As She Descends

The Legend of Meng Jiangnu, recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, has circulated throughout China for over two millennia, particularly thriving in Qinhuangdao. The tale of Meng Jiangnu—who journeyed far for love and wept until the city walls collapsed—has been passed down orally in folk tradition. Through opera, storybooks, customs, and rituals, it has been continually reinterpreted, embodying the emotional aspirations of different eras while persistently shaping imaginings of order and ethics.

This exhibition invites artists from across China and Asia to engage with the legend, seeking to liberate Meng Jiangnu from conventional interpretations and reveal her multifaceted, open-ended dimensions. It poses questions: Can we reimagine grief as a source of strength rather than weakness? Can love be seen as an agency for action rather than submission?

The Meng Jiangnu legend possesses broad popular resonance, serving as a representative sample of mass culture; the exhibition title likewise originates from a popular pop song from the early 2000s. Modern and contemporary novelists like Zhang Henshui and Su Tong have reimagined Meng Jiangnu, while Gu Jiegang’s research on her pioneered Chinese folklore studies. Their creative works and scholarly investigations suggest: retelling is not nostalgia, but a displacement and renewal. The exhibition adopts “retelling the story” as its methodology, inviting viewers to imagine: When “she” descends from symbolism, how does she encounter the contemporary?