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“I love to think of Yu co them into an empire that would one day become China Besides,” he added, “Yu was a mathematician like myself That amused me”

“How can you possibly know if he was a mathematician?” Hulan asked “He may not even have existed”

“I think we should trust the historical accounts found in the Shu Ching, don’t you?”

“I don’t understand what that is, exactly”

“It’s one of the world’s oldest books, and it’s still in print”

But that didn’t mean she knew its importance, and this realization surprised him

“It’s a series of historical documents that covers nearly two thousand years of history up to 631 BC,” he explained “The Tribute to Yu canon records Yu’s nature as a man and a leader It’s here that you first hear about the Nine Tripods and how the bronze work describes each province’s resources and riches”

Michael fell silent The rain, which had let up considerably during the day, now pelted the roof, and thunder sounded in the distance He put down his wineglass and continued “One thing I think is extraordinary about Yu was his vision of engineering Da Yu chih shui ‘Yu the Great controlled the waters,’” he translated, although she understood the words “He who controls the waters of China controls the people Think about dikes, canals, da correctly, then crops are flooded, methods of communication fail, territorial lines are lost—all of which lead to the destruction of eovernment still believes it”

“So he was a leader, a good businessineer—”

“And a ing nuonally they all coate of fifteen”

“I re that puzzle as a child”

“So do I, and so do a lot of kids all over the world Today we can look at it as a childish puzzle, but Yu figured it out o He also created the Chinese lunar calendar You had to know that”

“No”

“It’s called the Xia calendar in honor of the dynasty he founded!”

“But I didn’t know he developed it”