Saints & Sages Part XIII: 大禹 Yu, The Great

Saints & Sages Part XIII:

大禹
Yu, The Great
___________________________________________________________

除了这三件宝物的来历，还有一段故事在当地流传呢！
古代禹帝时期，天下洪水泛滥，平原地带都被水淹了。禹帝爷为了制服（治服）洪水，便驾着万年神龟四处察看水情。一日，来到了老母荒的山顶，见洪水太大，就在此设立神坛，准备借用神力使山川移位，河流改道，让洪水入海。只见禹帝爷手捧朝天笏，向上天禀报了一番，请天帝派四海龙王、群神天将协助治水。他书写了一道令符，从怀中掏出翻天印，正要往下盖章的时候，太上老君来了，一扇子扇来，把印扇扁了，只盖上了一半，眨眼的功夫，翻天印、朝天笏和万年龟都化成了石头。只听老君爷说道：“天下万物兴衰自有定数，不可依神力改变，当以人力顺理而为，如人世间都以神力行事，有违天意。”真是定数，如果老君爷晚来一步，令符被禹帝爷盖上翻天印，祭起神符，敕令众神施法，那大地、山川、河流就不会是现在这个样子了！大禹爷没有了三件宝物，失去了神力，只好依靠人力率领众百姓挖土建堤，疏通河道，引水入海，终于战胜了洪水。如今山川依旧，仙迹尤在，已是时过境迁。

Besides from the origin of these three treasures, there was also one story which was disseminated locally!

During the ancient era of the Emperor Yu, there was rampant flooding all under the heavens. The plain regions were all submerged under water. In order to subdue the floods, Emperor Yu then rode his Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Turtle in all directions to inspect the situation of the [flooding] water. One day, he came to the mountain peak of the Elderly Mother Desolation. Upon seeing that the great flood, he set up a spirit altar here and prepared to borrow the power of the spirits to cause a shift in the mountains and rivers, and alter course of the waterways, in order to let the flood flow into the oceans. Emperor Yu clasped with both hands the prostration ceremonial tablet, reported [the situation] to the heavens, and requested the Heavenly Emperor to dispatch the dragon kings of the four seas and the multitudes of spirits and heavenly generals to provide assistance with the governing of the waters. He wrote a commanding talisman and from his bosom he fished out the Seal of Overturning the Heavens. Precisely at the moment of stamping, the Supreme Sovereign Lao arrived. With one swing of his fan, [Sovereign Lao] pushed the seal sideway, as the stamping was only half completed. In the blink of an eye, the Seal of Overturning the Heavens, the Ceremonial Tablet of the Prostrating to the Heavens, and the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Turtle all transformed into rocks.

Sovereign Lao says:

Under the heavens, the prosperity and decline of the ten thousand things all have their fixed numbers. It is unacceptable to change them by relying on the power of spirits. One should instead employ human powers and act according to the principle. If the human world all handled affairs by [the use of] spirit powers, this would violate against the heavenly will.

Such is [the blessing of] the fixed in numbers. If Sovereign Lao had come one step later, the commanding talisman would have been stamped by the Seal of Overturning the Heavens, which would have commenced the sacrificial ritual with the Spirit Talisman and issued the edict to the multitudes of sprits to perform magic spells; that great earth, the mountains, rivers, the waterways would not be the way they are now! After the loss of the three treasures, Yu the Great no longer possessed the power of the spirits; thus, he had no better option than to rely on human powers to command the multitudes of commoners to dig up the earth, build dyke, and to dredge and unblock the waterways, and guide the water into the oceans. In the end, he defeated the floods. Nowadays, the mountains and rivers are still as before, traces of the immortal [deeds] are especially present, even though much time has passed and the region has changed.

兴德道长 整理
Arranged by Daoist Xing De [Li Shi Fu]
___________________________________________________________
Post-Scriptum: This article will be published in full as part of a forthcoming book called ‘Legends of White Horse Mountain’ [bai ma shan chuan shuo 白马山传说]. It will recount the folklore stories and tales of White Horse Mountain and its vicinity, featuring prominent deities and figures such as the Yang Generals, Lao Zi, Yu, the Great, the Dragon King, phoenixes, the God of Wealth, the Five Immortals and the Perfect Warrior and his two generals Turtle and Snake.