Duyu

Duyu (Chinese: 杜宇, meaning cuckoo) was a mythical emperor of the Ancient Kingdom of Shu in modern China. He descended from heaven, taught the people agriculture, married a woman (Liang Li) who had been born in and emerged from a well, and upon his death was transformed into his namesake animal. The cuckoo's yearly reappearance in spring thus reminds his people to plough as Duyu had once taught them.^[1][2]

Duyu's successor was Bieling (emperor name: Kaiming), Duyu having abdicated the throne either in shame having cuckolded Bieling or in recognition of Bieling's worthiness having tamed the floods.^[2][1] Alternatively, Bieling may have usurped the throne which led to Duyu's transformation into a cuckoo.^[2]

In some versions, Duyu fought an evil dragon of Minjiang River a girl prisoner. Having freed the girl and tamed the river, Duyu married the girl (Long Mei). In this story, Duyu was imprisoned by one of his ministers who wanted Long Mei for himself. Duyu then in prison where he transformed into a cuckoo. He then returned to his palace where his wife also became a bird.^[2]

Despite the mythical elements of his biography (recorded by Chang Qu^[1][2]), he is generally accepted by Chinese and Western scholars as having either existed per se or as representative of a dynasty.^[1]