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Long ago, in a lush green valley in northern China, there lived an elderly man named Yugong. Right in front of his home stood the Taihang and Wangwu mountains, two massive stone walls that blocked the only path leading out of the valley.
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Every time the villagers left the valley, they had to trek for days along the winding, bumpy mountain paths. The elderly and children struggled terribly with the journey, and even the vegetables carried to the market would wilt before they arrived. No one could find a way to fix their frustrating situation.
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As Yugong watched people struggle up the difficult mountain trail, he told himself he could not let everyone suffer this inconvenience any longer. He had to find a way to cut through the mountains, so the whole village could travel easily.
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One evening, Yugong spread a cloth map across his table and gathered his entire family. He proposed digging a path that cut straight through both mountains, then split the work into small, manageable tasks, and asked who would join him to put in the work.
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Yugong’s wife worried that there was far too much dirt and rock to move, and too few tools to do it. Yugong nodded, admitting the project might even outlast his own lifetime. But he explained that if his descendants thought the work was worth it, they would keep it going. Every basket of dirt they carried away made the mountains that much smaller, one load at a time.
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The next morning, as sunlight flooded the valley, Yugong’s whole family brought hoes, shovels, and bamboo baskets to the foot of the mountains. They picked a safe spot, marked the path’s route with ropes and wooden stakes, and swung their tools to begin the first day of digging.
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Everyone sorted the materials they dug up to reuse them: soft fertile soil was carted to farm fields to nourish crops, small stones were laid down to make flat local paths, and large boulders were stacked along the stream to build a sturdy flood barrier.
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A young boy from the neighboring family saw everyone working, ran over, and begged to join. He could not lift the heavy rocks, so he helped gather loose gravel, fetched water for the adults, and even used small twigs to keep count of how many baskets of dirt had been hauled away.
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The little boy’s actions inspired everyone else. Soon every household in the village brought their own tools to lend a hand. As they watched the flat stretch of cleared ground grow longer and longer, everyone knew the path would eventually benefit everyone who lived there.
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A village elder called Zhisou, who often stood by and watched without working, laughed at Yugong. He said Yugong was far too old to move even a tiny hill, let alone two enormous mountains. Yugong did not get angry; he simply invited Zhisou to shovel a single spade of dirt himself, and see the mountains’ change with his own eyes.
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When summer brought scorching heat, everyone worked only in the cool early mornings and evenings. During rainy seasons, they dug drainage ditches ahead of time to keep the dug-out dirt walls from collapsing. In winter, they gathered around the stove to repair their tools and plan the next stretch of the path. The work moved slowly, but grew more organized and efficient with every passing month.
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Many years passed, and a wide, clear passage had truly opened up at the foot of the mountains. Travelers no longer had to climb steep slopes, children could reach school much earlier, and handcarts loaded with farm goods could pass through the valley without trouble. Everyone could barely believe their original dream was coming true.
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When Zhisou returned from a trip outside the village and saw the finished path, he was stunned. He realized he had only ever seen Yugong’s old age, and had completely overlooked the power of generations working together. He brought his own stone hammer to apologize, and willingly joined the road-building team.
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News of Yugong’s road spread far and wide, drawing skilled craftsmen to the village: stonemasons came to teach the villagers how to build sturdy stone steps, and carpenters built light, easy-to-use carts for hauling dirt, which lightened the whole group’s workload tremendously.
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Tree planters came too, and covered the freshly dug mountain slopes with green plants to prevent soil erosion. As Yugong watched more and more people join the effort, he understood that persistence did not mean carrying all the burden alone—it meant bringing everyone together to work toward a common goal.
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The gods in the heavens heard the story of how this village had changed their fate through hard work and cooperation, and were deeply moved. They did not move the mountains away for the villagers; instead, they sent gentle rain to soften the hard packed earth, and guided the villagers to find safe rock veins to dig through for the path.
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Many more springs came and went, and the path finally cut all the way through the gap between the two mountains. It was not as wide as the paved roads in distant cities, but it was more than enough for pedestrians, handcarts, and livestock to pass through safely. Along the road, there were shade trees, cool water wells, and wooden plaques carved with the names of everyone who had contributed to building it.
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The day the new road opened was bright and sunny. The now elderly Yugong leaned on his walking stick and walked smoothly from the valley all the way to the eastern farmlands. He refused any personal reward for his work, and instead proposed forming a shared maintenance team, to keep the road flat and safe for everyone forever.
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Zhisou and the children planted the first row of saplings along the road, symbols of hope for the future. A soft breeze rustled the leaves, and where there had once been only dangerous, steep cliffs, the whole lush green valley now echoed with the villagers’ laughter and joy.
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The story of Yugong moving the mountains has been passed down through generations. It teaches us that no matter how big a problem seems, if you split it into small tasks, you can complete it little by little. When people work together for the good of their community, staying united and persistent, they can turn the impossible into reality. That power of unity and perseverance will continue to light the way for everyone who follows.