(Chinese: “Yü the Great”), in Chinese mythology, the Tamer of the Flood, one of China's saviour-heroes and reputed founder of China's oldest dynasty, the Hsia. One legend among many recounts Ta Yü's extraordinary birth: a man called Kun was given charge of controlling a great deluge. To dam the water, he stole from heaven what seems to have been a piece of magic soil. Angered by the theft, the Lord on High issued an order for his execution. After three years, Kun's miraculously preserved body was slit open and a son brought forth. This was Ta Yü who, after years of strenuous labour, provided outlets to the sea through dredging, with the aid of dragons, thus making the world suitable for human habitation.