Rocks bear out story of China's ancient flood

摘要

Legend has it that a great flood engulfed China 4000 years ago. Lasting more than 20 years, the deluge was finally tamed by the heroic efforts of Emperor Yu, whose Xia dynasty marked the birth of Chinese civilisation. Some had dismissed the story as a myth, but we now have compelling evidence that the flood did happen at the time and place chronicled in the legend - about 1920 BC. "This was the first stage in the founding of Chinese civilisation," says Qinglong Wu, now at Nanjing Normal University in China, who led the study.