![]() ![]() A pious Confucian, he returns to his native Hanzhou to pay respects to his mother at Leifeng Pagoda. Returning home with the title of top scholar, Xu Mengjiao has achieved the highest level of success in the whole empire. Competition in the rigorous civil service exam is enough to make even students competing for top spots in China’s modern educational system cringe. Years later, Xu Mengjiao passes the imperial examinations, an insanely difficult and competitive test that young Confucian scholars from wealthy families all over the country spend their whole lives studying for. However, their happiness is short-lived as Fa Hai finds them back in Hangzhou, and imprisons Bai Suzhen in the Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔 Léifēng Tǎ). Later Xu Xian manages to escape his imprisonment and reunite with Bai Suzhen in time for their son Xu Mengjiao (许梦蛟 Xǔ Mèngjiāo) to be born. However, weakened by a pregnancy, Bai Suzhen’s spiritual power has been drained and she isn’t able to rescue Xu Xian. With his plan foiled, Fa Hai imprisons Xu Xian to bait Bai Suzhen. After Bai Suzhen revives him, Xu Xian confesses that he still loves Bai Suzhen. ![]() The wine exposes Bai Suzhen to be a snake, and Xu Xuan, mortified to find his wife has been a serpent all along, dies of a heart attack.īai Suzhen and her loyal Xiao Qing then travel to Mount Emei (峨眉山 Éméi shān), one of the of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China (where also many martial arts traditions origin), to find the cure to revive Xu Xuan. Realgar wine is traditionally believed to repel harmful creatures and spirits during a time of year that’s plagued by poisonous creatures. Miffed that the pill was taken by Bai SuZhen, he approaches Xu Xian, telling him that his wife must drink realgar wine (雄黄酒 xiónghuángjiǔ) during the Duanwu Festival (端午节 Duānwǔ jié). ![]() He takes the shape of a Buddhist monk called Fa Hai (法海 Fǎ Hǎi). However, during this time, the turtle spirit has learned enough of the Daoist arts to take human form. Xu Xuan and Bai SuZhen settle down and open a medicine shop. Related: Butterfly Lovers: The Chinese Romeo and Juliet During the Qingming Festival (清明节 Qīngmíng jié), they coincidentally meet Xu Xian at the Broken Bridge, and Bai SuZhen eventually gets married to him. Years pass after this incident, and the white snake has now adopted the name Bai Suzhen (白素贞 Bái Sùzhēn) and the green Xiao Qing (小青 Xiǎo Qīng). Grateful for her intervention, the green snake swears to follow her until the end of time. Pitying the snake, she transforms into a human and rescues it, saving its life. While traveling in the human realm, the white snake finds a green snake at the mercy of a beggar. As a Daoist spirit, she has been searching for immorality her whole life, and feels an immense gratitude and spiritual connection with Xu Xuan. Knowing that a neighboring turtle is jealous of her luck, the snake quickly ingests them and gains spiritual powers. ![]() After consuming the food, he feels nauseated, and soon the pills were out of his stomach and into the lake, where a white female snake spirit who practices Daoist (道教 Dàojiào) magical arts discovers them. One day he purchases some tangyuan (汤圆 tāngyuán) from a peddler near the West Lake, not knowing they are actually immortality pills in disguise. This tale begins with a good-natured boy by the name of Xu Xian (许仙 Xǔ Xiān) in Hangzhou. While Daoist themes of immortality and yin / yang are at the core of the story, Confucian and Buddhist influences are also apparent, perhaps later modifications to the story reflecting the different social attitudes of different periods in China. The fact that the story is rooted in many different aspects of Chinese culture may be down to it having originated from folklore and then altered many times over the course of hundreds of years. The story is great to learn because it spans several major geographical locations important to both historical and present-day China, and reflects the major philosophical influences that shaped Chinese society. However, the idyllic lakes and famous pagoda of the Southern Song Dynasty capital Hangzhou (杭州 Hángzhōu) are the location for much of its drama. The most recent available written text is from the Ming Dynasty (明朝 Míngcháo, 1368-1644 CE). The Legend of the White Snake is one of the Four Classic Folk Tales Chinese written works that have literary significance. The Legend of the White Snake (白蛇传 B ái Shé Zhuàn) is a Chinese fairytale about a snake spirit who falls in love with a human named Xu Xuan, and the ensuing chaos that follows. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |