Gun was the father of Yu the Great

Yu the Great

Yu the Great , was a legendary ruler of Ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character....

, the founder of the Xia Dynasty

Xia Dynasty

The Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...

. He was appointed by Yao

Yao (ruler)

Yao , was a legendary Chinese ruler, one of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors. His ancestral name （姓）is Yi Qi （伊祁） or Qi（祁）,clan name （氏）is Taotang , given name is Fangxun , as the second son to Emperor Ku and Qingdu...

 to control the flooding rivers. He used dikes to stop the rivers from flooding, but they eventually collapsed after nine years and killed many people.

In mythology

In many versions of the mythology, Gun seems to be a half-god like character. In legends he even discovers some of the secrets of the Gods. To make the dikes, which can stop the rising water, he stole the XiRang (Earth which can reproduce itself) of the Gods. After the dikes were finished, when the water levels rose, the magical earth of the dike also rose to keep the water out. It worked very well at the first, but when the dikes rose too high (In the legend, it was nine Ren, an ancient Chinese measure of length) they collapsed, resulting in the death of many people in the subsequent flood. Some legends say that Gun was executed by Shun, and others say that he committed suicide. Before his death he told his son, Yu the Great

Yu the Great

Yu the Great , was a legendary ruler of Ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character....

, to finish his job.