On 18 April 2016, Professor Chen Xiafoa of IEAS attended an international academic symposium on Yu the Great and Chinese Culture (大禹与中国文化) , which was co-organized by the  Propaganda Department of Shaoxing Municipal Party Committee, Shaoxing Federation of Social Sciences and Zhejiang Yuexiu School of Foreign Languages. Yu the Great (or Dayu which means Yu honored with the epithet “the Great”) is a prehistoric Chinese hero famous for taming Yellow River and controlling torrential floods. After controlling the floodwater, Yu the Great made it beneficial for agricultural development. In about 2070 BC, he inaugurated dynastic rule by founding the Xia Dynasty (21st-16th century BC) with Yangcheng (Dengfeng, Henan Province) as capital.

About one hundred experts and scholars from China, Japan and Korea lively discussed the influence of Dayu’s unremitting endeavors to fight against nature, upright virtues and selfless moral character to help other people. The symposium was divided into three parts: keynote speeches of six scholars from China, Japan and Korea, divisional forums and Public Memorial Service for the Mausoleum of Yu the Great 2016 on 19 April 2016. Professor Chen Xiafea presided the opening ceremony of a divisional forum and summed up the discussions at the closing ceremony.

The 40-minute Public Memorial Service for the Mausoleum of Yu the Great, which is listed as a state-level non-material cultural heritage, is held by the Shaoxing County Government annually and broadcasted on live television. Under an atmosphere of solemnity, reverence and selfless efforts to build a harmonious society as the theme, worshippers presented offerings, played music and danced for this legendary hero in prehistorical China.