first is the major flood (called the upper major flood) mainly caused by the water from the river Longjian and longsanjian above Sanmenxia. For example, in the 1933 flood, the measured peak flow of Shaanxi county station was 22000 cubic meters per second; During the great flood in 1843, the peak flow of Shaanxi county station was estimated to be 36000 cubic meters per second. This kind of flood has the characteristics of high peak height, large volume and large sediment concentration, which poses a serious threat to the downstream flood control. The second is the water from the three flowers below Sanmenxia (called the next big flood). For example, the measured peak flow of Huayuankou Station in 1958 was 22300 cubic meters per second and the surveyed flood of Huayuankou Station in 1761 was 32000 cubic meters per second. This kind of flood is characterized by sharp rise, high flood peak, small sediment concentration and short prediction period, which poses the greatest threat to flood control in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Third, it is composed of the water from the longsanjian above Sanmenxia and the Sanhuajian below Sanmenxia (called the upper and lower large flood). For example, in 1957 and 1964, the flow of Huayuankou Station was 13000 cubic meters per second and 9430 cubic meters per second respectively. Its characteristic is that the flood peak is low, but the duration is long, and the threat to the downstream dike is also quite serious. Therefore, if the tributaries are blocked in this section to prevent flood discharge, the harm to downstream can be imagined.

So, where is zhurong tribe?

Zhurong tribe originally lived in Zheng, which is now Xinzheng County, Henan Province. “Zuo Zhuan” Zhao Gong said in the 17th year: “Zheng, Zhu Rong is also empty.” His descendants were divided into eight surnames: Ji, Dong, Peng, Tu, Li u, Cao, Zhen, MI. They lived in a wide range of areas, including today’s Xuchang County, Puyang County, Wen County, fan County, Dingtao County in Shandong (the Yi nationality of Dong surname of zhurong tribe), Zou County, Ju county, Xuzhou in Jiangsu (Peng clan), and other places, as far as Hubei. In ancient times, the Yellow River was divided into East and West channels in the lower reaches, flowing into the sea from North Henan to northeast. The East Canal is in Neihuang County North of Puyang. The Yellow River is desecrated in this county. Although this desecration is not necessarily a river course in the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the Xia and Shang rivers should not be far from here. Therefore, the eight surnames of zhurong are basically located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, where the Yellow River has often changed its course for thousands of years.

According to legend, after Gonggong blocked the flood, the biggest victim was Kong sang. Where was Kong sang? The book of mountains and seas · North Mountain classic contains empty mulberry, and its cloud:

Two hundred miles north, it is called the mountain of empty mulberry. There is no vegetation, and there is snow in winter and summer. How does the water of empty mulberry flow out? It flows eastward and pours into Lida.

Wu Renchen noted in the broad notes of the classics of mountains and seas: “there are two kinds of empty mulberry. The history of the road says: ‘work together to shake up the torrent of water and thin the empty mulberry.’ its location is between Shen and Shaanxi. Yi Yin is from Shen. Therefore, the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family and the ancient history research all say that Yin produces empty mulberry. The old city of empty mulberry is 30 miles away from Chen Liu today, and there is empty mulberry stream, which is historically known as’ Emperor Yu Gang Ju empty mulberry ‘,’ return to Tibet ‘and’ enlighten divination ‘ Cloud ‘Chiyou fells the empty mulberry’, where the emperor lives, that is, this empty mulberry. Yandi also has empty mulberry. Its land is vast. The Gaoyang family lives in it. Huangfumi calls it the “wild land of broad mulberry”. In ancient times, there was a free San family. “Confucius was born in the empty mulberry” is also recorded in the “spring and autumn Confucius’ painting” and Gan Bao: it is the empty mulberry of Lu. ” Hao Yixing said that there was another empty mulberry between Zhao and Dai. That is to say, at least four places are called kongsang. 1. Between Shen and Shaanxi. 2. In Chenliu. 3. In Yanzhou. 4. Between Zhao and Dai. I think Chen Liu said yes, that is, Shendi is near today’s Dingtao. Wen county is in the northwest, Puyang and fan counties are in the north, Xuchang is in the southwest, Dingtao and Zou counties are in the northeast, and Pengcheng is in the southeast. That is to say, it is basically in the center of the tribes with the eight surnames of zhurong. The zhurong tribe undoubtedly suffered the most from the flood that shook the thin air mulberry. Therefore, they should unite to attack the upstream Kan (Gonggong) tribe and finally exile it.

The place where he flows is Yushan. Where is Yushan? “Mountain and sea Sutra – Nanshan Sutra”: “another 350 miles to the East, it is called Yushan. There is much water under it, and there is much rain on it. There are no vegetation, and there are many Agkistrodon halys.” Guo Pu noted, “today, there is a feather mountain in the southwest of Zhuqi County in the East China Sea, that is, the place where the place is located. It seems that there is no correspondence in its way.” Wu Rencheng’s note: “Yu Gong notes that ‘Yushan is 70 miles away from Tancheng County’.” shidaozhi “: ‘Yutan is a Yuchi, and there is Yushan in the East’.” annals of prefectures and kingdoms “says: ‘there is Yushan in Zhongli swimming City, and its water is always clear, and cattle and sheep don’t drink.’ Liu Huimeng said: ‘there is Yushan in Ganyu County, Huai’an.’ what is written in the Sutra is unknown.” According to my speculation, it should be in the area controlled by the eight surnames of zhurong, who live in the easternmost, like Tancheng county.

To sum up, it is speculated that the historical fact at that time was that the tribes led by Jia used blocking methods to prevent flood invasion in Gongdi (today’s Ruicheng County), which made the Yellow River unable to discharge flood from its north tributary, resulting in river diversion and flooding. The tribes of zhurong system in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River suffered first. Therefore, zhurong clan headed by Kunwu and Zhuwei attacked West from Puyang and finally exiled.

three

As we all know, Marx put forward a very famous theory – the Asiatic mode of production in his critique of political economy preface written in 1859. When studying Eastern absolutism, Karl weitev adopted the theoretical framework put forward by Marx and put forward the theory of “water control society”, believing that it was the eastern river water control project that made the eastern absolutism have the premise of emergence and final establishment. I think weitefu’s theory has a considerable degree of credibility.

After he was killed, Dayu followed the flood control. All kinds of records about Dayu are familiar to everyone. Both Wang Fuzhi and Xu Xusheng mentioned that Dayu’s work was mainly to widen and deepen the original river channel and dredge it according to the natural situation, and there were few large projects. I further feel that Dayu’s main work is coordination. His first task is to persuade the tribes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River to remove their dikes blocking water through political, diplomatic, and even military means, so that the river can be discharged smoothly. Yu’s ability to undertake this important task is related to his identity. According to the records of the historian Xia Benji, Suo Yin quoted the book of records of the Department: “there is a Xin’s daughter in Kuo, which is called the annals of women, and it is high density.” Song zhongyun said, “Gaomi was sealed by Yu.” There is a Xin surname, that is, there is a Shen surname. Its place is said to be generally in the lower reaches of the Yellow River today. In other words, Yu was the result of the marriage of tribes in the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is easier for him to coordinate the relationship between upstream and downstream. By the way, the various forms of tribal alliances between the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River may not have begun in Qianshi. We know that from the perspective of archaeological typology, the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the Neolithic period are two different cultural areas. The sequence of the middle reaches of the Yellow River is pre Yangshao culture (6000 BC – 5400 BC) – Yangshao culture (5000 BC – 3000 BC) – Henan Longshan Culture (2900 BC – 2000 BC), and the sequence of the lower reaches of the Yellow River is qingliangang culture (5400 BC – 4000 BC) – Dawenkou Culture (4300 BC – 2500 BC) – Shandong Longshan Culture (2500 BC – 2000 BC) – Yueshi culture (1900 BC – 1500 BC). Although archaeologists believe that the Longshan Culture in Henan and Shandong have regional differences, the influence of downstream culture on the culture of the middle reaches is obvious. This shows that there is a close relationship between the two places during this period. I think the link of this connection is the Yellow River. In order to prevent flood and irrigation, the tribes of the two places must rely on each other in ways such as marriage.

Since the flood, people feel bitterly that the situation of tribes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River will cause great disaster, and there must be a unified authority to coordinate. Therefore, the Xia Dynasty, China’s first state power, came into being. In other words, the political power of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, including the birth of overlords such as Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin in the spring and Autumn period, was related to the need to coordinate the relationship between the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The alternation and struggle between Xia, Shang and three dynasties basically belonged to the struggle between the middle and lower reaches of the river. As we have said, the birth of the Xia Dynasty was due to the need to control the floods of the Yellow River. Although he was exiled, the midstream tribes still prevailed. According to the historical records of Xia Benji, “Emperor Yu stood up and recommended Gao Tao, and granted the government Yan and Gao Tao’s death.” “Records of the historian · justice” quoted “records of the emperor” as saying: “Yu Zen Shun, Yu is the throne, to blame Tao as the best, recommended to heaven, will have the meaning of Zen. Before Zen, will gaotao die.” Gao Tao was born in Qufu. After Gao Tao, he was either in Britain, Liuzhou, or Xu. In short, he was in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. From this record, we speculate that the system established by the tribal community in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River should adopt the “rotating governance system”, that is, the tribes in the middle reaches and lower reaches of the Yellow River should take turns to govern. There are many examples of this system in ethnological investigations, jack Goody pointed out that under this system, the succession groups often have a tendency of dichotomy. When the leader on one side is the king, the leader on the other side will be his deputy. But the midstream tribes destroyed this system. The destruction of the rotating ruling system also marks the establishment of the autocratic state power. After the Xia Dynasty, several major changes, such as the dispute between Yi and Qi, the struggle between Yi, Han and Xia, have a lot to do with the destruction of the rotating ruling system and the establishment of a single regime. Fu Sinian has long said in his “Yi Xia Dong Xi Shuo” that this is a contradiction between China and Dongyi, and Xu Xusheng also agrees. In my opinion, the contradiction between the two cultural groups has not yet grasped the key point, and the key is the dispute between the upstream and downstream of the river.

Shang Tang originated in Bo, which is generally believed to be in Puyang, Henan Province today. He met the princes in bodi, and then went up the Yellow River to fight Xia Jie in mingtiao. It must be mentioned here that Yi Yin, an important assistant of Shang Tang, was born in kongsangzhi with Shen family. It is reported that he is also good at water control. “Guan Zi Di Shu Pian” said: “Yi Yin can shift the weight, open and close, and decide the plug, and pass through the high and low Xu disease.” Accordingly, an important work of the Shang regime is to control water. In this fight, the tribes in the lower reaches gained the upper hand. Since then, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River have been under the management of a unified regime.

After the Zhou people moved to the Wei River Basin, they developed steadily and gradually expanded in all directions. The key step of Zhou People’s eastward expansion was the surrender of Yu (Shanxi Jiexian county) and Rui (now Shanxi Ruicheng County). The two small countries depended on King Wen for land. When they saw the tillers in the Zhou Dynasty, they went away ashamed. The forces of Zhou people entered the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Since then, the development of Zhou nationality in the East has been unstoppable. Until the soldiers watch Mengjin and fight Makino. Qian Mu strongly advocated that Zhou clan yuan originated in the southwest of Shanxi. If this theory is true, then, like the Xia Dynasty, the tribal regime in the middle reaches of the Yellow River unified the lower reaches.

After the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the status of the emperor of Zhou declined day by day, and he had no ability to control the princes. Duke Huan of Qi took advantage of the situation. According to the records of Mencius · Suizi Xia, in the ninth year of the reign of Duke Xi (651 BC), Duke Huan led the princes to meet in kuiqu, and his fifth life was: “no defense, no restraint, no closure without warning”. He tried to solve the disputes between the vassal states over the construction of embankments through the ban of “no defense”. It can be seen that the important function of the overlord is to coordinate the relationship between the middle and lower reaches. Duke Huan of Qi’s hegemony was the victory of the downstream forces over the midstream. After Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin dominated, and Zheng, song, Wei, Cao and others in the lower reaches attached to him one after another, and the middle reaches defeated the lower reaches again. It can be seen that due to the particularity of the Yellow River, there must be a power core that can control the middle and lower reaches. The whole history of the rise and fall of political power in the pre Qin period can be focused on this point. Of course, there is still a need for further detailed discussion.