Man Carves Wife a 6,000 Stair Path in Mountain
A weird love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half century.
Over 50 years ago, Liu, was a 19 years-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu. At the time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman.
To avoid the market gossips, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing area.
In the beginning, they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to lighten up their lives.
Starting the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began, and continue for over 50 years, to hand carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.
A half century later in 2001, a group of adventures were exploring the forest, they surprisingly found the elderly couple and the over 6,000 stairs of hand carved ladder.
“My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day.” Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, “He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother’s convenience, although she doesn’t go down the mountain that much.”
The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years-old, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms.
So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife’s hand even after he had passed away.
“You promised me you’ll take care of me, you’ll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?” … …
Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband’s black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.
In 2006, their story had became one of the top 10 love stories from China, collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the “love ladder” and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.
Video showing the real couple:
More Pictures:
(QQ)
That is such a sweet story!
Wow! This is the most touching story I have ever read. It helps me to finally believe that you can live on love only. Diamonds, Big house, the fancy cars, money, etc…. is not what life is all about. You can live on love. Thank you, Xu & Liu for making me believe that love is all you need to survive in this world!
I totally agree with Angel on this one.
If you can just live on love like these two did, then anything is possible!
All those people out there who don’t believe in true love need to read this story.
It is simply amazing to say the least!
I want to believe what you just said. But could you really be like them, live in the woods without the materialistic things of the world with only the one you love? No money, house, friends, family, shelter, cars, Internet, cell-phone, fashion? Thats a one in a million. No, more than a million.
I’d like to turn it around: maybe they could stay together so long because there was nothing else? No temptations… no distraction.
Great story though!
This was a wonderful love story and it warm my heart to see such two wonderful people who love each other so much and to know that no money, big houses or anything can put a price on love. For love is from the heart. May they live to the fullness and may any find the steps to their heart and love for each other. Thank you for the wonderful joy of love. In my mind its sad that the whole world can’t see what they have. For what I see is love and peace for all for that is what god gave us and to share it with others.
I totally agree. With love, “forsaking all others” is the only option. The totality of this kind of love is intoxicating for me, even at a distance.
im 19 and my girlfriends 53, i know how this great relationship felt
WTF!
ya - WTF?! tell more lol
0oy… BigMac… what you call your girlfriend is in other cultures called “your Grandmother” and yes… they have the habbit to be nice, loving and sweet.
*sigh
After reading…Love Story never ends. I can imaging the hard work put into specially for his wife for the past fifty years. Sometime is good to understand what nature in the green forest. LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF COLCOLATE.
i have fetish for older women myself..
hell yes1111
hahahaha
u are disgusting. pls keep such remarks to yourself. who is talking about festish here. u miss the whole gist of this story. Wake UP!
Weird… most maggets have fetish for dead women!
aww….that’s soo sad….
yet sweet….okay, i gotta get a hold of myself..
none of that sentimental crap (>.>)
God bless her! And may he rest in peace, and may they be reunited forever one day…
Not so sure that’s “love” as much as “irrational co-dependancy”, but I suppose we are suckers for the way we are wired, and we can’t help romanticizing what amounts to a mental disorder.
Dear Frank Hoffmeister,
Kill yourself.
Respectfully,
Humanity
+5 for Black Sheep Wall!
And whats wrong with that “mental disorder”?
You talk as you are above the “irrational co-dependancy”, and it appears you condemn the “way we are wired”.
Dude, you are a human and your life is short, like the rest of us, dont pretend to be immune to our “mental disorder”, because you are not.
Perhaps you should follow the couple example and go live on a cave! Alone and unwired…
“Dear Frank Hoffmeister,
Kill yourself.
Respectfully,
Humanity”
You don’t speak for all of humanity. Most humans don’t require the death penalty for people with whom they disagree. Fascist do.
I agree. Go F yourself.
Not one to be left out on the fun, Dink McDinkus decides to put in his two cents, which, in the end, amounts to nothing.
ummm ok!?!?!?!?
Did nobody read what the widow was repeating? She wasn’t so happy that she was in love with him for so long. She has possibly no means and no reason to live, except maybe she won’t kill herself (and she might, the elderly have some of the highest suicide rates of all age demographics). Good knowing you, oh shit, I’m living in the present and now I’m miserable. Isn’t love great?
Eh? Is that what she said???
I thought that she said that “If he doesn’t even care that I’m old, I shouldn’t care if he’s young.”
What are you talking about? I mean, no offense but I didn’t hear anything like that in the clip. They promised each other that if one dies first, they will be buried in the mountain. When the other dies then they would be buried together.
Are you sure you watched the right clip???
Oh wait haha sorry you were talking about the English section XD
“You promised me you’ll take care of me, you’ll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?” … …
I’m slow like that… ^^a
HEY…SINCE YOU KNOW CHINESE…CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE ABOUT THEIR LIFE? AND WHERE I CAN GET ONE?
We should respect their time, place, decision they made, and commitment for each other. Not only can we see this as a love story but it also show us the dedication of their lives/relationship. They honored their vow, “…. in sickness and health until death do us apart….” All the married couples took the same vow but 50% of them end divorce. It is not our position to psychoanalyze their relationship/lives, it is their story and we shall respect that (hopefully learn something from them) instead of dissecting their relationship. There is no perfect relationship, we shouldn’t only focus on that half empty bottle then dwelling on finding all the negativity in lives. Embrace the courage/hope them gave us. They had been married for 50 years(3 kids their own and total 7), what is your longest meaningful relationship that you’d like other people to dissect?
this story is making me teary-eyed! i apply so many things i read like this to my daily life….it is touching…how can you people mock such a story!?!?! this is no chat room! you must not truly know what love is….one thing i see in my everyday life is people thinking they love someone….because they are beautiful-that is lust-not love……there is a BIG difference….trust me….i go through a lot of this kind of shit…its confusing…..but love is well worth the heartache…..you mock me about this…well…lets just say you have never actually encountered love….because it is very true….love is not lust….listen to me…you need to have an open mind and understand people…be there for them….that i love….love is patient, kind, and not self seeking….
so funny and sad that no one understands the deep truth in your words.
World of blinds indeed.
What Frank relates to is a phenomenon that some call “attachment”. It is a mental disease that is very clear to enlightened masters of all religions. This disorder is what the mainstream culture calls love.
Whenever there is even a small amount of that feeling “I can’t be happy without you” you are not in love. You are experiencing an addiction, an “irrational co-dependancy”.
Most of you are so brainwashed. So sad.
The amazing psychic duo of Frank and Ookami, able to divine the motives of two Chinese peasants from thousands of miles away, able to know even the internal dynamics of this couple who had lived together for over fifty years during a turbulent time in China’s history, able to psychologize at a distance from a Western point of view (with two hands tied behind their backs!)…. appearing next in Vegas…
This is the mindset people resort to when they are so broken that they can’t get a date.
Frank Hoffmeister .. sincerely hope that you are blinded and amputated (both arms and legs) and may you live a thousand years.. well then I will convey your views on love to whoever is caring for you and hear about your theory on “irrational dependency”.
You all who are bashing Frank need to ask yourselves why YOU are so offended by his statement. You need to ask why you care so much about what Frank says. If you were confident in your experience of ‘love’ you wouldn’t feel the need to bash him. But since you are insecure, the mere chance that your experience of love could be defined as a mental disorder sends you over the edge and you to want him to be wrong, so you lash out at him. Not one of you has written anything even slightly intelligent to refute his statement. Your juvenile jabs do nothing but make you look like an idiot.
Constance Velocity, I’m not going to take sides here, but can I not use the same logic you just used to criticize theirs statements, to criticize yours?
It’s amazing that even videos about selfless love are still followed by cynical comment rage:o constance (and others), i don’t see why it’s so necessary to call names, make accusations about others’ personal lives and belittle the intelligence of people with different opinions, even if they’re a bit passionate (we’re talking about love!:) ). i’d agree that it’s reasonable to spare frank the death penalty hehe, perhaps by revising the question a bit. why live? i don’t mean that literally frank (you were much more polite than some of the cynics who followed), but really…if love is just a search for the next oxytocin fix, what’s the point? i’d be interested (honestly, not quipping:) ) to know what you think about the meaning of life, or how ookami defines love. imho, love is synergy, and i base this not only on my own blissful experience with it, but also on biology. attachment, whether between parent and child or husband and wife, isn’t a disorder– it’s evolved because it is integral to the survival of our children.
Also, studies have shown that people who are in loving relationships lead longer and happier lives. call it brainwashing or a mental disorder, relative though those terms may be, but i’d rather be in love than be right… and personally, i’d argue we can be both:)
That said, this story was beautiful…sigh:’)
If you will kindly look to the “frank” and “Ookami” above you will see a stunning example of what appears to be a troll in full bloom. Trolls can post aggrevating comments to hundreds of message boards each day and some of larger males have even been known to break into the thousands. They may seem quite frightening at first but it’s important to remember that they are just b.s.ing you. I hope you enjoyed the ride and thank you for touring the internet zoo.
It’s alright for “enlightened” folks to decry love - they’ve never felt it, or at least never had it returned. It’s natural to shun something that you cannot understand or resent. Still, it is quite amusing to see the brainwashed calling us brainwashed. Enlightened indeed….
personally i kinda like having this disorder
…hmm i wonder i’m now entitled to good parking spots…
somebody took introduction to psychology in college…what big concepts roll off your keyboard! can i be your friend?
Wow, Frank….that’s a pretty cynical outlook on life.
Frank Hoffmeister, you are not a human being if you meant that. What’s it like in the vampire/undead world in which you live?
probably very awesome
I loved this story. Thanks for sharing it. It was very sweet. Steps down a mountain… the Taj Mahal… the things a man will do when he is in love is just inspiring…
Stunning love story… Will the young of today pay some attention to this, begin to see what real love may be all about ?
Surekha
Methinks ’tis one of the greatest love sories ever. Will the young of today learn a little from them, and begin to understand what real love maybe all about ?
Surekha
Awesome Awesome. Out of this WORLD beautiful love story. Man, this true love. The one that makes you go out of your way to do something for someone else. uhhh the power of love….
That is simply remarkable. May we all be so lucky to have someone care so much in our lives.
I don’t think I would do that for someone.
I agree with Hoffmeister. After all, it says she didn’t even go down the mountain that often. To me it would have seemed more romantic/caring of him to hear that he promised to, and ended up lovingly helping her down the mountain when needed. The “step thing” strikes me as the work of an obsessive-compulsive person.
They lived in a cave. He had to have something to do. This was a good way for him to pass the time. It shows devotion to his wife. It provided easier access up and down the mountain. It kept him from getting bored and going insane which probably helped maintain a happier marraige…
Hmmm… Has anyone mentioned the fact that they DIDN’T ACTUALLY LIVE IN A CAVE???
Liu Guojiang built a HOUSE.
Wow. Now, that’s love. Wait till Hallmark hears about this. Valentine’s Day will never be the same again.
..the secret they nevr revealed was that they were both gay…
A beautiful little story. Liu and Xu’s “Love Ladder” has a nice ring to it.
So… is she dating yet?
this is a great story..what troubles me is that the MSM like CBC, BBC, CNN have not even once mentioned this story..
why is that ??
Well its probably because if they try to cover every obscure story in the world, they would no longer be mainstream media, since most news are not “mainstream”..
I always love it when someone says something mean, and the reaction is “I wish you were dead, I want terrible things to happen to you,.”
The irony of wanting to punish someone cruelly because they were cruel is so sweet. Mmmmm, lick, lick, lick.
This is what me and my hubby have. I’m 10 years older than him and believe me when I say I have tried to drive him away…needless to say it didn’t work, now we are expecting our first child together and I am 40. If the love is real, it’ll last.
and he would carve you 6000 steps… =)
This is a very nice sweet history of love and care.
age is nothing but a number.
girlfriends and wives around the world should not be allowed to read this article…it’s going to bring a lot nagging…sigh
ok your comment was the funniest so far..the reast are just sad
I loved this story. What a beautiful love they had. Her grief only shows how valuable her 50 years of love was to her. It’s the sad thing, the more worthwhile something in your life has been, the harder is the loss that usually comes. But better to grieve something worth grieving, than never to have had it at all.
Love IS co-dependency. Maybe you should have paid attention in psychology! You would never know what it feels like to feel the awful pain of having to live life when you lose the other half of yourself.
Just goes to show you that a woman will always work her husband to death.
Word.
I tought this story was so amazingly sweet until everyone started saying how stupid it was… :[
now you jerks ruined it for me.
thats a lot of steps to hand care …
wonder how many of us would find a woman who deserves something like that …
not many of ‘em around … thats for sure …
What a sweet story of love, even I had to go “aww.” And then I started to read the comments and realize that humanity is so hell-bent on being “intelligent” and “logical” that we’re willing to classify love as a mental disorder. -_-
so true…!!
T.T
This story is a true muontain love story
living close to the universe in day to day
dependence and respect to each other.
Some village people may never esperience
the freedlom and creativity of mountain
people, you look to much TV and can
nothing do yourself in an Appt.
The man made the steps to make
progress each year, instead of TV
He can see what he did; great phlosopher
I lived myself 1600 meters in the mountains
love and trouble come together
but first respect, you need each other
Love you all
great people here
Just like the beattles song “All you need is love”
Here in the modern world we do many things for each other. Think about it: he had no sink to fix, no roof to mend, no car to repair, etc. All he had to do was maintenance on their single lamp and carve some steps. Not like he was missing out on the lastest CSI or anything. He was probably just trying to get out of the house, and that was a good excuse. She rarely went down the mountain–why? Because he did it for her. Now she’s weeping because she’s going to have to go up and down the mountain. I bet she realizes how little she appreciated him when he was around. Let that be a lesson to all nagging wives out there…
i get the feeling you are trying to force your perspective on this couple’s story.
so now, we have a little insight on what your life is like…
It doesn’t matter if it’s irrational, it doesn’t matter if it is the so called attachment, mental disorder, or anything like that. If you actually can listen the little video in the end, you might understand this a little better. If you know what the Chinese society is like, then yea maybe you will understand a little better.
The WHOLE POINT is that they loved each other so much, and their love is sweet and stunning. And they were happy, they are happy. That’s all it matters. Something that can last for over a half century, I doubt you can find similar in modern days.
Again, the reason China is publicizing this love story is because the current phenomenon, young couples became increasingly materialistic and unaffectionate. There is no attachment between a couple at all, and the reason a couple stays together is for material needs, not psychological needs. Where did the love go?
You people can judge them whatever the way you want, just like the people in the old days judged their forbidden love when they are young, do you think they care? NO. Do you think the people who adores this love story cares about what you think? No.
great point! although, i don’t see why you had to publicly make this point. it was fairly obvious. i don’t understand why some people tried to ruin the underlying message of this couple’s story… perhaps it’s just varying reasons for various individuals…
allow a comments section after a video and the internet gives any anonymous fool a stage.. now, including me… =)
nicely said
men, making roads is a human function since we appeared on earth, so there is no connection with “love” here, its only a duty and instinc for man to do that.
I think it’s a great idea. I’d *happily* carve 6000 steps out of the side of a mountain, and then bury that evil bitch of an ex-wife of mine at the very bloody bottom of them.
why would you want to provide access to her body? and why would you want to spend so much time carving a path to provide access to her body?
Now she knows she will never get an escalator. That would hurt.
Some are saying they were irrational, but they managed to sit out assorted Communist horrors such as the Cultural Revolution. Would they have lived so long if they were more “normal”?
And the had seven children.
Call me heartless, but he might be hand carving the steps just to get away from the old lady. It’s the equivalent to working on the car, or playing fantasy football. Face it, a man needs his own space, secluded like that, he has no friends, family, career, and barely anyone else to talk to. Having a great wife is great, but I feel a man needs more.
Heartless!
Wow, Asian men sure could teach White jerks a thing or 2 about true love…
Wow - I’m a pretty cynical guy, but even I thought this story was pretty damned charming. Who cares what the man’s motivations were, how much she used the steps, or about any pointless academic discussions about whether love can be equated with co-dependancy?
What does matter is that ultimately, this is a phenomenal gesture of dedication from one person to another, and regardless if his motivations were completely unselfish or not, the story is beautiful.
If a man happened to love building boats, and spent 50 years crafting a beautiful vessel for his partner, you wouldn’t scoff, and say “there’s a man who builds boats to get away from his hag wife”; you’d say “there’s a man who loves to build boats… did you see the beautiful one he built for his wife?”
…not to mention… I hope that I end up in such good shape at 72 - to be in good enough health to live on a mountain, and work with your body daily until the day you die sounds pretty fantastic - better than withering away from colon cancer at the age of 60 from a lifetime of bad north american food, and office work.
If you want something better, go after it. Goodluck.
Yeah, except that the guy worked his whole life away. The most exciting thing he ever did was run away to the mountains to live in a cave with an older broad.
Also, if you want to romanticize about what it’s like to live without toilet paper, then go right ahead.
And one last thing… they are getting better at detecting that colon cancer thing. Soon you’ll be able to eat all of the crap you want until you die of heart failure, without having to worry at all about cancer. How do you like them apples?
The bottom 1000 would have been difficult. After a hard day’s chiselling 5000 steps is a long way up. I hope he got weekends at home.