Yu Shan Executes Gun

Yu Shan Executes Gun

Yu Shan is located 30 kilometers southeast of Linshu County, at the border between northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong. Legend has it that during the era of Yao and Shun, the world suffered from devastating floods. Gun was ordered by the Emperor to control the floods. Without the Emperor’s permission, he stole the precious "Xirang" (a self-renewing soil) and attempted to block the waters with dams. However, the more he blocked, the worse the flooding became. After nine years of futile effort and having committed the crime of stealing Xirang, the Emperor sent the deity Zhu Rong to kill Gun on Yu Shan. A spring was formed there and named “Ji (1) Gun Spring.” The Book of Documents · Canon of Shun records: “Shun executed Gun on Yu Shan”; the Classic of Mountains and Seas · Classic of Regions Within the Seas states that during the time of Emperor Yao, “the floodwaters were raging, and Gun stole the Emperor’s Xirang to block the floods without awaiting the Emperor’s command. The Emperor then ordered Zhu Rong to execute Gun in the outskirts of Yu Shan.” The Records of Tancheng County, compiled in the 28th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, provides a more detailed account: “Yu Shan is located seventy li northeast of the county (2). According to the Yu Gong (Tribute of Yu), Yu Quan and Xia Di (3), the Classic of Mountains and Seas annotation says: ‘Yu Shan is located southwest of Guanyu County in Donghai, the place where Gun was executed. There are two springs there that converge into Yu Pool.’ Zichan of the Zuo Zhuan said: ‘Gun was executed on Yu Shan, and his spirit transformed into a yellow bear and entered Yu Pool.’ This confirms that this Yu Shan is indeed the place where Gun was executed.”

After Gun was executed, his son Yu was once again ordered by Emperor Shun to continue the flood control efforts. Yu “passed by his home three times without entering,” spent 13 years using the method of water diversion, dredging rivers, and guiding the floodwaters to the sea. He eventually succeeded and was revered by later generations as “Great Yu.”