Meng Jiangnu

Meng Jiangnu

Meng Jiangnu is a character in Chinese folklore. Her character story is one of the four love stories in Chinese folk. It has been widely spread in the folk through oral transmission for thousands of years.

The earliest legend can be traced back to Zuo Zhuan.

historical origin

The legend of Meng Jiangnu has been widely spread among the people in the form of oral inheritance. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that she was brought into the field of vision of researchers under the promotion of the spirit of the May 4th movement.

Gu Jiegang, a famous Chinese historian, traces the original form of the legend of Meng Jiangnu to a story in Zuo Zhuan.

"Zuo Zhuan" describes this story to praise Qi Liang's wife (that is, Meng Jiangnu of later generations) for being able to handle affairs with courtesy in a time of grief, and her mind is not confused, which is admirable.

Qi Liang's wife, who didn't cry in Zuo Zhuan, became infected with the prevailing mood of the music world at that time in the Warring States period, adding a story of mourning. This is a very important change. The variation of the story about Qi Liang's wife in later generations was born along with this "crying sorrow".

The first person who recorded the collapse of the city was Liu Xiang at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. He first recounted the story of Qi Liang's wife in "Zuo Zhuan" in "lie Nu Zhuan", and then he continued to write: Qi Liang's wife had no children, and her mother-in-law had no relatives. After her husband died, she became a lonely family. Qi Liang's wife "cried for her husband's corpse under the city". The cry was very sad, and passers-by were all moved. Ten days later, the city collapsed. The relevant records of Tang Dynasty changed the story of Qi Liang's wife greatly.

Qiliang changed from Qi people in the spring and Autumn period to Yan people in the Qin Dynasty; the name of Qiliang's wife appeared, her surname was Meng zhongzi, or her surname was Meng Jiangnu; Qiliang's death was no longer a battle death, but because she was captured and built in the city wall, so her wife had to cry to the city wall; there were too many dead bodies built in the city wall, which could only be identified by blood and bone. The story of Qi Liang's wife has been processed in the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, which connects bengcheng with the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. This is not a small creation.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the types of Chinese folk opera were very developed, and there were a lot of dramatists and popular works. Stories like Meng Jiangnu, which were full of vitality and creative space, naturally became the source of opera creation.

Fan Lang's name varies from fan Xilang, fan Silang, fan Shilang and fan Xilang to fan Qiliang, fan Jiliang and WAN Xiliang. The plot of the story is complicated. Other characters related to them, such as fan Lang's mother, also appear in the opera, which makes the story more and more full.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the story of Meng Jiangnu has continued to develop among the people. Oral narratives all over the country say that Meng Jiangnu is born of gourd. Because gourd (or melon) is involved in the two families of Meng Jiang who live next door, it is called "Meng Jiangnu". The story of Meng Jiangnu not only spread for a long time, but also affected a wide range of regions.

According to the local folk customs and people's different interests, different places have made various changes to the story, which makes the legend of Meng Jiangnu present a very strong regional color.

Plot overview

It is said that in the Qin Dynasty, there was a family named Meng who planted a melon. The seedlings climbed along the wall to the Jiang family to make a melon. Melon ripe, a melon across the two courts score ah! Open a look, there is a white and fat little girl, so gave her a name called Meng Jiangnu. Meng Jiangnu has grown up. She is a good girl who is gentle, kind, practical, capable, intelligent, and can play the piano, write poetry and write articles.

The old couple even regarded her as the apple of their eye.

At this time, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty began to build the great wall everywhere. A young man named fan Xiliang, a scholar, ran out of his house in fright. He ran so thirsty that he just wanted to stop and find some water to drink. Suddenly, he heard the sound of people shouting and horse running. It turns out that people are being arrested here! He had no time to run, so he jumped over a wall beside him. It turns out that the wall is the back garden of the Meng family.

This Kung Fu happened to catch up with Meng Jiangnu, who followed the maid out to visit the garden. Meng Jiangnu coldly saw a man hiding under the towel gourd rack. She and the maid just yelled. Fan Xiliang rushed out, bowed and cried, "Miss, miss, don't yell, don't yell. I'm a fugitive. Please save my life!"

Meng Jiangnu saw that fan Xiliang was a white faced scholar. She was very handsome, so she went back to the reporter with her maid. In the back garden, the old councillor inquired about fan Xiliang's hometown, who was his real name, and why he jumped over the wall and was admitted to the hospital. Fan Xiliang made a reply. Seeing that he was honest and polite, the councillor agreed to keep him at home for the time being.

Fan Xiliang had been hiding in the Meng family for a few days. When the old couple saw that he was a good-looking man, they talked about recruiting him as their son-in-law. Discuss with your daughter, and she agrees. To mention it to fan Xiliang, Mr. Fan would like to, so the marriage was settled.

In that month, the war was in chaos, and people wanted husbands in three days. No one would always let go of their marriage. The old couple discussed and chose an auspicious day to invite relatives and friends. After setting up two tables and having a day of fun, they got married. As the saying goes: "people have misfortunes and blessings overnight, and there are unexpected events in the sky.". Less than three days after the couple got married, a group of Yamen servants suddenly arrived. Without any excuse, they grabbed Mr. Fan by force!

Meng Jiangnu is crying and looking forward to it! But after a year's eagerness, not only did people not expect it, but also did the letter come. Meng Jiangnu was really worried, so she rushed to make cold clothes for her husband for several nights and went to the Great Wall to find her husband.

Her parents saw her obstinate manner, but they couldn't stop her, so they agreed.

Meng Jiangnu packed her bags, said goodbye to the two elders, and set foot on the journey. Meng Jiangnu kept running due north, crossing mountains and rivers.

If you are hungry, you can eat cold cakes; if you are thirsty, you can drink cold water; if you are tired, you can sit on the side of the road and have a rest. One day, she asked an old man with white hair who was collecting firewood, "how far is it from the Great Wall?" The old uncle said, "far away is Youzhou, and the Great Wall is still to the north of Youzhou." Meng Jiangnu thought, "even if the Great Wall is far away, I will go to the horizon to find my husband!"

Meng Jiangnu walked with wind and rain. One day, she went to a barren field where there was no village in front and no shop in the back. It was dark and there were few people, so she ran to the broken temple. The broken temple is very big, with only half a person deep grass and grinning gods. She's a lonely young woman. She's terrified. But she didn't care about it, so she went to sleep in a corner. At night, she dreamt that she was studying with her husband at her desk. Suddenly, she heard the sound of smashing the door. She thought that a group of Yamen officers were breaking in. She woke up with a start. It was the wind that made the doors and windows of the temple ring.

She sighed, looked at the light, picked up the package and went on the road.

One day, she was exhausted and cold. As soon as she wanted to have a rest, Gudong fainted. When she woke up, she found that she was lying on the hot Kang of her hometown. The landlady rolled out the soup and made ginger water for her. She was very grateful. She sweated a little and felt lighter, so she struggled to go on. With tears in her eyes, the landlady pulled her and said, "your sister-in-law, I know you are eager to find a husband, but you are as hot as coals. Can I bear to let you go! Your sister-in-law, if you look at your foot again, it's bloody. It's still your foot! " Meng Jiangnu looked at her feet, but she didn't become a bloody pimple. She stayed at the eldest mother's house for another two days, and left again when she was ill.

"What a good daughter-in-law she is," she said as she wept! God, please do me a favor and let the couples in the world reunite Meng Jiangnu finally arrived at the place where the Great Wall was built. She asked the migrant workers who built the Great Wall: do you know where fan Xiliang is? Ask about one, they say they don't know. When she inquired about another one, she was shaken. She did not know how many people she inquired about, and then she heard about the migrant workers who built the Great Wall in the neighboring village. Migrant workers from neighboring villages enthusiastically led her to find a migrant worker to build the Great Wall with fan Xiliang.

Meng Jiangnu asked, "brothers, are you building the Great Wall with fan Xiliang?"

"Yes," they said

"Fan Xiliang" you look at me, I look at you. With tears, no one said a word. As soon as Meng Jiangnu saw the scene, her hair began to hum. "Where's my husband fan Xiliang?" she asked Seeing this, everyone hesitated and said, "fan Xiliang died of hunger last month."

"Where's the body?"

Everyone said: "there are too many dead people to be buried. The supervisors are all called to fill in the Great Wall!"

Before we heard it, Meng Jiangnu clapped her hand on the great wall and burst into tears. She's crying, crying. Tens of thousands of migrant workers only cry, all bow their heads to tears, only cry the sun and the moon, the sky and the earth are dim, only cry the autumn wind and the sea. When he was crying, suddenly there was a loud bang, and the great wall collapsed like heaven and earth, revealing a lot of human bones. So many bones, which one is her husband? She suddenly remembered the story she had heard from her mother when she was a child: the bones of relatives can seep into their blood. She bit her middle finger and recognized the body.

She carefully identified the ragged buttons and the bones of her husband. Meng Jiangnu kept her husband's bones and cried to death.

Crying, Qin Shihuang with a large team of people, patrol the side wall, passing by here.

When the first emperor of Qin heard that Meng Jiangnu had cried down the city wall, he was furious. He led the three armies to the foot of Jiaoshan to deal with Meng Jiangnu himself. But as soon as he saw that Meng Jiangnu was young and beautiful, beautiful and beautiful, he would occupy her. Meng Jiang

Chinese PinYin : Meng Jiang Nv