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Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall: Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend. Translation and Introduction by Wilt L. Idema with an essay by Haiyan Lee. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Pp. 312. Glossary, bibliography. $60.00 cloth, $25.00 paper.)
Wilt Idema writes that "'The Tale of the Maiden Meng fing or Meng Jiangnü' was one of the most popular and widespread legends of traditional China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties." "It features," he continues, "a teenage widow who, out of loyalty to a husband she has barely lived with, brings down the Great Wall by her weeping . . ." (3). This collection is...