Legend of Three Gorges – Tushan Shi

A Brief Introduction to Tushan Shi

In Chinese ancient mythology, Tushan Shi was the wife of Dayu - the famous flood controller in history. Dayu was the founder of the first slavery dynasty - Xia Dynasty. It is said that Tushan Shi was the first female soloist in China.

Legend of Tushan Shi

According to the legend, Shun usurped the throne and imprisoned Yao. He then ordered Dayu to take over his father's task and continue to control the flood. Dayu engaged himself in the work of controlling the floods and even neglected his marriage event. At the age of 30, he came to the Tushan Mountain to control floods and came across the daughter of Tushan family who was later called Tushan Shi. They two fell in love with each other at the first sight. So they got married.

As for Dayu, a man, the achievements of controlling floods determined his future. While for Tushan Shi, a lady, love was the most important thing. After their marriage, Dayu worked hard outside, day and night. He worked so hard that he never went back home to reunite with Tushan Shi in the 13 years of controlling floods, even if he passed his home for three tiems.

Tushan Shi stayed at home everyday and felt quite lonely. She remembered and missed her husband almost at every moment. One night, she looked at the beautiful crescent in the sky. Suddenly, a melody occurred to her and the illiterate lady sang a song which expressed her miss for her husband.

At that time, Dayu was working in his hometown. The lovesick Tushan Shi ignored the secular rules and established practice, and went to the hometown of Dayu to see her husband. One day, she went to serve her husband - Dayu meals, she saw her husband becoming a bear. She felt quite ashamed and then turned herself into a stone. Dayu asked for his son to the stone. The stone split and their son-Qi was born. Maybe Qi carried the musical genes from her mother - Tushan Shi. Anyhow, Qi was quite good at music. It is said that Qi was even able to direct musical performances.