One-Person Alley

One-Person Alley

Mengcheng is an ancient county town in northern Anhui with a history of over 4,000 years. Inside the west gate of the county town, there is a north-south street called Xinmin Street. In the middle section of this street, there is a small alley running from north to south, about 300 meters long and less than one meter wide. When two people meet face to face in the alley, they have to step aside to pass each other, hence it is called "One-Person Alley."

The origin of "One-Person Alley" dates back more than 400 years. It is said that during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, there were two prominent families in the county town, one surnamed He and the other surnamed Li. Both families built residences here and disputed over a shared wall, refusing to compromise and taking the matter to the county government, which took a long time to resolve. The reason was that He Weijing, a relative of the He family, held the prestigious position of imperial censor in the capital and was commonly referred to as Magistrate He by the locals. He was powerful and influential. On the other hand, the Li family was a well-established local gentry, not only owning vast farmlands in the countryside but also maintaining connections with officials and dignitaries, wielding considerable influence in the area. As a result, the Mengcheng County government found itself in a dilemma, unable to make a fair decision, and thus delayed resolving the issue.

Later, the He family sent a letter to the capital describing the situation. After reading the family letter, Magistrate He thought to himself: Mengcheng is my hometown. How could I, out of pride and power, suppress others over such a trivial matter? Wouldn’t that invite ridicule from my fellow villagers? So he immediately picked up his brush, wrote a poem in reply, which served as a family letter, to express his stance.

A letter sent a thousand miles over a single wall—what harm is there in yielding a wall?

The Great Wall still stands after thousands of miles, yet the First Emperor of Qin is no more.

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Upon receiving the reply, the He family followed Magistrate He’s advice and voluntarily yielded a portion of the wall. Seeing this, the Li family felt ashamed and also yielded a part of their wall. Thus, the alley was left as it is today.