A Chinese painting depicts the legend of The Story of Meng Jiang Nü Photo: IC

'Legend of Meng Jiang Nü': A story about love at the Great Wall of China

The story of Meng Jiang Nü is one of the most famous legends in China. It is a tragedy about the forced separation of a loving couple during the building of the Great Wall.

Legend has it started during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) there were two old men surnamed Meng and Jiang. They were next door neighbors, and neither of them had children. 

One year, Meng planted a gourd seed in his backyard, which grew into a large gourd on the vine over on Jiang's side. They cut the gourd into half and found a baby girl inside. They were very happy and decided to raise her together and named her "Meng Jiang Nü [Daughter]."

After Meng Jiang Nü grew up, she became a very pretty girl. One day she was walking in the courtyard, she ran into a man hiding under the gourd vines. 

When the man called out, she saw that he was a young and handsome man whose name was Fan Xiliang. She learned that Fan had escaped from the corvee to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiang Nü fell in love with Fan Xiliang at first sight, and got her parents' permission to marry him soon afterwards. But three days after their wedding, Fan was taken away by officials to build the Wall. Meng Jiang Nü cried and waited for her husband's return every day. A year passed and she didn't hear from him. Once she had a dream that Fan was freezing at the building site, so she quickly made some winter clothes at night and decided to go and find him. 

However, when she arrived at the Great Wall, she found that her husband had died from harsh labor. Meng Jiang Nü cried and cried until the Great Wall collapsed, exposing piles of dead bodies. The emperor was outraged and ordered that she be punished. 

However, seeing her beauty, he changed his mind and wanted to marry her instead. But Meng Jiang Nü listed three preconditions before she conceded, including giving her husband a proper burial, asking the emperor to mourn him, and holding a funeral by the sea. On that day, Meng Jiang Nü cried heartily and then suddenly threw herself into the sea. 

The legend has been orally passed down in China for over 2,500 years. In order to preserve it, the folk tale was listed in the first-batch national intangible cultural heritage in 2006. 

Global Times