It was a hard time for Meng Jiangnu after her husband was taken away – she missed her husband and cried nearly every day. She sewed warm clothes for her husband and set out on long journey to visit her husband. Day and night she climbed over mountains and went through the rivers, slipping and falling many times, but finally she reached the foot of the Great Wall at the present Shanhaiguan Pass.

However, bad news came to her, unfortunately, that Fan Qiliang had already died of exhaustion and was buried into the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu could not help crying. She sat on the ground and sorely wept for three days. Suddenly with a tremendous noise, a 400 kilometer-long (248-mile) section of the Great Wall collapsed over her bitter wail. The workmen and supervisors were astonished. Emperor Qin Shihuang happened to be touring the wall at that exact time, and he was enraged and ready to punish the woman. When the guards were trying to catch her, she suddenly turned around and jumped into the nearby Bohai Sea.

Meng Jiangnu’s story has been passed down from generation to generation. In memory of Meng Jiangnu, later generations built a temple, called the Jiangnu Temple, at the foot of the Great Wall in which a statue of Meng Jiangnu is located.

Ask Questions ?