The very symbols of governance, ‘caps of office and formal dress for governors’, are traced back to King Yu. In all versions of the tale, after he surveyed the land and created the nine provinces (the phrase will become traditional nomenclature for China), he set up a tribute system. Each region was called a zhou (a territory limited by water borders, usually rivers) and an early tribute list purporting to be his names all nine, with a description of the tribute from each, as well as the waterways or land routes by which the tribute was brought to the king.
