Once there was an old man named Meng who lived with his wife in the southern part of China. One spring, Meng sowed a seed of calabash in his yard. The bottle gourd grew little by little – its vines climbed over the wall and entered his neighbor Jiang’s yard. Like Meng, Jiang had no children. Jiang became very fond of the plant. He watered it and took great care of it. With the tender care of both men, the plant grew bigger and bigger and showed a beautiful calabash in autumn. Jiang plucked the calabash and the two old men decided to divide it by half. However, when they cut it, they found a pretty little girl lying inside. They decided to raise the child together and named the girl Meng Jiang – a combination of both their names.
As time went by, the little girl grew up to become a beautiful young woman. Smart and industrious, she looked after Meng and Jiang’s families, washing the clothes and doing the house work. One day while playing in the yard, Meng Jiang saw a young man hiding in the garden. The young man’s name was Fan Qiliang. At that time, Emperor Qin Shihuang made the announcement to build the Great Wall. Many poor young men were caught by the federal officials to work on the wall. Fan Qiliang escaped to Meng’s house to hide from the officials.
Meng and Jiang liked this handsome, honest and well-mannered young man. They decided to wed their daughter to him and the young couple got married several days later. However, three days after their marriage, officials suddenly broke in and took Fan Qiliang away to build the wall in the north of China.
Meng Jiang missed her husband and cried nearly every day. She sewed warm clothes for him and decided to set off to look for him. Saying farewell to her parents, she started her long journey. She climbed over mountains and went through the rivers. Walking day and night, slipping and falling, Meng Jiang finally reached the foot of the Great Wall at the present Shanhaiguan Pass.
Upon her arrival, she eagerly asked about her husband. However, Fan Qiliang had already died of exhaustion and was buried into the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu collapsed to the ground – she cried and cried. Suddenly, with a tremendous noise, a 400 kilometer-long section of the wall collapsed over her bitter wail. Emperor Qin Shihuang, who happened to be touring the wall at that exact time, he was enraged and ready to punish the woman who caused this misfortune.
The Emperor became attracted by her beauty. Instead of killing her, the Emperor asked Meng Jiang to marry him. Suppressing her anger, Meng Jiang gave him three conditions: first, the Emperor had to find the body of Fan Qiliang, the second was to hold a state funeral for him and the last one was to have the Emperor attend the funeral in person. Emperor Qin reluctantly agreed. After all the conditions were met and the Emperor was ready to take her to his palace, Meng Jiang suddenly jumped into the nearby Bohai Sea.
In memory of Meng Jiang, later generations built a temple at the foot of the Great Wall in which a statue of her is located.
Martini Fisher 