Meng Jiangnu: The Saddest Cry in the World 孟姜女：天下第一哭

The story of Meng Jiangnu, spread through many regions of China for more than 2,000 years, is perhaps the most popular folktale concerning the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China was built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. It is estimated that between 2 to 3 million people had lost their lives building the Great Wall, and many more died by defending her.

The story of Meng Jiangnu's deep affection for her husband has moved many Chinese people and they call her cry ‘The saddest cry in the world’.

In Chinese, Meng means the eldest, and Jiang apparently refers to a family name. Meng Jiangnu therefore means the Jiang family’s eldest daughter. The most complete version of story was told by Feng Menglong of Ming dynasty in his book ‘Love Tales in History’.

Meng Jiang, lived during the Qin dynasty, was the eldest daughter of a rich family. She was just married to Fan Qiliang. On the third day of her marriage, Fan was taken away to build the Great Wall. Winter came but Fan did not return. Meng made some warm clothes for her husband and decided to take them to him. She came to the construction site and was then told that Fan had died. She was so heartbroken that she stumbled, cried loudly till the earth was shaken.

The Great Wall collapsed and exposed the bones and bodies of many dead men. However, it was impossible to identify Fan’s body. Meng cut her fingers and dripped her blood on the dead one by one until her blood flowed into one. Knowing that this was her husband, she carried the body home. However, she was exhausted upon reaching Tong Guan, which was still far away from her home. She knew that she could not make it home, so she placed the dead body at the foot of a mountain and sat there silently until she died.

The people of Tong Guan were so touched by her chastity that they constructed her sculpture as a memorial to honour her.

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孟姜女的故事在中国很多地区传播超过两千年，可能是有关万里长城的故事中最出名的。

万里长城是为了保卫中国北方领土而从公元前五世纪至十六世纪由各个朝代不断建筑、重建与修理而成的。其中最出名的城墙是在公元前220年至200年间由中国的第一位皇帝秦始皇建造的。据估计，有两百到三百万人为了建造这座长城而丧失生命，还有很多人为了保护它而死亡。

孟姜女对她丈夫的深情的故事深深地感动了人们，而她的哭被称为‘天下第一哭’。

孟是排行老大的意思，姜才是姓氏，所以孟姜女指的是姜家的长女。明代冯梦龙（原刊本署“詹詹外史”）在他的《情史》（全称《情史类略》，又名《情天宝鉴》）中的《孟姜》讲得最完整：

“秦孟姜，富人女也，赘范杞梁。三日，夫赴长城之役，久而不归，为制寒衣送之，至长城，闻知夫已故，乃号顿足，哭声震地。

城崩，寻夫骸骨，多难认，啮指血滴之，入骨不可拭者，知其为夫骨，负之而归。至潼关，筋骨已竭，知不能还家，乃置骸岩下，坐于旁而死。

潼关人重其节义，立像祀之。”

Fan Li: Know the Pattern of Advance and Withdrawal 范蠡：知进退

Fan Li was an advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BC). In 494 BC, Goujian, the King of Yue State, decided to start a war against the Wu State, Yue’s northern neighbour. Fan Li advised the king not to start the war, but the king did not listen. The Yue State lost the war. Fan Li followed Goujian to the Wu State as hostages. Three years later they came back and he helped Goujian to carry on a reform. At last Yue was able to defeat the state of Wu.

After Goujian became king, Fan Li felt that it was unsuitable for him to stay on as an advisor. He resigned and renamed himself Tao Zhu Gong (Lord Tao Zhu). He became a successful businessman in his later years and was famous as a rich person.

Here is a letter he wrote to his friend Wen Zhong advising him to desert the King as well. Wen Zhong did not listen to Fan’s advice and was finally forced by the King to kill himself.

I have learned that just as there are four seasons in a year, with summer brave and winter bare, there are also vicissitudes in man’s life. When good luck reaches its limit, misfortune is destined to follow. If there is one who knows well when to advance and when to withdraw and in the meanwhile always remains righteous and upright, he should be esteemed as man of virtue and wisdom, shouldn’t he? Humble as I am, I have come to know this regular pattern of advance and withdrawal. When high-flying birds have all flown away, strong bows will be cast; and when cunning hares have all been hunted, fleeing hounds will be cooked as food.

And now let us have a look at the King of Yue – long-necked and beak-mouthed, hawk-eyed and wolf-footed. He is a man with whom you can weather difficult times together but not happiness; with whom you can weather danger together but not live peace together. If you don’t leave him now, he will harm you sooner or later. Isn’t it clear enough?

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范蠡是春秋时代（公元前722年至481年）越国的大臣。公元前494年，越王勾践决定攻打北部的吴国。范蠡规劝越王不要发动战争，可是越王不听。越国战败。范蠡随勾践到吴国为人质。三年后，他们归国，范蠡协助勾践改革。最后，越国把吴国打败。

勾践成为国君后，范蠡觉得不适合继续为大臣。他辞去并改名为陶朱公。晚年他成为一个成功商人，是一个著名的富豪。

这里是他写给他的朋友文种的一封信，劝他离开越王。文种不听范蠡的劝告，结果为越王所逼而自杀。

吾闻天有四时，春生冬伐；人有盛衰，泰终必否。知进退存亡而不失其正，惟贤人乎！蠡虽不才，明知进退。高鸟已散，良弓将藏；狡兔已尽，良犬就烹。

夫越王为人，长颈鸟啄，鹰视狼步。可与共患难，而不可共处乐；可与履危，不可与安。子若不去，将害于子，明矣。

Zodiac Animal: Ox 生肖动物：牛

In Chinese calendar, 2009 is the year of the earth ox. It started on the Chinese New Year, which was on 26 January 2009.

The ox is the second sign of the Chinese zodiac and signifies time for hard work and smart moves from the honest approach; slow and steady wins the race in the end! Earth favours those who are tied to the land, such as wine and fruit, organic foods, and those who do a lot of routine work, deal with practical matters or perform work of a spiritual nature.

Based on the characteristics of both earth and ox, it could be a very good year for those with careers in services business, construction, engineering, health, academic, planning and great for entrepreneurs with a soulful heart.

Generally speaking, people who are born in the years of ox are supposed to be bright, peace-loving, often easy-going and trusting. But, on the other hand, they can also be stubborn, methodical, and fiercely competitive, with, shudder, fierce tempers to boot.

There is a legend about ox as a river god.

During the Warring States Period (476 – 221 BC), Li Bing, the magistrate of Shu (Sichuan), made history by building Dujiangyan, the irrigation infrastructure which is still in use today. It irrigates over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region.

According to a wide-spread story about him, there was a river god in the region who insisted on marrying two little girls each year. With the interests of the people at heart, Li Bing decided to marry his own daughter to the river god. On the wedding day, Li Bing went to the temple where the marriage was to take place to scold the river god for its harmful deeds. Then both Li Bing and river god disappeared suddenly. After quite a while, people saw two oxen having a ferocious battle on the river bank. Li Bing returned in the anteroom to tell his subordinates the ox to the south with white colour on its waist was him. The subordinates stabbed the ox to the north to death. That was the river god.

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在农历里，2009年是土牛年。土牛年从农历新年，也就是2009年1月26日开始。

牛排在生肖的第二位。牛年表示是勤劳、伶俐而诚实地处事的时刻到了，最后的胜利属于那些缓慢而稳健的人。五行中的土有利于那些从事同土有关的员工，例如从事有关酒与果实、有机食物行业的人，或那些从事事务性工作、实际问题或心灵性质工作的人们。

以牛与土这两种特性来看，牛年有利于那些从事服务业、建筑、工程、健康、学术、策划的人员，也有利于那些有高尚情操的企业家。

一般来说，那些出生于牛年的人，聪明、爱好和平、随意与值得信任。可是，从另一个角度来看，他们可以十分固执、组织化、竞争性很强，容易显露暴躁的脾气。

这里有一个有关牛作为河神的故事。

战国时代（公元前476 – 221），蜀（今四川）郡守李冰以建造都江堰而闻名于历史。都江堰这个灌溉构造系统至今还在使用中，为周围5，300平方公里的土地灌溉。

根据一个广为流传有关李冰的传说，一个河神规定人们每年要奉献两名少女给它为妻。为了百姓的利益，李冰决定把自己的女儿嫁给河神。婚礼当天，李冰到举行婚礼的庙堂，痛骂河神之伤天害理行为。突然间，李冰与河神一起消失。一会儿后，人们看到两只牛在河岸激烈战斗。李冰回到接待室告诉他的手下在南面有白色腰部的牛是他本人。李冰手下于是尽力把北面的牛刺杀死去。那死去的真正是河神。

Cutting Up a Cow 庖丁解牛

A dominant theme in the Chinese aesthetics is the notion of gongfu, which refers to the need to have a long time physical and spiritual training and constant practices to achieve a result that is supposed to come across with perfect and natural ease.
Here is a story told by Zhuangzi about Cook Ding cutting up oxen to illustrate the notion of gongfu:
Cook Ding was cutting up a cow for Duke Wenhui. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every tread of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every sound of the rending flesh, and every note of the movement of the chopper were in perfect harmony - rhythmical like the dance of ‘The Mulberry Grove,’ simultaneous like the chords of the ‘Ching Shou’. (‘The Mulberry Grove’ and ‘Ching Shou’ are two pieces of beautiful antique music.)
‘Ah, admirable,’ said the prince, ‘that your art should become so perfect!’
The cook laid down his chopper and replied: ‘What I love is Dao, which is more advanced than art. When I first began to cut up cows, what I saw was a simply whole cow. When I first began to clean, what I saw was simply a whole mess. After three years' practice, I saw no more cow as whole. At present, I work with my mind, but not with my eyes. The functions of my senses stop; my spirit dominates. Following the natural veins, my chopper slips through the great cavities, slides through the great openings, taking advantage of what is already there. I did not attempt the central veins and their branches, and the connectives between flesh and bone, not to mention the great bones. A good cook changes his chopper once a year, because he cuts. An ordinary cook changes his chopper once a month, because he hacks. Now my copper has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut several thousand cows; yet its edge is as sharp as if it just came from the whetstone. At the joints there are always interstices, and the edge of the chopper is without thickness. If we insert that which is without thickness into an interstice, there is certainly plenty of room for it to move along! Nevertheless, when I come to a complicated joint, and see that there will be some difficulty, I proceed anxiously and with caution. I fix my eyes on it. I move slowly. Then by a very gentle movement of my chopper, the part is quickly separated, and yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then standing with the chopper in my hand, I look all around, with an air of triumph and satisfaction. Then I wipe my chopper and put it in its sheath.’
‘Excellent,’ said the prince, ‘from the words of this cook, I learned the ways of cultivating life.’
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中国美学中的一个重要的概念是‘功夫’，指需要长时间的体格与精神锻炼，与不间断的练习，而达到的完美与自然天成的结果。

庄子就以《庖丁解牛》来说明功夫的概念。

庖丁为文惠君解牛，手之所触，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然向然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音。合于《桑林》之舞，乃中《经首》之会。

文惠君曰：“嘻，善哉！技盖至此乎？”

庖丁释刀对曰：“臣之所好者道也，进乎技矣。始臣之解牛之时，所见无非牛者。三年之后，未尝见全牛也。方今之时，臣以神遇而不以目视，官知止而神欲行。依乎天理，批大郤，导大窾，因其固然，技经肯綮之未尝，而况大軱乎！良庖岁更刀，割也；族庖月更刀，折也。今臣之刀十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。虽然，每至于族，吾见其难为，怵然为戒，视为止，行为迟。动刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。提刀而立，为之四顾，为之踌躇满志，善刀而藏之。”

文惠君曰：“善哉，吾闻庖丁之言，得养生焉。”