Temple of Lady Meng Jiang

Temple of Lady Meng Jiang

The Temple of Lady Meng Jiang is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

Overview: The Temple of Lady Meng Jiang Scenic Area is located on Phoenix Mountain, 6.5 kilometers east of Shanhaiguan. It consists of the Virtuous Maiden Shrine and the Lady Meng Jiang Garden. The Virtuous Maiden Shrine was built before the Song Dynasty and was renovated in the 22nd year of the Wanli era (1594) during the Ming Dynasty by the official Zhang Dong. It is a key cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province. In front of the temple, there are 108 steps leading directly to the mountain gate. Within the red walls of the temple are a front hall, a rear hall, a bell tower, the Clothes-Shaking Pavilion, and the Husband-Gazing Stone, among other attractions. Behind the temple lies a garden area styled after the water towns of southern China — the Yuan of Lady Meng Jiang — along with east and west side halls, recreating the full panorama of the “Story of Lady Meng Jiang,” the foremost of China’s four great folk legends.

The Temple of Lady Meng Jiang is a product of the folk culture derived from the Great Wall culture. First-time visitors are often struck by the profound symbolism of the 108 stone steps and are even more amazed by the enduring “vitality” of this small temple that has withstood a thousand years. The front hall of the temple houses a statue of Lady Meng Jiang, with a horizontal plaque reading “Fame Through the Ages” and couplets on either side: “Where is the First Emperor now? The Great Wall was built on resentment; Lady Meng Jiang is not dead — her unyielding heart is engraved on a stone for all time.” These words truly reflect the public’s sentiments toward Lady Meng Jiang and the First Emperor. The renowned “World’s Most Peculiar Couplet,” “海水朝朝朝朝朝朝朝落，浮云长长长长长长长消” (hǎishuǐ cháo, zhāozhāo cháo, zhāo cháo zhāo luò; fúyún zhǎng, chángcháng zhǎng, cháng zhǎng cháng xiāo), may appear to be a wordplay game at first glance but contains deep life philosophies, sparking endless imagination and reflecting the profound cultural heritage of China. In September 1992, the Shanhaiguan District Government built a large cultural garden called the Lady Meng Jiang Garden north of the temple, based on the legend of Lady Meng Jiang. The garden centers around the legend of “Lady Meng Jiang traveling a thousand miles to find her husband and weeping down the Great Wall.” After viewing twenty scenes including “Making Winter Clothes at Night,” “Ten Thousand Men Building the Wall,” “The Husband-Gazing Stone,” and “Weeping Down the Great Wall,” visitors will gain a deeper appreciation of this moving love story. Legend of Lady Meng Jiang: It is said that long ago, in a village called Mengjiazhuang in Songjiang Prefecture, Jiangsu, there lived an old man skilled in growing gourds. One year, his gourds flourished exceptionally well, with one vine even stretching into the courtyard of the neighboring Jiang family. The Meng and Jiang families were very close and agreed that when autumn came and the gourds were ripe, they would split them equally. When autumn arrived, a particularly large gourd grew, and both families were delighted. They picked the gourd and prepared to share it. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a baby crying from inside the gourd. Surprised, the old man Meng cut it open with a knife — and to their astonishment, there sat a little girl inside, rosy-cheeked and with a chubby mouth, utterly adorable. The old woman Jiang loved her instantly and wanted to keep her, saying, “This child is mine!” But Old Man Meng, who had no children of his own, insisted just as adamantly, and the two families began to quarrel bitterly. Eventually, they asked the village elders to decide. The elder ruled, “Since you both agreed the gourd should be split between you, the child inside shall be raised jointly by both families.” So the little girl became the apple of both the Meng and Jiang families’ eyes. Since Old Man Meng had no children, she stayed with the Mengs and was named Meng Jiangnü. As time passed, Meng Jiangnü grew into a clever, beautiful, and exceptionally talented young woman. She wove fabric finer than the Weaving Maid and sang sweeter than the oriole. Old Man Meng cherished her as the apple of his eye.

One day, after finishing her needlework, Meng Jiangnü went to the back garden to relax. The lotus flowers were in full bloom, and the pond water was crystal clear. Suddenly, a pair of large butterflies landed on a lotus leaf by the pond, catching her attention. She tiptoed over, trying to shoo them away with a fan, but in her enthusiasm, she accidentally dropped the fan into the water. Annoyed, she rolled up her sleeves and reached into the pond to retrieve it. Just then, she heard a rustling sound behind her. Turning quickly, she saw a young man standing beneath a tree, dusty and weary. Meng Jiangnü hurried to call her parents.

Old Man Meng was furious that the young man had entered the private garden and demanded, “Who are you, and how dare you trespass into my garden?” The young man quickly apologized and explained his situation.

The young man introduced himself as Wan Xiliang. Originally from Gusu, he had spent his life studying and had never endured hardship. Unable to bear the military conscription policy, he had fled. Exhausted, he had been wandering aimlessly when he spotted the garden and decided to rest. As he spoke, a gust of wind blew, and he lost his balance, tumbling into the garden through the wall.

Meng Jiangnü found Wan Xiliang to be courteous, kind-hearted, and sincere. Her heart fluttered. Her father, sympathetic to the young man’s plight, allowed him to stay. When Meng Jiangnü confessed her feelings to her father, he fully supported her. Excited, he went to the front hall and proposed, “You’re wandering with no fixed home. I’d like to take you as my son-in-law. What do you say?” Wan Xiliang declined anxiously, saying, “I’m a fugitive. I’m afraid I’ll only bring trouble to your daughter. I dare not think of marriage.” But Meng Jiangnü was resolute — she would marry no one but him. Eventually, Wan Xiliang relented. Overjoyed, Old Man Meng quickly consulted with the Jiang family to choose an auspicious date for the wedding.

Unfortunately, there was a local ruffian in Mengjiazhuang who had long lusted after Meng Jiangnü and had been rejected repeatedly. Bitter and vengeful, he seized the chance when he heard about Wan Xiliang and secretly reported him to the authorities, leading soldiers to arrest him.

At that moment, the Meng family was still joyfully preparing for the wedding ceremony when, suddenly, the gates were kicked open. A group of soldiers stormed in, seized Wan Xiliang without explanation, and tied him up. Meng Jiangnü rushed forward but was pushed aside by the soldiers as they dragged her husband away.

From that day on, Meng Jiangnü pined for her husband day and night, unable to eat or drink, overwhelmed with sorrow. As winter arrived and snow blanketed the land, she worried for her husband building the Great Wall in the bitter cold, without warm clothes. She worked tirelessly day and night to sew him a cotton-padded jacket, singing a little song she had made up: “The moon shines bright, extra bright / Meng Jiangnü’s husband builds the Great Wall / No matter the thousands of miles / I’ll send him warm clothes, my love.”

Within a single night, she finished the jacket. Then, without delay, Meng Jiangnü set off on her thousands-of-miles journey. She trekked over mountains and rivers, braved wind and slept under the stars, oblivious to hunger or fatigue, pushing forward day and night. Finally, one day, she arrived at the foot of the Great Wall.

But there were tens of thousands of laborers at the wall — where could she possibly find him? She asked everyone she met, and a kind laborer told her that Wan Xiliang had long since died from exhaustion and been buried within the wall. Hearing this, Meng Jiangnü was heartbroken. She begged the laborer to take her to the spot where Wan Xiliang was buried. There, beneath the wall, Meng Jiangnü was consumed by grief and rage. She had traveled thousands of miles, braved countless hardships, only to find that she couldn’t even recover her husband’s remains. How could she not be devastated? The more she thought, the more sorrow consumed her, and she began to weep day and night before the Great Wall, refusing food or water, like a blood-crying cuckoo or a moonlit cuckoo. Her cries moved heaven and earth — the white clouds stopped in their tracks, birds fell silent. For seven days and seven nights she cried until, suddenly, a deafening roar shook the earth. The ground quaked, sands flew, and a section of the Great Wall, 800 li long, collapsed, revealing Wan Xiliang’s bones. The collapse of the Great Wall alarmed the soldiers, who reported it to the First Emperor. Enraged, the First Emperor ordered Meng Jiangnü to be captured. When she was brought before him, he was struck by her extraordinary beauty and wanted to take her as a concubine. Meng Jiangnü replied, “If I am to be your concubine, you must first agree to three things: First, build a ten-li-long and ten-li-wide bridge; second, construct a ten-li-high burial mound; third, wear mourning robes and personally conduct a memorial ceremony at the grave.” The First Emperor pondered and agreed. In a few days, the bridge and mound were completed. Dressed in mourning, the First Emperor proceeded across the bridge and conducted the ceremony. After the rites, he asked Meng Jiangnü to accompany him back to the palace. Coldly, she replied, “You are a tyrant who has slaughtered countless innocents and killed my husband. How could I ever be your concubine? Don’t even think about it!” With that, she embraced her husband’s bones and threw herself into the raging sea. Waves surged violently, crashing against the shore as if mourning her loss.

The Evolution of the Lady Meng Jiang Story: The legend of Lady Meng Jiang weeping down the Great Wall is one of China’s most widely circulated folk tales. For over two thousand years, it has been passed down orally, recorded in texts, set to music, performed in plays, and adapted to modern media, becoming a household tale known to all. But how did the story of Lady Meng Jiang originate, spread, and evolve?

The story of Lady Meng Jiang took place during the State of Qi. Qi was the fiefdom of Jiang Taigong. Readers of *The Romance of the States of the Eastern Zhou* will know that any character with the surname “Jiang” was from Qi. “Meng Jiang” means “the eldest daughter of the Jiang clan.” Her story first appeared in the *Zuo Zhuan*. Meng Jiang was the wife of Qi general Qi Liang, who died in battle in Ju in 549 BC. Duke Zhuang of Qi met her outside the capital and offered condolences. Meng Jiang refused, stating that the outskirts were not a proper place for mourning. The duke respected her wishes and paid his respects at her home. Meng Jiang was also known for her skill in lamentation — as Chunyu Kun remarked, “The wife of Qi Liang mourned her husband so movingly that she changed the mourning customs of the state.” This gave rise to the “Meng Jiang Lament” in Qi.

By the Western Han Dynasty, there were records of Lady Meng Jiang “weeping before the city wall until it collapsed” (as noted in Liu Xiang’s *Shuoyuan* and *Biographies of Exemplary Women*). Though there are differing accounts about which wall collapsed — whether in Ju, related to Qi Liang, or at Liangshan — all these locations were in Qi, not the Great Wall of Qin. Li Daoyuan’s *Commentary on the Water Classic* believed the wall that collapsed was in Ju.

By the Tang Dynasty, the story evolved into that of Lady Meng Jiang traveling a thousand miles to find her husband and weeping down the Great Wall, taking on its present form. *The Story of the Virtuous Man* relocated the tale to the State of Yan, with Meng Jiang renamed Meng Zhongzi and Qi Liang becoming Qi Liang (or Qi Liang). Qi Liang, fleeing forced labor on the wall, accidentally entered the back garden of Meng Chao. Meng Zhongzi was bathing — in an era when chastity was paramount and a woman’s body was considered sacred and seen only by her husband — and the two ended up marrying. Later, Qi Liang was executed at the wall and buried beneath it. Meng Zhongzi then traveled a thousand miles to find him, wept down the wall, and identified his bones by dripping her own blood onto the skeletal remains.

Ancient times were marked by frequent wars and heavy corvée labor. The sorrow of separated husbands and wives became a classic theme. As early as the late Han Dynasty, Chen Lin wrote in *Drinking Horses at the Great Wall’s Trench*: “Drinking horses at the Great Wall’s trench, the cold water hurts the horses’ bones. I tell the wall guard, take care not to delay the soldiers of Taiyuan… Can’t you see, beneath the Great Wall, corpses pile high?” Poets throughout the dynasties wrote about the same theme. The Tang Dynasty monk poet Guanxiu penned *The Wife of Qi Liang*, directly referencing the legend of Lady Meng Jiang weeping down the Great Wall. Many poets followed suit, helping spread the tale far and wide.

Starting in the Yuan Dynasty, the story began appearing on stage. Records can be found in Tao Zongyi’s *Nancun Chuogeng Lu* and Zhong Sicheng’s *Register of Ghosts*. In these operas, Meng Jiang became “Meng Jiangnü,” and Qi Liang evolved into various names such as Qi Liang, Fan Qi Liang, Fan Xilang, Fan Xilang, and Wan Xiliang.

As the legend spread, temples dedicated to Lady Meng Jiang were built across the country. The earliest known temple was constructed during the Northern Song Dynasty. Stone tablets recording renovations of the Lady Meng Jiang Temple from the Xiangfu and Jiayou eras have been found in Xushui, Hebei, and Tongchuan, Shaanxi. Many local chronicles claimed Lady Meng Jiang as a native daughter, with tombs attributed to her in Linzi, Tongguan (Tongchuan), Ansu (Xushui), Shanhaiguan, and Tongguan. During the late Qing Dynasty, when Shanghai expanded its roads, a stone coffin was unearthed near the old northern gate, containing a stone statue with the inscription “Wan Qiliang” on its chest — buried when Shanghai was fortified in the Ming Jiajing era. According to *The Precious Scroll of the Fairy Lady Meng Jiang*, when the First Emperor built the Great Wall, the planet Jupiter (Taibai Star) proclaimed a nursery rhyme: “In Gusu lives Wan Xiliang, one man equals ten thousand. Later titled King of the Great Wall, the wall stands strong forever.” The First Emperor, trying to fortify the wall, captured Xiliang, leading to Lady Meng Jiang’s thousand-mile quest, her tears bringing the wall down, and her ultimate suicide. In this version, Lady Meng Jiang was from Songjiang.

The story of Lady Meng Jiang reflects the people’s hatred of feudal oppression and their longing for freedom and happiness. It took over two thousand years of circulation and evolution to become what it is today.

Hebei, Qinhuangdao