Page 22 - The Great Wall of China

Story The Great Wall of China is not
only great for its sheer length, but
also for the myths and tales that

Behind The surround this ancient barrier, which
often features on lists of the world’s
greatest wonders.

Temple Of One of the most well known tales

is a tragic tale of two lovers whose
love was extinguished by the
Meng Jiangnu winding edifice, but whose love was
also able to bring down the mighty
wall.

The story is about a girl named
Meng Jingnu (孟姜女) and her
beloved Fan Xiliang. Their love
story is now considered to be one
of China’s Four Great Folktales, it
is called “Meng Jiangnu Weeps” or
“Meng Jiangnu Bringing down the
Great Wall with Her Tears” (孟姜女
哭长城).

According to the Chinese legend,
a childless couple with the family
name Meng, lived right near
another childless couple, with
the family name Jiang. One year,
Meng planted a gourd vine. The
vine grew over to the neighbors’
side of the fence and bore a gourd
there. The Jiang and Meng families
both decided to split the gourd.
When they cut the gourd in half,
amazingly, they found a pretty
baby girl was lying inside. Both
families were so happy to finally
have a child, and they decided to
raise her together, that is why she
was called Meng Jiang Nu, which means Meng and Jiang’s daughter. (nu stands for female/
woman/daughter in Chinese). Jiangnu grew up to be very pretty and very kind, and she took
care of both the Meng and Jiang families. Everybody grew fond of her.

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