It has been suggested that Lady White Snake be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Picture on long veranda in the Summer Palace,Beijing,China, depicting the legend

Madame White Snake (白蛇傳) is a Chinese legend, which existed as oral traditions before any written compilation. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... The Summer Palace in Beijing. ...

The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story appeared to be "Madame White Snake Jailed Eternally in the Leifeng Pagoda" (白娘子永鎮雷峰塔 ) in “ Jing Shi Tong Yan ” (警世通言) by Feng Menglong (馮夢龍) during the Ming Dynasty. The surname Feng descended from the 15th son of Zhou Wen Wang, Bi Gong Gao, whose last name was Ji. ... Ming redirects here. ...

Basic Plot

The story was set in the Southern Song Dynasty. Two snake spirits transformed into female human form after thousand years of meditation. They called themselves Bai Suzhen (White) and Chingching (Green). One day at the West Lake in Hangzhou they came across Xu Xian, a poor herbal medicine shopkeeper. Bai and Xu fell in love at first sight. Alternative meaning: Song Dynasty (420-479) The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The West Lake West Lake (Chinese: ; pinyin: XÄ« Hú) is a famous fresh water lake located in central Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province of eastern China. ... Old houses of Hangzhou in oil painting by Chen Cheng-po. ...

Bai used magic to create a mansion, and she asked Chingching to propose marriage with Xu. After wedding Bai helped Xu opened an herbal medicine shop and made him the in-house doctor. They led a happy life.

After wedding Xu and Bai moved to Suzhou where they opened an herbal medicine shop and Bai became a doctor. They led a happy life and soon Bai was pregnant. One day when Xu was on his way home, he met a Taoist priest who claimed that there were evil spirits lingering in his house and gave him three sheets of blessed paper. Bai's magic skills outperformed those of the Taoist priest and turned the paper into ordinary ones. Xu was regretful at his mistrust of his wife but Bai did not blame him. She asked Chingching to drive the priest away instead. Suzhou (Simplified Chinese: 苏州; Traditional Chinese: 蘇州; pinyin: Sūzhōu; Wade-Giles: Su-chou; sometimes seen transliterated as Su-chow, Suchow, or Soochow) is a famous city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. ...

Later a monk Fahai from Jinshan Temple came to visit Xu and asked him to become a disciple of his because Bai and Chingching were not humans but snakes. Xu refused to believe him and kicked him out.

Image from the Summer Palace

On the Dragon Boat Festival, Xu asked his wife to have some wine according to the tradition. Bai tried to refuse but Xu insisted. She took a sip of it but fell seriously ill afterwards. She rushed to her bed and slowly transformed into a snake. When Xu brought her some medicine he was horrified to see the huge snake on his bed and fell dead. When Bai recovered her human shape she was grief-stricken to see Xu lying dead on the floor. Chingching reminded her of getting the magic herb of lingzhi to save him. When Bai flew to Kunlun Mountains she was stopped by a group of fairies. Bai risked her life to fight with the fairies and was saved by God of Nanji. He gave Bai the lingzhi and let her go. Finally Bai managed to restore her husband's life. Dragon Boat Festival is also called Duan Wu or Tuen Ng Festival (端午节/端午節), which is a festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Region containing Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun mountain range (崑崙山) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3000 km. ...

After this Bai knew she could conceal no more. She told her husband what she really was and asked for his mercy. Xu was deeply moved and vowed that he would never separate from her for the rest of his life.

One day when Xu was collecting herbs outside he was kidnapped by Fahai. Bai and Chingching rushed to Jinshan Temple to plead for Xu's release. But Fahai refused. Bai and Chingching had no choice but used their magic to flood Jinshan Temple. Fahai and his disciples tried their best to resist. Suddenly Bai suffered from labor and was about to have her child. She lost control of her magic and the waters overflowed the villages nearby, killing countless people. Chingching could do nothing to remedy but retreat to a forest with Bai. Meanwhile, God of Nanji released Xu and brought him to the forest.

Soon Bai gave birth to a boy and asked Chingching to bring him back to Xu, so that he could bring him up. Fahai and his disciples arrived, stating that Bai must be jailed in his alms bowl. After giving birth Bai could not recover her magic powers immediately. She had no choice but being absorbed into Fahai's alms bowl, later kept in the Leifeng Pagoda.

When Xu’s son grew up, Xu told him the story about his mother. Xu’s son went to the Leifeng Pagoda and begged for release Bai. Several years later, Fahai finally let Bai went home and stay with her family.

Modification

The story in “Jing Shi Tong Yan” was a story between righteous and evil. However the general public sympathized Bai Suzhen and they had not forsaken her because she was a snake spirit. The story therefore went into various modifications, which emphasized the will of Bai for love, the sacrifice she made for her love, and her braveness in general. In “Jing Shi Tong Yan”, Madame White/Madame Bai did not even have a name, 'Bai Suzhen' was only later created.

These modifications include:

1. Acquiring Magic Herbs

• Under the influence of Fahai to test the true identity of Bai, Xu forced his wife to drink wine at the Dragon Boat Festival. As snakes are repelled to sulfur (as sulfur dioxide in wine), Bai returned to snake form and Xu was horrified to death. When Bai awaken she was grief-stricken. Bai flew to Kunlun Mountains to steal some lingzhi but was stopped by a group of lingzhi–guarding fairies. Bai risked her life to fight with them and was impressed by the fairies’ master, God of Nanji (South Pole). He gave Bai the lingzhi to restore her husband's life.

2. Redemption of Bai Dragon Boat Festival is also called Duan Wu or Tuen Ng Festival (端午节/端午節), which is a festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Atomic mass 32. ... Sulfur dioxide (or Sulphur dioxide) has the chemical formula SO2. ... Region containing Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun mountain range (崑崙山) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3000 km. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ...

• After Bai was trapped underneath the pagoda, Chingching escaped and went for further meditation. She came back and defeated Fahai and set Bai free. Fahai retreated to the stomach of crab. That is why the internal fat of the crab is of orange color, which resembles the color of Fahai’s Taoist quilt.

3. Redemption of Bai (second version) Superfamilies Dromiacea Homolodromioidea Dromioidea Homoloidea Eubrachyura Raninoidea Cyclodorippoidea Dorippoidea Calappoidea Leucosioidea Majoidea Hymenosomatoidea Parthenopoidea Retroplumoidea Cancroidea Portunoidea Bythograeoidea Xanthoidea Bellioidea Potamoidea Pseudothelphusoidea Gecarcinucoidea Cryptochiroidea Pinnotheroidea * Ocypodoidea * Grapsoidea * An asterisk (*) marks the crabs included in the clade Thoracotremata. ... The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nanometres. ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ...

• Bai gave birth to Xu’s son before she was trapped. Chingching took the baby to Xu’s relatives, who raised him to become the top scholar. The son returned to the pagoda to pay respect. Bai was released because of her son’s filial piety.

4. Reincarnation Filial piety is extended into the afterlife. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ...

• Xu and Bai were amongst the god and goddess, but they broke the law in heaven and must repay by living through human lives. Xu first saved a white snake that was Bai, and they met again to begin the story of ‘Madame White Snake’.

Adaptation

The story has been performed numerous times in Peking opera, Cantonese opera and other Chinese operas. Actresses such as Yoshiko Otaka, Yu So Chow, Lin Dai and Joey Wong had been involved in various adaptations of the story. Director Tsui Hark made the movie 'Green Snake' in 1993. In 2001 there was also a TV drama series 'Madam White Snake' being made, with further modification of the plot. In Beijing, September 2002 Beijing opera or Peking opera (京剧, pinyin: Jīngjù) is a kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing dynasty court. ... Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern Chinas Cantonese culture. ... 19th century Chinese opera Chinese opera costumes Chinese opera is a popular form of drama in China. ... Yoshiko Otaka (Japanese: 大鷹淑子) was born Yamaguchi Yoshiko 山口淑子 on February 12, 1920, to Japanese parents, (father, Yamaguchi Fumio 山口文雄) who were then settlers in Fushun, northeast China (then called Manchuria). ... Yu So Chow at Hong Kong Avenue of Stars in 2004 Yu So Chow (Chinese: 于素秋; pinyin: Yale Cantonese:Jy¹ Sou³ Tsau¹) was born in Beijing on July 9, 1930 to a Peking opera family. ... Joey Wong (王祖賢 b. ... Tsui Hark (Chinese: 徐克; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsü Ko) (born Tsui Man-kong (徐文光) on February 15, 1950) is a New Wave film director in Hong Kong who is also a highly influential producer, often likened to Steven Spielberg for a similar galvanizing effect on his countrys cinematic scene. ... Green snake is a fantasy film made by Tsui Hark. ...

See also: Lady White Snake