lots of beautiful legends and stories about the great wall took place following along the construction, and since that time these stories have spread around the country. those that happened during construction are abundant, such as meng jiangnu's story and the legend of the jiayuguan pass. meng jiangnu's story is the most famous and widely spread of all the legends about the great wall. the story happened during the qin dynasty (221bc-206bc). it tells of how meng jiangnu's bitter weeping made a section of the great wall collapse. meng jiangnu's husband fan qiliang was caught by federal officials and sent to build the great wall. meng jiangnu heard nothing from him after his departure, so she set out to look for him. unfortunately, by the time she reached the great wall, she discovered that her husband had already died. hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. her howl caused the collapse of a part of the great wall. this story indicates that the great wall is the production of tens of thousands of chinese commoners.共2页12

another legend about the jiayuguan pass tells of a workman named yi kaizhan in the ming dynasty (1368bc-1644bc) who was proficient in arithmetic. he calculated that it would need 99,999 bricks to build the jiayuguan pass. the supervisor did not believe him and said if they miscalculated by even one brick, then all the workmen would be punished to do hard work for three years. after the completion of the project, one brick was left behind the xiwong city gate. the supervisor was happy at the sight of the brick and ready to punish them. however yi kaizhan said with deliberation that the brick was put there by a supernatural being to fix the wall. a tiny move would cause the collapse of the wall. therefore the brick was kept there and