He Tu and Luo Shu （河图洛书）, consists of black and white dots, two mysterious patterns handed down from ancient China, contain profound cosmic astrological theory, known as the “magic formula of the universe”, is the source of Chinese culture, yin and yang, five elements of the arts and mathematics. For thousands of years, people have always been “He Tu”, “Luo Shu” and Fuxi, gossip and “Zhou Yi （周易）” together. Most ancient Chinese scholars believe that Fu Xi was inspired by He Tu and the creation of gossip, “Zhou Yi” and originated from gossip.
In ancient times, during the reign of Emperor Fu Xi, a magical Long-horse （龙马） leaped out of the Yellow River.
On the body of this Long-horse were inscribed a set of strange numbers: “One and six below, two and seven above, three and eight to the left, four and nine to the right.”
These numbers were known as the “He Tu” , and the Long-horse presented it to Emperor Fu Xi.
Based on these numbers, Emperor Fu Xi created the Eight Trigrams.
Today, in Mengjin County, Luoyang, Henan, there stands a temple called Longma Futu Temple, built in the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Huai of the Jin Dynasty, to commemorate this event.
Another legend says that in ancient times, floods occurred every year, making it impossible for crops to grow.
The god Gun spent nine years trying to control the floods. After his death, his body remained undecayed for three years and gave birth to a new life—Yu.
The Heavenly Emperor ordered Yu to continue the flood control efforts.
Yu personally inspected the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, adopted a strategy of mainly dredging and supplementarily blocking, and led people in digging canals to divert the floods into the sea.
While controlling the floods in Wushan, Yu encountered fierce winds and floods, but fortunately, the goddess Yaoji came to his assistance.
When controlling the Yellow River, the god Hebo appeared and presented the “He Tu” (River Diagram), greatly accelerating the flood control progress.
Another legend says that when Yu was controlling the floods, a yellow Long swam in the Luo River, wagging its tail to guide the way and dredge the waterways.
A large turtle carrying green mud followed behind, placing the mud in depressions to fill them up and also helped raise the living areas of people.
On the back of the turtle were another set of numbers: “Nine above, one below, three on the left, seven on the right, two and four as shoulders, six and eight as feet, five in the center.” This was the “Luo Shu” (Turtle Diagram).
Yu understood the principles of governing the world from it and divided the world into nine states.
Today, Luoning County, Luoyang, Henan, is said to be the place where the “Luo Shu” appeared.