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The
Journey of Meng
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Chinese Art Folktales Here are the seven Chinese stories:
Note: The Journey of Meng has a violent ending. Use at your own discretion. The Journey
of Meng Meng Jiang-nu's husband Wan, a teacher and a scholar, was taken from their home and carried away to help with the building of the Great Wall. Meng, who was a beautiful lady and a loving wife, was deeply saddened by the loss of her husband, and she anxiously waited for news of him. Much time passed without hearing of his whereabouts. One night in her sleep, he came to her and told her he was freezing to death. She awoke and made the decision to travel to the area where she thought he was working and take him clothes she had made for him. During her journey she herself almost froze to death in a snow storm. A crow flew down next to her as she slept in the snow, and upon her awakening, the bird showed her how to flap her wings, so she could join the crows and fly to her destination. Upon her arrival at the Great Wall, she learned that her husband had died. She learned that he had been buried with many other workers in a section of the Great Wall. She searched the wall but couldn't locate his body. Anger arose from within her and poured out of her, causing lightning to split the sky and rain to pour from the heavens, washing away whole sections of the Great Wall. As the bones of the workers swirled about, Meng pricked her finger and asked that her blood penetrate the rubble and show her the bones of her husband, Wan. She located his bones and wrapped them in the clothes she had brought for him. The cruel Emperor, Qin shi Huang-di, was furious with her, but when he summoned her to his palace, he ws greatly taken with her beauty. The Emperor gave her a choice of living with him or being beheaded. Meng responded by asking for three wishes: to have her husband buried in the style of a prince, to have the kingdom mourn him for 49 days, and to give him a public funeral. The Emperor granted her the three wishes. After Wan's funeral, she thanked the Emperor ... and then threw herself off a cliff into the sea, for she could not stand the thought of being with the Emperor. The Emperor commanded that her body be dragged from the sea, cut into pieces, and her bones ground into dust. As they threw her dust into the sea, thousands of little silvery fish filled the waters. So today, if you visit the Great Wall next to the Eastern Sea, you and others in China will see all the fish swimming free in the sea, and you will remember the story of Meng and Wan. ( http://www.unc.edu/~rwilkers/title.html) |