Voice of sage of the ages echoes down the centuries

Map of Traces of Yu in the city of Shaoxing in Zhejiang province. "Yu is a cultural totem of perseverance and struggle for the Chinese nation in the face of difficulties," says Tan Xuming, head of the Water History Committee of the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society. "They are a moral symbol to encourage the Chinese people to bravely fight natural disasters and work together in times of trouble," Tan says. They do more than connect Chinese people; they have a deep influence on other East Asian countries too, Japan and South Korea in particular, where many Yuji, or traces of Yu, can be found. "As in China, the stories of Yu have taken deep root among Japanese and Koreans," says He Junjie, director of the Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.