Meng Jiang-Nv Temple

2011. február 5./OB/Barikád/TibetPress

Beijing Travel Service
Situated on the Mountain Fenghuangshan, 6 kilometers east of Shanhaiguan Pass, Meng Jiang-Nu Temple, according to the legend, was originally built before the Song dynasty and repaired in the Ming dynasty. In the main hall of the temple, a statue of Meng Jiangnu, accompanied by two maiden painted sculptures, was set up there and the walls inside were inscribed with poems by countless scholars and poets in past dynasties.

The construction of the temple originated in the legend "Meng Jiangnu: Her Wails Split the Great Wall." The legend goes that Meng Jiangnu traveled a long distance from Shanxi to take winter clothes to her husband, a conscripted laborer working at Shanhaiguan Pass. Learning that he had died from the backbreaking labor, she wailed for several days and nights, until the Great Wall collapsed along a stretch of 20 kilometers (13miles), revealing the bones of her husband among the rubble. In despair, heartbroken Meng Jiangnu jumped into the sea by wrapped her husband’s body in arms.

In order to commemorate the steadfast woman, people built the temple to deliver their admiration.