The 2024 Dayu Mausoleum Commemoration Ceremony is held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, on April 19. [Photo provided by Luo Haimiao]

The 2024 Dayu Mausoleum Commemoration Ceremony was held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province on April 19.

This year's ceremony comprised 13 rituals, including standing in solemn silence, sounding the ceremonial bell, offering floral tributes, burning incense, drumming and bell ringing, playing music, presenting wine, offering libations, reciting sacrificial texts, performing rites, singing commemorative songs, performing sacrificial dances, and concluding the ceremony.

Representatives from Shaoxing, descendants of Dayu, ethnic minorities from across the country, and overseas Chinese participated in the ceremony.

The 2024 Dayu Mausoleum Commemoration Ceremony is held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, on April 19. [Photo provided by Luo Haimiao]

Since ancient times, Dayu has been revered and worshipped as an ancestor by the Chinese people.

Following Dayu's burial in Shaoxing, rituals to honor and worship him began, and have been passed down for thousands of years, maintaining an unbroken tradition.

Dayu, or Yu the Great, is a household name and a character who figures prominently in the origin of Chinese civilization. He is credited with establishing the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC), the start of China's dynastic rule.

Indeed, it is often said in historical records that "around the Nine Regions, traces of Yu can be found everywhere, and temples commemorating Yu can be seen everywhere". Nine Regions is a term generally found in ancient Chinese history referring to Chinese territories and has since become synonymous with the nation.

Shaoxing is where Yu's mausoleum is located and where the most widely heard story of his is said to have taken place. The Dayu Mausoleum is located at the foothills of Kuaiji Mountain in the southeast of the city's Yuecheng district. Even local children can vividly recount his heroics in controlling the primordial floods that once ravaged the area.

The 2024 Dayu Mausoleum Commemoration Ceremony is held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, on April 19. [Photo provided by Luo Haimiao]

It is said that when Yu the Great went about taming the floods, he met a member of a local clan and they married. However, a few days later Yu had to leave home to continue fighting the watery scourge. For the next 13 years, he did not set foot in his home again, even though he passed by it three times.

His wife, eagerly awaiting his return for years on end, could not help but utter in increasing frustration, "Oh, I am waiting for him." This single line, some experts say, is the first poem composed by a female writer in China.