{"id":3786,"date":"2016-05-21T14:51:04","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T06:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/2016\/05\/21\/tu_hua_shu_20160521\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T14:59:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:59:40","slug":"tu_hua_shu_20160521","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2016\/05\/21\/tu_hua_shu_20160521\/","title":{"rendered":"Pic\u00adture Book Cre\u00adation Inter\u00adview: Lis\u00adten to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About \u201cMeng Jiangnu Cry\u00ading at the Great Wall\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R7z2XtH1d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7z2XtH1d.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"358\" name=\"image_operate_27411463814895506\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On May 13, 2015, I vis\u00adit\u00aded Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Cai Gao in Chang\u00adsha. We chat\u00adted for a full day and then again for half the after\u00adnoon. Dur\u00ading the con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion, we dis\u00adcussed Cai Gao\u2019s book, \u201cMeng Jiangnu Weeps at the Great Wall,\u201d which was then only avail\u00adable in Japan\u00adese but is now avail\u00adable in Chi\u00adnese. We first dis\u00adcussed the dra\u00admat\u00adic ele\u00adments in pic\u00adture book cre\u00adation, and then, using this book as an exam\u00adple, since I can\u2019t read Japan\u00adese, Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Cai Gao explained it to me in detail, from begin\u00adning to end. It was tru\u00adly enjoy\u00adable. I\u2019d like to share it with you.<br>\n<!--more--><br>\n\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A: I feel that \u201cMulan\u201d has a bit of a dra\u00admat\u00adic fla\u00advor, both at the begin\u00adning and when Mulan comes back. The mid\u00addle part is more lyri\u00adcal and artis\u00adtic con\u00adcep\u00adtion is devel\u00adoped.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes. Per\u00adhaps \u201cMeng Jiangnu\u201d has a bit of that, too. The dra\u00admat\u00adic qual\u00adi\u00adty of \u201cMeng Jiangnu\u201d is pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly a neces\u00adsi\u00adty for the sto\u00adry\u2019s entry. It has two main plot\u00adlines, and that\u2019s how it needs to begin.<\/p>\n<p>A: That is to say, the back\u00adground and char\u00adac\u00adters need to be intro\u00adduced in this way.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: From the begin\u00adning, it need\u00aded to cre\u00adate a sense of neigh\u00adbor\u00adhood. There\u2019s a say\u00ading in the sto\u00adry that the child is from the gourd, so how could it be a child shared by two fam\u00adi\u00adlies? We need\u00aded to offer this pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty: the wall between our two homes is like this, so the gourds you plant\u00aded have crawled into our house. We had to offer this pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for the read\u00ader\u2019s imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion. We also need\u00aded water, fields, and the sur\u00adround\u00ading ter\u00adrain. We need\u00aded to hide here and rest for a while, so the sto\u00adry could unfold. We also need\u00aded time for a love sto\u00adry to unfold. And then there were the traps every\u00adwhere; with\u00adout the moun\u00adtains, there was no place to hide. So, set\u00adting up this kind of set\u00adting made the sto\u00adry pos\u00adsi\u00adble.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R7NNhe515\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7NNhe515.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"365\" name=\"image_operate_54811463813761311\"><\/a><br>\nA: The open\u00ading scene on the title page is the main scene that takes place in the first half of the sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Then on the next page, the pic\u00adture is enlarged and the wall is com\u00adplete\u00adly removed. Both com\u00adpa\u00adnies use this kind of stage effect to per\u00adform and don\u2019t wor\u00adry about the spe\u00adcif\u00adic actu\u00adal sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R7QHDPRf3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7QHDPRf3.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"185\" name=\"image_operate_57551463813777190\"><\/a><br>\nA: Yes, it is very trou\u00adble\u00adsome to paint the wall.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: It\u2019s both cum\u00adber\u00adsome and ugly; read\u00aders will imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly know they\u2019re two sep\u00ada\u00adrate fam\u00adi\u00adlies. This is the\u00adatri\u00adcal expres\u00adsion, sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00ading two scenes. Take, for exam\u00adple, the play \u201cLychees for Red Peach\u00ades\u201d that I watched as a child. The dra\u00adma between the two fam\u00adi\u00adlies takes place on two dif\u00adfer\u00adent floors: the boy\u2019s home on one side, the girl\u2019s on the oth\u00ader. Anoth\u00ader exam\u00adple is \u201cWall Horse,\u201d which also tells a sto\u00adry sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded by a wall, but requires the audi\u00adence to see both sto\u00adries unfold simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly.<\/p>\n<p>A: On the stage, with one set\u00adting, two sto\u00adries hap\u00adpen at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: In the plays I watched as a child, the boys and girls from the two fam\u00adi\u00adlies could see each oth\u00ader, but the plane had to be open to the audi\u00adence. In this page, I also have a plane fac\u00ading the audi\u00adence. This arrange\u00adment can only be done on stage; it\u2019s impos\u00adsi\u00adble in real life. How could two hous\u00ades be like this?<\/p>\n<p>A: The pic\u00adture can be cut across the page to cre\u00adate a stage effect.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: After cut\u00adting it open, a white line remains in the mid\u00addle, cre\u00adat\u00ading a con\u00adnec\u00adtion and rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the two scenes. This is the flat treat\u00adment, com\u00adplete\u00adly fol\u00adlow\u00ading the flat effect, unfold\u00ading like a stage. (Turns to the next page) The sto\u00adry can be seen by you, by chil\u00addren, and the wall becomes this effect.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R7VnllZ5f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7VnllZ5f.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"184\" name=\"image_operate_35541463813843554\"><\/a><br>\nA: The wall on this page (Meng\u2019s old man hoe\u00ading the land and sow\u00ading seeds) looks short.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Over here, peo\u00adple are farm\u00ading, and there\u2019s a bird on the wall. A child could eas\u00adi\u00adly under\u00adstand it. Then the gourd vine crawls along the wall (turn to the next page, two fam\u00adi\u00adlies are chat\u00adting in the shed). I did\u00adn\u2019t draw the wall at this point; it would\u00adn\u2019t look pret\u00adty. The wall actu\u00adal\u00adly drops down here, allow\u00ading every\u00adone to see the shed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R7YEqEn8f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7YEqEn8f.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_54091463813901780\"><\/a><br>\nA: It feels like look\u00ading down from the top of a wall, a bird\u2019s-eye view.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Look\u00ading from above, you can\u2019t see this. This is also a kind of divi\u00adsion. It looks like a bird\u2019s-eye view, but it\u2019s actu\u00adal\u00adly a flat sur\u00adface. This visu\u00adal effect does\u00adn\u2019t make sense, but it works in a pic\u00adture book. You can see the trel\u00adlis divid\u00ading the scene, which is also very beau\u00adti\u00adful. This divi\u00adsion does\u00adn\u2019t look dull, and the char\u00adac\u00adters become inter\u00adest\u00ading. You can see the gourd here.<\/p>\n<p>A: This is also the spe\u00adcial pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion method of pic\u00adture books, show\u00ading the audi\u00adence a flat sur\u00adface, much like a stage.<br>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R82uMUV79\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br>\n<\/a>Cai: On this page (and then two pages), it\u2019s more of a stage effect. The text says, \u201cMeng Jiangnu grew up day by day, becom\u00ading a beau\u00adti\u00adful woman.\u201d So, I used a door as a par\u00adti\u00adtion in the paint\u00ading. Time pass\u00ades like a fleet\u00ading moment. It feels like a thou\u00adsand years have passed through the crack of the door, right? So, just walk\u00ading from here to there is already a growth process. It\u2019s com\u00adplete\u00adly dra\u00admat\u00adic and two-dimen\u00adsion\u00adal.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R82uMUV79\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R82uMUV79.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" name=\"image_operate_72891463814040921\"><\/a><br>\n<u><br>\n<\/u>A: Although I don\u2019t under\u00adstand the Japan\u00adese on this page, I com\u00adplete\u00adly get its mean\u00ading. It means to walk slow\u00adly and grow up as you walk.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, par\u00adti\u00adtions are often used in dra\u00adma. For exam\u00adple, in Romance of the West\u00adern Cham\u00adber, there are sev\u00ader\u00adal side rooms sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded by doors. This approach is easy to under\u00adstand, as if there is a fixed mean\u00ading behind it.<\/p>\n<p>A: At least Chi\u00adnese peo\u00adple under\u00adstand it. For\u00adeign\u00aders may not under\u00adstand it, but Japan\u00adese peo\u00adple should under\u00adstand it.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, Japan\u00adese read\u00aders can under\u00adstand it, and Mr. Nao Mat\u00adsui par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly likes this paint\u00ading. I didn\u2019t say any\u00adthing to him about \u201ctime flies\u201d, but he liked it right away.<\/p>\n<p>A: One day we can also find a West\u00adern\u00ader to try and see if he can under\u00adstand this page, haha.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Haha, it\u2019s real\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00ading. You see, Meng Jiangnu\u2019s move\u00adments remain the same; she\u2019s still a hard\u00adwork\u00ading girl, but her clothes have changed, and so have the things she car\u00adries. Her father has aged, and she\u2019s grown up. Some things change, and some things don\u2019t. The house remains the same, but time has changed. I often use this method to depict time, and I also see it in \u201cMulan.\u201d Going upstairs is a moment, and chang\u00ading clothes and putting on make\u00adup are also moments. You can see her trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly, and the fun lies in these process\u00ades. I find it quite engag\u00ading.<br>\n(Turn to the next page, Meng Jiangnu sees some\u00adone in the back\u00adyard.) This page also has a stage effect. This per\u00adson hides here, that per\u00adson hides there, both vis\u00adi\u00adble to the audi\u00adence. Then the wall is placed there, and beyond the wall are dis\u00adtant moun\u00adtains, a lay\u00ader of bar\u00adri\u00aders, com\u00ading from that side, as if to empha\u00adsize that in this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, some kind of emo\u00adtion could arise. This is why they have time to fall in love. If they did\u00adn\u2019t have feel\u00adings for each oth\u00ader, if they did\u00adn\u2019t fall in love, how could they have gone to cry at the Great Wall lat\u00ader?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8aZK8f2f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8aZK8f2f.gif\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"182\" name=\"image_operate_23711463814042767\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A: Yes, this is the nec\u00ades\u00adsary fore\u00adshad\u00adow\u00ading for this sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: But this isn\u2019t in the text. It has to be shown in the illus\u00adtrat\u00aded sto\u00adry, to estab\u00adlish a sol\u00adid emo\u00adtion\u00adal foun\u00adda\u00adtion for them. There has to be emo\u00adtion\u00adal fore\u00adshad\u00adow\u00ading. Spaces should be insert\u00aded here and there to build fore\u00adshad\u00adow\u00ading, and lat\u00ader on this page (turn two pages back) they should com\u00adplete their love jour\u00adney in one sin\u00adgle image.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8939XRdb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8939XRdb.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"184\" name=\"image_operate_53811463814062486\"><\/a><br>\nA: In this page, the two peo\u00adple always work togeth\u00ader.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Look, here is the love that was born while we were pound\u00ading rice and sift\u00ading mil\u00adlet togeth\u00ader.<\/p>\n<p>A: These two details have a bit of the mean\u00ading of \u201cThe Exploita\u00adtion of the Works of Nature\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: I first tried draw\u00ading water from the well, but I felt the cur\u00adrent scene did\u00adn\u2019t cap\u00adture the cou\u00adple\u2019s affec\u00adtion as well. I moved that to a lat\u00ader page because it did\u00adn\u2019t have much to do with the girl wash\u00ading and dry\u00ading her clothes. In this lat\u00ader scene (the next page), the girl is a bit shy, steal\u00ading glances at him, a bit embar\u00adrassed. That\u2019s when I enlarged the flow\u00aders.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8dVjnHd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8dVjnHd1.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" name=\"image_operate_81241463814096975\"><\/a><br>\nA: These flow\u00aders should have a sym\u00adbol\u00adic mean\u00ading.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, the flow\u00aders are bloom\u00ading, it\u2019s per\u00adfect, my heart is bloom\u00ading too, and I\u2019m in a good mood.<\/p>\n<p>A: Is this flower a peony?<\/p>\n<p>Cai: I have this flower plant\u00aded upstairs. It\u2019s a red\u00adbud. Mine aren\u2019t this red, more rose-red. I like this kind of flower. It\u2019s a bit like a peony, but not quite. Peonies are too rich, while red\u00adbuds are more hum\u00adble, but they have great vital\u00adi\u00adty and a long bloom\u00ading peri\u00adod. Wan Xil\u00adiang also gave her some flow\u00aders while car\u00adry\u00ading water.<\/p>\n<p>A: What kind of flower is this (the flower on the buck\u00adet)?<\/p>\n<p>Cai: It does\u00adn\u2019t mat\u00adter what kind of flower it is, the point is that while car\u00adry\u00ading water, he did\u00adn\u2019t for\u00adget to pick flow\u00aders for her. Also, in this pic\u00adture, you can see his par\u00adents\u2019 recog\u00adni\u00adtion of him.<\/p>\n<p>A: You can see that both elders are very hap\u00adpy and want to arrange some\u00adthing.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: This is a scene from every\u00adday life, with the par\u00adents secret\u00adly arrang\u00ading their mar\u00adriage. On the next page (the wed\u00adding), a stage is sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded, and the peo\u00adple in the back\u00adground are trans\u00adformed into tiny fig\u00adures. This allows for more sto\u00adry\u00adtelling, elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading the need for close-ups. Close-ups are usu\u00adal\u00adly used to depict psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal events, but that\u2019s not how I direct\u00aded here. I relied entire\u00adly on the sto\u00adry itself, using action to con\u00advey the sto\u00adry, much like a play, with\u00adout rely\u00ading on close-ups.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8iowZM96\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8iowZM96.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"184\" name=\"image_operate_25211463814154807\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A: Chi\u00adnese peo\u00adple express sto\u00adries and emo\u00adtions main\u00adly through the way they do things.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Exact\u00adly. It\u2019s hard to express it if you bring it too close. And this kind of sto\u00adry\u00adtelling has to take into account the entire sto\u00adry, espe\u00adcial\u00adly the lat\u00ader stages. You see, these char\u00adac\u00adters are all \u201cants,\u201d small-time vil\u00adlains. This book has two main themes: the Great Wall and the sto\u00adry\u00adline. I had to main\u00adtain both, devel\u00adop\u00ading them in par\u00adal\u00adlel. Why did Nao\u00adki Mat\u00adsui par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly like this book? He said it was excel\u00adlent, even bet\u00adter than \u201cThe Sto\u00adry of Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring.\u201d I under\u00adstand why he said I \u201csur\u00adpassed\u201d it because, beyond the sto\u00adry\u00adline, there\u2019s also the Great Wall thread run\u00adning through it, mak\u00ading it even more chal\u00adleng\u00ading and, there\u00adfore, sur\u00adpass\u00ading my oth\u00ader works.<\/p>\n<p>A: How was the Great Wall line in this book real\u00adized?<\/p>\n<p>Cai: My Great Wall came about this way. Look at these lines, appear\u00ading here (refer\u00adring to the paint\u00ading of the water bear\u00ader), they all evoke bricks, the struc\u00adture of a brick wall. This has\u00adn\u2019t appeared before, and there\u2019s no sense of a city. Here, the Great Wall is hint\u00aded at, and it begins to become part of life, and this con\u00adtin\u00adues lat\u00ader. There\u2019s a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion here, a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous thread. For\u00admal\u00adly, the two lines are con\u00adnect\u00aded. The beau\u00adty of ordi\u00adnary life at the begin\u00adning con\u00adtrasts sharply with the des\u00ado\u00adla\u00adtion that fol\u00adlows. With this lev\u00adel of emo\u00adtion\u00adal fore\u00adshad\u00adow\u00ading, it would be sur\u00adpris\u00ading if she did\u00adn\u2019t go look\u00ading for her hus\u00adband. This was nec\u00ades\u00adsary, to cre\u00adate the con\u00adtrast between mar\u00adriage and the forced labor to build the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p>A: This house is on both sides of the dou\u00adble-page spread of the wed\u00adding and the birth of a son.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, it also feels like a stage set\u00adting, com\u00adplete\u00adly ori\u00adent\u00aded towards the read\u00ader, guid\u00ading the child\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adtive. The child sees the bride and won\u00adders what the peo\u00adple out\u00adside are like. This is the kind of joy that only a small vil\u00adlage can have.<\/p>\n<p>A: The wed\u00adding page brings every\u00adone togeth\u00ader to cel\u00ade\u00adbrate, which forms the strongest con\u00adtrast with the next page.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8mHLVm68\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8mHLVm68.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_40971463814211693\"><\/a><br>\nCai: The atmos\u00adphere changes imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly. Then, on the next page, Meng Jiangnu sets out, mov\u00ading from left to right. The fig\u00adures below can\u2019t be any big\u00adger. On this page, she\u2019s sewing win\u00adter clothes, and the fig\u00adures are already large enough to show her mood, the change in weath\u00ader, the ris\u00ading wind, and her par\u00adents\u2019 aging, but she must leave.<\/p>\n<p>The next page is a trip\u00adtych, show\u00ading the long jour\u00adney. If it were con\u00adnect\u00aded com\u00adplete\u00adly, it would be like walk\u00ading in a paint\u00ading. The three par\u00adti\u00adtions would tell you about spring, sum\u00admer, and autumn, walk\u00ading and walk\u00ading\u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8ozTP664\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8ozTP664.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"185\" name=\"image_operate_2441463814249469\"><\/a><br>\nA: This triple par\u00adti\u00adtion looks like a screen, but is slight\u00adly wider than a screen.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, it feels like a fold\u00ading screen. \u201cThe Sto\u00adry of Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring\u201d also has a sim\u00adi\u00adlar three-pan\u00adel struc\u00adture, depict\u00ading the vast\u00adness of a riv\u00ader. It\u2019s a nec\u00ades\u00adsary expres\u00adsion. As you go fur\u00adther down, you seem even small\u00ader, even small\u00ader.<\/p>\n<p>Then comes the cross\u00ading of the riv\u00ader on the next page, which reminds me of the sto\u00adry of \u201cLiu Yi\u2019s Let\u00adter\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8rgdtV63\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8rgdtV63.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" name=\"image_operate_3671463814265648\"><\/a><br>\nA: Yes, the sto\u00adry of \u201cLiu Yi\u2019s Let\u00adter\u201d is also about the water part\u00ading.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: This is my design; it\u2019s impos\u00adsi\u00adble to tell it this way in the text. The orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry is that Meng Jiangnu cried and cried, and the water lev\u00adel dropped. How could she move when the water lev\u00adel dropped? How could she express this? Should she float? I did\u00adn\u2019t think that would work. I want\u00aded her sin\u00adcer\u00adi\u00adty to be like Liu Yi\u2019s. The water had to part for her, and once it part\u00aded, she could move through. This form feels very good; the water stands up like a wall.<\/p>\n<p>A: You can see fish on the water wall and tur\u00adtles below.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Then, with a mix\u00adture of fear and deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion, she took these steps, with an exag\u00adger\u00adat\u00aded air, walk\u00ading so fast that her hair flew up. She had to hur\u00adry across this vast area, with high water lev\u00adels. Imag\u00adine walk\u00ading across the riverbed, just imag\u00adine what it would feel like if the water stood up. It remind\u00aded me of when we went to the under\u00adwa\u00adter world and my grand\u00adson said, \u201cGrand\u00adma, Grand\u00adma, look, the fish are swim\u00adming in the sky!\u201d That was very inspir\u00ading to me, too.<\/p>\n<p>A: She had to hur\u00adry over, and when she got here, the water behind her was almost con\u00adnect\u00aded.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: She looks back and sees the water already push\u00ading her. The scene is tense, cre\u00adat\u00ading an atmos\u00adphere of fear\u00adless\u00adness. She\u2019s very brave. What makes a girl brave? Do you think she\u2019s nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly fear\u00adless? Her eyes are filled with fear, yet she\u2019s deter\u00admined to search. The next page also empha\u00adsizes her deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion. \u201cThe Sto\u00adry of Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring\u201d is also about search\u00ading, that is, search\u00ading for an ide\u00adal place. This is also about seek\u00ading an ide\u00adal, but it\u2019s very trag\u00adic: she\u2019s search\u00ading for her hus\u00adband. This is even more dis\u00adtant, more uncer\u00adtain, and more des\u00ado\u00adlate. You have to keep talk\u00ading about it, using the same method as the Great Wall, with the same dis\u00adtance as the Great Wall. The Great Wall is sev\u00adered, yet it con\u00adtin\u00adues. (Turns to the three-pan\u00adel Great Wall image) Scenes from dif\u00adfer\u00adent places, just like this, con\u00adstant\u00adly walk\u00ading, and then rest\u00ading like this by the Great Wall (under tent and mat on the ground), on a patch of bro\u00adken grass. I\u2019ve read many ancient musi\u00adcal descrip\u00adtions of Meng Jiangnu\u2019s per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty, includ\u00ading ancient bal\u00adlads from Hunan Province, and bal\u00adlads about Meng Jiangnu from every dynasty. Meng Jiangnu is not an iso\u00adlat\u00aded case. Every dynasty and gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion has had such resent\u00adful women, and there have been such peo\u00adple who built the Great Wall. The Great Wall exist\u00aded in ancient times, and it was com\u00adplet\u00aded dur\u00ading the Qin Dynasty, and the gaps were con\u00adnect\u00aded in the hands of the Qin Dynasty.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8v1fS6fe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8v1fS6fe.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"182\" name=\"image_operate_30461463814329574\"><\/a><br>\nA: It was repaired until the Ming Dynasty.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: The Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall all the way to the sea. Why did I design the Great Wall in the sto\u00adry to the sea? Actu\u00adal\u00adly, we have the remains of the Great Wall in Hunan, and it is quite remote.<\/p>\n<p>A: Do you also have Meng Jiangnu and the Great Wall here?<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes. There\u2019s the Jiangnu Tem\u00adple and the Great Wall. I\u2019ve been there, but the Jiangnu Tem\u00adple was rebuilt lat\u00ader. This is because every dynasty and every coun\u00adtry once had a Jiangnu. \u201cMeng\u201d isn\u2019t just a sur\u00adname; it\u2019s a broad\u00ader con\u00adcept. The \u201cMeng\u201d in Meng Jiangnu may be the name of a place. In this sto\u00adry, \u201cMeng\u201d and \u201cJiang\u201d are two fam\u00adi\u00adlies, but in ancient times, they weren\u2019t. There are so many sto\u00adries, it\u2019s hard to explain them all at once. I set the sto\u00adry of Meng Jiangnu near the sea, pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly to cre\u00adate a grand scale that would com\u00adple\u00adment the Great Wall. So I had to depict the sea. Once we reach the beach, I don\u2019t need to draw the char\u00adac\u00adters; I\u2019ll leave it to the read\u00ader\u2019s imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion.<\/p>\n<p>A: In this pic\u00adture of her rest\u00ading by the Great Wall, the fig\u00adures are very blur\u00adry, and there is a cres\u00adcent moon on the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: There\u2019s a cap\u00adtion here. Based on the scene and the text, you can imag\u00adine how she slept in this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion. That\u2019s actu\u00adal\u00adly a good thing. Then you see the des\u00ado\u00adla\u00adtion of the ancient Great Wall (flip to the next page), its bro\u00adken, dam\u00adaged appear\u00adance before repairs. The col\u00adlapse is beau\u00adti\u00adful, a sense of vicis\u00adsi\u00adtudes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8z4tBb45\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8z4tBb45.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" name=\"image_operate_62581463814375318\"><\/a><br>\nA: Many parts of the Great Wall look like this now.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, it\u2019s still incom\u00adplete. I drew it this way based on pho\u00adtos I found. I can\u2019t trav\u00adel around much any\u00admore.<\/p>\n<p>A: I\u2019ve vis\u00adit\u00aded many ruined sec\u00adtions of the wild Great Wall. Many places are still quite dan\u00adger\u00adous. They\u2019re very high and steep, mak\u00ading it easy to fall, and even get struck dur\u00ading thun\u00adder\u00adstorms. This image of the ruined Great Wall gave me a sim\u00adi\u00adlar feel\u00ading.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: I like this sense of vicis\u00adsi\u00adtudes. It also lets read\u00aders know that the Great Wall need\u00aded repairs at the time, con\u00adnect\u00ading it to the sub\u00adse\u00adquent sto\u00adry. We need to under\u00adstand that the Great Wall was built and repaired in this way, so this paint\u00ading of the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of the Great Wall was also nec\u00ades\u00adsary. I also con\u00adsult\u00aded a lot of mate\u00adri\u00adals to com\u00adplete this paint\u00ading of the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion scenes and the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of the Great Wall. Then I placed Jiang Nu in this place (on the left side of the pic\u00adture).<\/p>\n<p>A: She walked slow\u00adly from the left and then walked out from the oth\u00ader side.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: She searched all the way, it was such a ardu\u00adous search. Then she came to this place (turn to the next page). I had to paint this place: the roots of the Great Wall, because her hus\u00adband was buried there after his death. This place was also a slum, filled with peo\u00adple in need, all look\u00ading for their hus\u00adbands and rel\u00ada\u00adtives. She fol\u00adlowed these peo\u00adple, the peo\u00adple who built the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8Codupf1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8Codupf1.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_55241463814447019\"><\/a><br>\nA: She first appeared at the low\u00ader left, then at the upper right, and walked along the foot of the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: She kept walk\u00ading, see\u00ading all these peo\u00adple, and none of them were her hus\u00adband. Then she moved on to the next page, to a more grand scene, which she had to see as well. As she con\u00adtin\u00adued to look along, she final\u00adly under\u00adstood how the Great Wall was built; it was a mas\u00adsive con\u00adstruc\u00adtion site.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8Fu5o64a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8Fu5o64a.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_46751463814476137\"><\/a><br>\nA: These paint\u00adings are very good. They are schemat\u00adic dia\u00adgrams of the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion and repair of the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: I paint\u00aded these paint\u00adings with great care and detail, and I did them at least twice. Doing them twice or more isn\u2019t easy. I\u2019ll show you my first draft lat\u00ader. The paint\u00ading is much bet\u00adter now, with a stronger over\u00adall feel and excel\u00adlent tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly. These lit\u00adtle fig\u00adures look amaz\u00ading after the sec\u00adond pass! Although small, every detail is clear. The char\u00adcoal sell\u00ader is here (to the right of the paint\u00ading at the foot of the Great Wall). It\u2019s meant to evoke a con\u00adnec\u00adtion. Although this isn\u2019t the char\u00adcoal sell\u00ader, it\u2019s the same con\u00adcept. Look, over here are orphans and wid\u00adows, while over there are the able-bod\u00adied men. Over here are the home\u00adless, search\u00ading for their loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>A: The next page shows scenes of con\u00adstruc\u00adtion on a con\u00adstruc\u00adtion site, show\u00ading var\u00adi\u00adous con\u00adstruc\u00adtion activ\u00adi\u00adties. In con\u00adtrast, the pre\u00advi\u00adous pages are scenes of dai\u00adly life.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, both every\u00adday and archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal scenes are nec\u00ades\u00adsary. I looked up infor\u00adma\u00adtion on how ancient peo\u00adple pushed carts. I vis\u00adit\u00aded con\u00adstruc\u00adtion sites, and every\u00adthing else is based on assump\u00adtions. The archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal aspects are sim\u00adi\u00adlar, and the tech\u00adniques are sim\u00adi\u00adlar.<\/p>\n<p>A: Then the scene of car\u00adry\u00ading bricks on the next page seems to have a strong sym\u00adbol\u00adic col\u00ador.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8Izcdac8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8Izcdac8.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_20451463814553131\"><\/a><br>\nCai: It\u2019s sym\u00adbol\u00adic. The life of an ant, like an ant, car\u00adries a heavy bur\u00adden. They approach Jiang Nu, and even though they\u2019re face to face, it\u2019s hard to tell who\u2019s who, to iden\u00adti\u00adfy their hus\u00adband. It\u2019s like Leo\u2019s search for the prince in Swan Lake. The iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion in that bal\u00adlet is beau\u00adti\u00adful, while here it\u2019s tru\u00adly trag\u00adic. All of these men could be her hus\u00adband, or none of them. It\u2019s like, \u201cA thou\u00adsand sails have passed, but none of them is the right one.\u201d That\u2019s the feel\u00ading. I want\u00aded to paint this: a girl stand\u00ading here, dressed in rags, rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the many Meng Jiang Nus search\u00ading for their hus\u00adbands, each of these strong men who may or may not be their hus\u00adbands.<\/p>\n<p>A: The black here is very thick and large, almost too large, and has a strong sense of sym\u00adbol\u00adism.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: The sense of oppres\u00adsion is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly strong, indeed, quite exces\u00adsive. It\u2019s approach\u00ading its most trag\u00adic moment, on the verge of explod\u00ading. Just look at how heavy it is. I want\u00aded to empha\u00adsize the weight of black here, to empha\u00adsize the grow\u00ading pres\u00adsure on her heart. She feels so hope\u00adless, so hope\u00adless, so near the end, so lost. Then some\u00adone tells her, \u201cYour hus\u00adband is over there, buried some\u00adwhere.\u201d Only then does she receive the true news.<\/p>\n<p>A: At this time, she has to turn her back to us.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, we can\u2019t see her face. With\u00adout it, it\u2019s dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to express, so I can only use my body lan\u00adguage. She\u2019s about to fall. She can\u2019t stand up, her legs give out. And so, she kneels down. She has\u00adn\u2019t weak\u00adened at all along the way, but here, she\u2019s about to fall. Here (turn to the next page), at the foot of the Great Wall, she must fall. She cries, and I can only depict this ges\u00adture here: the ges\u00adture of weep\u00ading. And speak\u00ading of her cry\u00ading, I won\u00adder where the pow\u00ader of the Great Wall lies. It\u2019s a com\u00adplete\u00adly super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal force, a spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal force, I under\u00adstand. Its soul has emerged. Her cry, every brick is moved. A British writer said that beneath every rail\u00adroad tie lies the soul of an Irish work\u00ader. In our old spin\u00adning mill, every spin\u00addle held the soul of a wronged Chi\u00adnese girl. I paint\u00aded souls, each brick a ghost of a strong man. This is the Great Wall of flesh and blood. So, her earth-shak\u00ading cry, like a storm, surges and clouds, arrives just like that.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8PgUPRdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8PgUPRdf.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" name=\"image_operate_79301463814612406\"><\/a><br>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Microsoft YaHei';\"><br>\n(Turns to the next page) The Great Wall at this point is an image, not a real\u00adis\u00adtic one; it\u2019s a feel\u00ading. This paint\u00ading was\u00adn\u2019t easy; I worked on it sev\u00ader\u00adal times. The pre\u00advi\u00adous one was also dif\u00adfi\u00adcult; I paint\u00aded sev\u00ader\u00adal dif\u00adfer\u00adent cry\u00ading pos\u00ades. There was only one way, cry\u00ading with hands raised, the kind of cry\u00ading that can\u2019t be helped, the tear\u00ading cry, the cry\u00ading of kneel\u00ading, cling\u00ading to her hus\u00adband\u2019s clothes. And then on the next page, she\u2019s gone. The Great Wall has col\u00adlapsed, a gap has appeared. Need\u00adless to say, this one turned out incred\u00adi\u00adbly well; I could\u00adn\u2019t have imag\u00adined it would be so. I tried sev\u00ader\u00adal times, and when the mood struck, I felt con\u00adfi\u00addent. I said, \u201cIt\u2019s com\u00ading, it\u2019s com\u00ading,\u201d and it just hap\u00adpened. The atmos\u00adphere was won\u00adder\u00adful, like a land\u00adslide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A: This should be the cli\u00admax.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8T9KCQ08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8T9KCQ08.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"182\" name=\"image_operate_6601463814697672\"><\/a><br>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Microsoft YaHei';\">Cai: Yes, there are no peo\u00adple here, only an image, a whole. Meng Jiangnu has also col\u00adlapsed, hav\u00ading reunit\u00aded with her hus\u00adband, their two spir\u00adits have merged. But there is also a tail, and it can\u00adnot be left out because the sto\u00adry must con\u00adtin\u00adue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>(Turn to the next page) The Great Wall con\u00adtin\u00adues to appear, with a solemn sac\u00adri\u00adfi\u00adcial scene. Meng Jiangnu request\u00aded a state funer\u00adal for her hus\u00adband, and I thought of a nation\u00adal mourn\u00ading, with all the world in mourn\u00ading. The literati, also feel\u00ading uneasy, want\u00aded to join the sac\u00adri\u00adfi\u00adcial cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adny to appease the pub\u00adlic anger. I also felt it was a good idea to add a stroke here. The pow\u00ader had to be low\u00adered here; Qin Shi\u00adhuang and the literati were required to attend, so I drew a cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adni\u00adal pro\u00adces\u00adsion. I drew Meng Jiangnu in the fore\u00adground, far ahead, her reck\u00adless defi\u00adance remind\u00ading us of her majesty. This flow of thought leads to the final stroke. (Turn to the next page) As she weeps, the real Great Wall, the flesh-and-blood Great Wall, appears, so I drew this stroke. This stroke is essen\u00adtial; it fur\u00adther clar\u00adi\u00adfies the con\u00adcept of the flesh-and-blood Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8XmIgk64\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8XmIgk64.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_50641463814715364\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R8XxTcY68\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R8XxTcY68.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"182\" name=\"image_operate_46591463814761878\"><\/a><br>\nA: The one below where peo\u00adple are stand\u00ading is the real\u00adis\u00adtic Great Wall, and the one above is the Great Wall of the soul.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: The Great Wall of the Chi\u00adnese Spir\u00adit. Sev\u00ader\u00adal fac\u00adtors come into play, and then there\u2019s the wind and clouds, which can be inter\u00adpret\u00aded as any sud\u00adden, unpre\u00addictable, and unfore\u00adseen event. So, amidst all this, there\u2019s the final act of utter dis\u00adgrace. The com\u00admon peo\u00adple saw Meng Jiangnu throw her\u00adself into the riv\u00ader, but I paint\u00aded it as Meng Jiangnu throw\u00ading her\u00adself into the sea. My son was\u00adn\u2019t sat\u00adis\u00adfied with this final paint\u00ading, and I was\u00adn\u2019t sat\u00adis\u00adfied either. So he extend\u00aded the image to one side, open\u00ading up the sea and plac\u00ading the fig\u00adure in the cen\u00adter. Then, like before, he placed the fig\u00adure in the riv\u00ader, open\u00ading and clos\u00ading it again, as if giv\u00ading the sea emo\u00adtion.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/album.sina.com.cn\/pic\/001Cukiggy71R91DsyD4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto; display: block;\" title=\"Picture Book Creation Interview: Listen to Teacher Cai Gao Talk About &quot;Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall&quot;\" src=\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R91DsyD4b.jpg\" alt=\"\u3010\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u521b\u4f5c\u8bbf\u8c08\u3011\u542c\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u804a\u300a\u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u957f\u57ce\u300b\" width=\"490\" height=\"183\" name=\"image_operate_96721463814819376\"><\/a><br>\nA: Maybe the sea also pro\u00adtect\u00aded her.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: It\u2019s like Jing\u00adwei fill\u00ading the sea, with that spir\u00adit, and Meng Jiangnu\u2019s hero\u00adic spir\u00adit, with that sense of dying in glo\u00adry. So I paint\u00aded the sea to resem\u00adble jade, with a sense of beau\u00adty, not fear. It\u2019s not a black sea.<\/p>\n<p>A: Here, the col\u00adors become bright again.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Cai: Let\u2019s go back to the paint\u00ading of cross\u00ading the riv\u00ader. It\u2019s also green, and it has a jade-like feel. This is my inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of water through\u00adout the entire paint\u00ading. There\u2019s a con\u00adnec\u00adtion between the two pages. You see, rivers, lakes, and seas, I see them as one thing. Jade, I see it as a kind of mete\u00adorite, and I want to paint it pre\u00adcious\u00adly and beau\u00adti\u00adful\u00adly. You see, Meng Jiangnu, who jumped into the sea, did\u00adn\u2019t look very trag\u00adic. I paint\u00aded her as if she were about to fall asleep, hold\u00ading her hus\u00adband\u2019s hand.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;\">bone chi\u00adna<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">, just jump like that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, as you said, this book is more like a dra\u00adma in struc\u00adture. Unlike \u201cBao Er,\u201d which is more psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal, with that strong folk, strange, and spooky atmos\u00adphere, that book had to be writ\u00adten in black through\u00adout, to have a spooky vibe. \u201cMeng Jiang Nu\u201d is dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It does\u00adn\u2019t have a spooky vibe. It must devel\u00adop nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly to its cli\u00admax like a nor\u00admal sto\u00adry, with the integri\u00adty of a dra\u00adma from begin\u00adning to end.<\/p>\n<p>A: I\u2019d like to ask you a ques\u00adtion. In the penul\u00adti\u00admate paint\u00ading, the one that sum\u00admons the spir\u00adit, Meng Jiangnu is fac\u00ading left, toward the \u201cback,\u201d while the pre\u00adced\u00ading sto\u00adry unfolds toward the right. Is there any spe\u00adcial sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance here?<\/p>\n<p>Cai: This is main\u00adly about pow\u00ader. The front is always fac\u00ading right, but here we need to face left, so the pow\u00ader is gath\u00adered and pre\u00advent\u00aded from escap\u00ading. These souls are gath\u00adered here, and this curve res\u00adonates with her, con\u00adnect\u00ading her. From anoth\u00ader angle, she can be seen like this. Because the Great Wall ends here, it ends here.<\/p>\n<p>A: So here we are look\u00ading back, those souls came from the Great Wall.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Look at the Great Wall I drew. It swirls around like this, break\u00ading off like this. If it came from this side, it would\u00adn\u2019t be fin\u00adished on the oth\u00ader side. But now it feels like it\u2019s advanc\u00ading, push\u00ading from left to right.<\/p>\n<p>A: So Qin Shi Huang became very fright\u00adened and lost his com\u00adpo\u00adsure here.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: At this point, he also felt the might of Heav\u00aden and showed his weak\u00adness before the heav\u00adens and the earth. The Son of Heav\u00aden, the Son of Heav\u00aden, was also sub\u00adject to Heav\u00aden\u2019s con\u00adtrol. He could not, no mat\u00adter what, anger Heav\u00aden and Earth. There\u00adfore, in the orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry, his deci\u00adsion to mar\u00adry Meng Jiangnu was also a sooth\u00ading act. He mar\u00adried her, and she found a good home. The orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry goes like this. He said, \u201cHow can I blame you? This is my fault.\u201d Meng Jiangnu replied, \u201cHow can I blame the Son of Heav\u00aden? Just as war is inevitable, so is build\u00ading the Great Wall.\u201d She said, \u201cI only regret one thing.\u201d Qin Shi Huang asked her what it was. She replied, \u201cIf only I had been born a decade ear\u00adli\u00ader or lat\u00ader. I only blame myself for being born at the wrong time.\u201d So piti\u00adful! I was deeply moved when I saw this. Many peo\u00adple tru\u00adly don\u2019t blame Heav\u00aden or oth\u00aders. The Chi\u00adnese are known for their loy\u00adal\u00adty and hon\u00adesty. They sim\u00adply feel they were born at the wrong time. I don\u2019t blame your pow\u00ader; he did\u00adn\u2019t have that kind of pow\u00ader. He also knew that the Emper\u00ador\u2019s fate was irre\u00adversible. I can only blame myself for not being born a decade ear\u00adli\u00ader or lat\u00ader. See\u00ading this, I can\u2019t describe the feel\u00ading in my heart. It\u2019s so heavy! So piti\u00adful! This is how it was in the surg\u00ading riv\u00ader of his\u00adto\u00adry, and it seems to remain so even now. Many intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals, like Wang Bo, who said, \u201cHow could a child know, wit\u00adness\u00ading a tri\u00adumphant feast?\u201d They have a kind of awe with\u00adin them, and this also applies to the unknow\u00adable, includ\u00ading pow\u00ader.<\/p>\n<p>This can also be con\u00adsid\u00adered a kind of insight, a wom\u00adan\u2019s insight. Like Hua Mulan\u2019s, it all clicks here. Why did Hua Mulan join the army? It was because she knew war was inevitable. It was a nat\u00adur\u00adal and man-made dis\u00adas\u00adter, and there was no point blam\u00ading any\u00adone else. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly, it was bet\u00adter to face it her\u00adself. Meng Jiangnu\u2019s response was to search for her hus\u00adband, but when she could\u00adn\u2019t find him, she longed to see him one last time, even to see his remains. This kind of emo\u00adtion requires a final encounter, only then can it be ful\u00adfilled. Even this final out\u00adcome is a kind of ful\u00adfill\u00adment, to be with him. This is some\u00adthing that has been passed down since ancient times. I say that the Chi\u00adnese are tru\u00adly loy\u00adal and hon\u00adest.<\/p>\n<p>A: So from your under\u00adstand\u00ading, this search for a hus\u00adband is more like a sym\u00adbol.<\/p>\n<p>Cai: Yes, it\u2019s more like a sym\u00adbol. The weight of the sto\u00adry is too great, and my pen can\u2019t car\u00adry it. When I\u2019m forced to read these his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal sto\u00adries, I don\u2019t real\u00adly judge these two plot lines in any way. The Great Wall was inevitable, Meng Jiangnu was inevitable, its col\u00adlapse was inevitable, its restora\u00adtion was inevitable, and peo\u00adple\u2019s love for it is inevitable. This sub\u00adject mat\u00adter daunts me, and I know that main\u00adtain\u00ading these two plot lines is a real chal\u00adlenge in terms of form.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ajia (Accord\u00ading to the record\u00ading) on May 20, 2016<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2015\u5e745\u670813\u65e5\uff0c\u6211\u53bb\u957f\u6c99\u62dc\u8bbf\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\uff0c\u5148\u662f\u804a\u4e86\u4e00\u6574\u5929\uff0c\u7b2c\u4e8c\u5929\u4e0b\u5348\u53c8\u804a\u4e86\u534a\u5929\u3002\u4e2d\u95f4\u6709\u4e00\u6bb5\u8bf4\u5230\u8521\u768b\u8001\u5e08\u7684\u300a\u5b5f [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[479,421,5,6,26],"class_list":["post-3786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-timemachine","tag-479","tag-421","tag-5","tag-6","tag-26"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy71R7z2XtH1d.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7846,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions\/7846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}