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순임금도 여영이 낳은 외아들 상균商均이 있었다. 그러나 세습할 뜻이 없었던 데다가, 상균이 음주 가무에 빠져 지내자 우禹를 발탁해 대 륙의 치산치수를 맡겼다.우의 아버지 곤鯀도 치수 관리를 책임졌지만, 큰 강에 둑만 쌓으려 다가 번번이 실패했다. 이 때문에 해마다 나라에 홍수가 휩쓸어 침수당한 백성이 큰 나무로 집을 짓거나 동굴로 들어가야 했다.
이런 실패를 지켜본 우는 어떤 방법을 택했을까?
궁금해진 손무는 여러 갑골문을 뒤지다가 <치수낙서治水洛書> 편에 서 ‘…수로이도해水路而到海’라는 구절을 발견했다.
‘바다로 가는 수로를 연다’는 뜻으로, 기존의 물길을 막는 것이 아니라 뚫는 방식을 택했다는 것이다.
‘그렇지. 군대의 움직임도 물과 같아야 한다(병형상수兵形象水). 물이 높은 곳을 피하고 아래로 흐르듯 작전도 적의 강한 곳을 피하고 약한 곳을 쳐야한다.’
이처럼 손무는 무엇을 보든 병법과 연결지어 생각했다.
우가 강줄기를 따라 막힌 물길을 뚫고 다니느라 무려 13년을 돌아 다녔다. 무더운 남방에 가면 벌거벗은 원주민들과 함께 벗고 일을 하느라 손톱이나 종아리 털까지 닳아 없어졌으며 허벅지에 난 상처도 나을 틈이 없어 어기적거리며 다녀야 했다. 그 모습 때문에 우보禹步 란 별명이 생겼다. 우가 신혼집에도 10년을 오지 못할 만큼 노력한 결과, 대륙을 가로지르는 황하와 장강의 물길이 잡히며 강변의 백성들도 한시름 놓게 되었다.
순임금이 크게 치하하며 우를 후계자로 공식화했다. 그뒤 즉위 40년째에 남방을 순행하던 중 삼묘三苗 부족의 반란군과 창오의 들녘에서 싸우던 도중에 병사했다. 순을 따라갔던 아황과 어영은 순의 주검 앞에서 서로 부둥켜안고 울다가 소상강瀟湘江에 몸을 던졌다. 이들의 눈물이 대나무에 떨어졌으며 그후 소상강 근처의 대나무에는 아롱무늬가 생겼다. 이것이 소상반죽瀟湘斑竹이다.
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<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.>
[Novel The Art of War 10]The lesson of the oracle bone script, “Don’t block the waterway, open it.”
Emperor Shun also had an only son, Sangjun, born to Yeo-yeong. However, he had no intention of making it his successor, and when Sangjun became addicted to drinking and dancing, he appointed Yu to manage the mountains and rivers of the continent. Yu’s father, Gon, was also responsible for managing the waterway, but he failed every time because he only tried to build dams on the large rivers. Because of this, floods swept through the country every year, and the people who were submerged had to build houses out of large trees or go into caves. What method did Yu choose after watching these failures?
Curious, Sun Tzu searched through various oracle bone scripts and found the phrase “… waterways and reach the sea” in the <治水洛書>. It means ‘opening a waterway to the sea’, and it means that he chose to open up the existing waterway instead of blocking it.
‘That’s right. The movement of the army should be like water (병형상수兵形象水). Just as water avoids high places and flows down, so should the strategy avoid the enemy’s strong points and strike at their weak points.’
In this way, Sun Tzu thought about everything he saw as a military strategy.
Yu wandered around for 13 years to open up the blocked waterway along the river. When he went to the hot south, he worked naked with the naked natives, so his fingernails and calf hair were worn away, and the wounds on his thighs had no time to heal, so he had to walk around in a staggering manner. Because of his appearance, he earned the nickname ‘Woo Bo’. As a result of his efforts, which included not being able to visit his new home for 10 years, the waterways of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River that cross the continent were opened, and the people along the riverside were relieved. Shun was greatly praised and officially designated Yu as his successor. After that, in the 40th year of his reign, while touring the south, he died while fighting the rebels of the Sanmiao tribe in the fields of Changwu. Ahwang and Eoyeong, who had followed Shun, hugged each other and cried in front of Shun's body, and then threw themselves into the Xiaoxiang River. Their tears fell on the bamboo, and after that, the bamboo near the Xiaoxiang River developed ridges. This is the Xiaoxiang Bamboo.