The story of Meng Jiangnu, as one of the four great love legends of ancient Han Chinese (the other three are "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and "Legend of the White Snake"), has been widely circulated for thousands of years. The rough version of the story comes from the historical fact of "Qi Liang's wife crying for her husband". The two protagonists in the story, one is Meng Jiang and the other is Qi Liang, who really existed in history and are not fictitious. The legend of Meng Jiangnu has a very early origin, starting from the Warring States Period. There are some fragmentary records in "Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Period", "Book of Rites Tan Gong", "Mencius" and "Shuo Yuan" and "Biography of Women" in the Han Dynasty. Declaring area or unit: Zibo City, Shandong Province According to "Zuo Zhuan" "Xiang Gong 23rd Year": In the autumn of 550 BC (Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Zhuang Gong 4th Year), Qi Liang, a general of Qi State, led his troops to attack Ju State (now Ju County, Shandong Province), and unfortunately died. His wife Meng Jiang welcomed the coffin to the suburbs (the intersection of the Qi Great Wall and Zibo River, now north of Yuanquan Town, Boshan, Zibo). The King of Qi wanted to pay his respects here, but Meng Jiang resisted and demanded to go to the palace to offer sacrifices according to the ritual. After Qi Liang was buried, Meng Jiang was still extremely sad. 200 years later, "Tan Gong" recorded Zengzi's statement on this matter: "His wife met his coffin on the road and cried sadly. Zhuang Gong sent people to express his condolences." In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan Shan Shuo Pian" recorded that "his wife was sad, cried towards the city, the corner collapsed, and the city was broken." The plot of Qi Liang's wife going to Zishui (now Yuanquan North) and dying appeared in "Lienu Zhuan". The deeds of Qi Liang's wife are the original content of the Meng Jiangnu legend. The Meng Jiangnu legend has been passed down for more than 2,500 years due to its deep mass appeal. It has spread throughout China and has evolved a lot in content. It was originally Qi Liang's wife (Meng Jiangnu) in the Spring and Autumn Period of Qi State, but her tragic fate was eventually linked to Qin Shihuang and the Qin Great Wall. But tracing back to the source, the capital of Qi State where Qi Liang's wife cried and collapsed, and the Zibo River where she committed suicide were both in Zibo, Shandong. The legend of Meng Jiangnu spread widely. According to Gu Jiegang's research and statistics in the 1920s, the provinces and regions where the legend spread included: 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 with Meng Jiangnu related relics, such as the Jiangnu Temple and Jiangnu Tomb in Shanhaiguan, the Jiangnu Temple in Suizhong County, Liaoning, the Meng Jiangnu Temple in Qi County, Henan, the Crying Spring and Meng Jiangnu Temple in Shaanxi, the Wan Xiliang Stone Statue in Shanghai, and the Jiangnu Spring in Boshan, Shandong (4 places). The image of Jiangnu made people realize the kind character of ancient women and the misery and pain brought to people by war, and expressed the ancient people's disgust for war. The story of Meng Jiangnu has been passed down from generation to generation in Boshan, and the folk song "Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall" is still sung by the people in Boshan. The folk custom of "sad songs and sad cries" related to the Meng Jiangnu legend, which was formed before the Western Han Dynasty, has been passed down from generation to generation among the people of Boshan. To this day, middle-aged and elderly women in Boshan still sing long songs instead of crying, and express their grief with the traditional tunes of Meng Jiangnu. Meng Jiangnu's crying voice is widely circulated in rural areas, and it can be said that a crying culture has been formed. "In the first month of the first month, every household hangs red lanterns, people gather together for the New Year, and Meng Jiangnu's husband goes to repair the Great Wall." This folk song, which is sung from the first month to the twelfth month, tells the story of Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall and is widely circulated in my country. The Meng Jiangnu legend has been circulated in a wide range of areas in my country in the form of stories, ballads, poems, operas, etc., with a long history and is almost known to every household. It has always been called the four major folk legends of China, along with "The Legend of the White Snake", "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl", and "The Butterfly Lovers". The story of Meng Jiangnu was first seen in the "Tongxianji" of the Tang Dynasty. It is generally believed that the story may have evolved from the story of "Qi Liang's wife crying for her husband and causing the city to collapse" recorded in "Zuo Zhuan" during the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, it was widely circulated among the people in various literary and artistic forms. "The Legend of Meng Jiangnu" - Historical Origin and Development As one of the four major folk legends in my country, the rough version of the story of "Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall" originated from the historical fact of "Qi Liang's wife crying for her husband". The two protagonists in the story, one is Meng Jiang and the other is Qi Liang, who really existed in history and are not fictitious. According to "Zuo Zhuan" "Xiang Gong 23rd Year": In the autumn of 550 BC (Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Zhuang Gong 4th Year), Qi Liang, a general of Qi State, led his troops to attack Ju State (now Ju County, Shandong Province), and unfortunately died. His wife Meng Jiang welcomed the coffin to the suburbs (the intersection of Qi Great Wall and Zibo River, now north of Yuanquan Town, Boshan, Zibo). The King of Qi wanted to mourn here, but Meng Jiang resisted and asked to go to the palace to offer sacrifices according to the ritual. After Qi Liang was buried, Meng Jiang was still extremely sad. 200 years later, "Tan Gong" recorded Zengzi's statement on this matter: "His wife met his coffin on the road and cried sadly. Zhuang Gong sent people to condole." In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan Shan Shuo Pian" recorded that "his wife was sad, cried towards the city, the corner collapsed, and the city collapsed." The plot of Qi Liang's wife going to Zishui (now north of Yuanquan) and dying appeared in "Lienu Zhuan". The deeds of Qi Liang's wife are the original content of the Meng Jiangnu legend. The story of Meng Jiangnu crying for her husband, from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, both historical facts and legends have not left the borders of Qi. But after several dynasties of continuation and interpretation, especially since the Tang Dynasty, Qi Liang's wife crying for her husband and the collapse of the city was interpreted as crying for the Great Wall, and from crying for the "Qi Great Wall" to crying for the "Qin Great Wall". The most typical version is this: Qi Liang was conscripted to build the Great Wall of Qin. He could not bear the hard labor and fled. He met Meng Jiang in Meng Chao's garden and the two got married. Qi Liang returned to the construction site and was executed by officials for the crime of escaping privately and buried under the wall. When Meng Jiang learned that her husband was killed, she cried under the Great Wall in grief and anger. Her tears dried up and blood flowed, and the wall collapsed. By the Ming Dynasty, the original story had changed completely. Not only did it add plots such as recruiting a husband and sending winter clothes thousands of miles away, but it also changed Qi Liang's name to Wan Xiliang, Fan Xiliang, etc. The legend of Meng Jiangnu has been circulated for more than 2,500 years because of its deep mass appeal. It has spread throughout China and has evolved in content. It was originally the wife of Qi Liang (Meng Jiangnu) in the Spring and Autumn Period of Qi State, but her tragic fate was eventually linked to Qin Shihuang and the Great Wall of Qin. But tracing back to the source, the capital of Qi State where Qi Liang's wife cried and collapsed, and the Zibo River where she committed suicide were both in Zibo, Shandong. Meng Jiangnu's cry shook the world and even changed the customs of Qi State. To this day, middle-aged and elderly women in Zibo still express their feelings with Meng Jiangnu's traditional tunes on certain occasions. This crying tune is widely spread in rural areas, forming a custom of crying songs, and has become a regional cultural way for local people to express their feelings and grief on certain occasions. In order to commemorate Meng Jiangnu, Jiangnu Cave and five Jiangnu Springs appeared in Zibo. Meng Jiangnu's story has also been passed down orally from generation to generation among the people. People also interpret Meng Jiangnu's legend in different artistic forms, and there are many folk songs in Zibo alone.