Legend of Meng Jiangnu

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Legend of Meng Jiangnu

Applicant: Zibo City, Shandong Province

Item No.: 8

Project No.: I-8

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Shandong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Zibo City, Shandong Province

Protection unit: Zichuan cultural center, Zibo City

The legend of Meng Jiangnu

Applicant: Zibo City, Shandong Province

According to Zuozhuan, the 23rd year of Xianggong, Qi general Qi Liang led his troops to attack the state of Ju in the autumn of 550 BC (the spring and Autumn period, the fourth year of qizhuanggong), and unfortunately died. His wife, Meng Jiang, went to the suburbs to welcome the coffin. The king of Qi wanted to offer his condolence here, but Meng Jiang resisted and asked to sacrifice in the palace according to the ceremony. After Qi Liang was buried, Meng Jiang was still very sad. After 200 years, Tangong records Zeng Zi's statement on this matter, saying: "his wife wept for his coffin on the road. Mr. Zhuang asked people to hang him In Shuo yuan · Shan Shuo Pian written by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, there was a record that "his wife was sad and cried to the city, the corner collapsed and the city collapsed". In the biography of Lienv, Qi Liang's wife went to Zishui and died. The story of Qi Liang's wife is the original content of the legend of Meng Jiangnu. The legend of Meng Jiangnu has been popular for more than 2500 years because of its profound mass character. It has been spread all over China, and its content has also evolved. It was originally Qi Liang's wife (MEng Jiangnu) of the Qi State in the spring and Autumn period, but its tragic fate has been connected with the first emperor of Qin and the great wall of Qin. However, the capital of Qi State, where Qi Liang's wife died, and Zishui, who committed suicide, are all located in Zibo, Shandong Province.

According to Gu Jiegang's research and statistics in the 1920s, the legend of Meng Jiangnu spread in Beijing, Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan and Gansu. There are also many places related to the relics of Meng Jiangnu, such as the ancestral temple and Tomb of Jiang NV in SHANGUAN customs, the ancestral temple of Jiang NV in Suizhong County of Liaoning Province, the temple of Meng Jiangnu in Qi county of Henan Province, the temple of crying spring and Meng Jiangnu in Shaanxi Province, the stone statue of Wan Xiliang in Shanghai, and the spring of Jiang NV in Boshan of Shandong Province.

The image of Jiang Nu makes people realize the good character of ancient women and the miserable pain brought by war, and expresses the ancient people's aversion to war. The story of Meng Jiangnu has been handed down from generation to generation in Boshan. The folk song of "Meng Jiangnu crying for the Great Wall" is still sung among the people in Boshan. The folk custom formed before the Western Han Dynasty, which is related to the legend of Meng Jiangnu, has been passed down from generation to generation among the people in Boshan. Up to now, the middle-aged and old women in Boshan still sing long songs instead of crying, and express their sorrow with the traditional melody of Meng Jiangnu. Mengjiang women's crying tune is widely spread in rural areas, which can be said to form a kind of crying culture.