Chinese
Yu the Great
The legendary Chinese ruler who tamed a great flood by guiding the water.
Yu the Great is a legendary figure of ancient China, said to have founded the Xia dynasty. In the tales, a huge flood covered the land. His father tried to stop it by building walls and failed. Yu instead dug channels to lead the water to the sea, and is said to have worked for thirteen years, passing his own door three times without going in.
He is honoured as a hero of hard work and sensible planning. Whether he was a real person is uncertain, and the stories were written down long after the events they describe.