When China was created, the Heavens decreed that the rivers would flood and the people have judged their rulers on their ability to control them. If they cannot, then the dynasty is near its end.
So, on Wednesday, when Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao gave his report on the worst floods since 1954, he addressed not only the legislators round him but a nation and its historical memory.
The figures he gave were shocking enough - 3,004 dead, 223 million people affected, 4.97 million homes and crops on 13 million hectares destroyed with losses of 16.66 billion yuan (about HK$15.49 billion).
Mr Wen spoke of the two previous comparable floods in 1954 and 1931. In 1931, the death toll was 145,000, with more than 300 dykes burst and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze flooded. In 1954, 33,000 died after 60 dykes collapsed inundating five cities and cutting the main north-south railway for more than three months.
This year, only the Jiujiang dyke burst, sparing the cities on the banks of the river and leaving transport links intact, Mr Wen said.
So, has the Communist Party done enough to retain the mandate of Heaven and prolong its dynasty? 'The party leaders have been to the front line, mobilised the army to fight the floods and organised donations nationwide,' said one Beijing taxi driver, slightly aggrieved that he and many of his colleagues were forced to give 100 yuan at a mass meeting. 'Jiang Zemin cancelled a foreign trip to stay at home and organise things. They have done a good deal.' Mr Jiang's decision to postpone his trip to Russia and Japan next month was the most conspicuous sign of his concern.