In ancient times, devastating floods frequently destroyed homes and farmland, causing immense suffering. The tribal leader Yao, deeply troubled, appointed Gun to control the waters.
Yao asked Gun, "Do you have a way to control the floods?" Gun replied, "Yes, block water with earth—pile up a hundred-foot dam of mud to surround houses and fields, that will surely hold back the floodwaters."
However, the method of piling earth to block water could only handle minor floods. When a fierce, raging torrent came thundering down, the dams were simply swept away. After nine years of labor, Gun had failed to control the waters.
After Emperor Shun ascended the throne, he tasked Gun's son, Yu, with continuing the flood control efforts. Learning from his father's failures, Yu realized that blocking water with earth was futile. Observing that water naturally flows downhill, he wondered, "If I channel the water to lower grounds capable of draining floods, guiding it toward the sea, could that fundamentally solve the problem?"
Yu, with relentless effort and painstaking thought, devised a method to control the floods: based on the terrain, he dug channels step by step to divert water into rivers; he cleared clogged waterways to speed the flow into the sea. After formulating a feasible plan, Yu put his vision into action.
Yu devoted himself entirely to the great flood control project. He personally surveyed the terrain and river courses, determined the proper locations for canals, then organized and directed the construction. Trekking through the wilderness year-round, Yu's feet grew thick calluses, the hair on his legs wore away completely, and his skin turned dark from the sun; relentless toil made him increasingly gaunt, his hardship no less than that of a slave. Yet, to tame the floods and bring peace to the people, Yu found joy in his labor, pouring his whole heart into the work.
Yu, the legendary flood tamer, was so consumed by his work that he neglected his own marriage, remaining unwed until the age of thirty. A young woman from Mount Tu, grateful that Yu had tamed the floods in her region and admiring his selfless dedication to the world, willingly offered to become his wife. Only then did Yu start a family, but his commitment to flood control kept him away from home. Just four days after the wedding, Yu sent his wife to his hometown of Anyi to live with and care for his mother, while he himself continued his tireless efforts to control the great floods year after year.
Day after day, year after year, Yu traversed every river and mountain across the vast lands of China, completing one flood control project after another and relieving countless communities from water disasters, yet he never found a moment to return home and visit his aging mother and wife. Though he passed by Anyi several times, the urgency of taming the floods kept him from entering his own gate—he refused to let personal matters delay his mission. Even when his son Qi was born, Yu heard the infant's cries as he walked past the door, but he did not step inside to hold his child; he placed flood control above all else.
For thirteen years, Yu worked tirelessly, never resting until the floods were tamed. When the waters rose, countless channels and rivers swiftly guided them to the sea. These crisscrossing waterways also irrigated the fields, bringing bountiful harvests and peace to the people, who hailed Yu as a great sage. The tale of Yu passing his own home three times without entering became a timeless legend.
The idiom "Three Times Passing His Home Without Entering" refers to the story of Yu the Great controlling the floods. He passed by his home several times but never went inside, describing someone who is fully devoted to work and selfless for the public good.
Source: *Mencius*, Chapter "Li Lou II"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "三过其门而不入" came to describe how someone is fully devoted to work and selfless for the public good.