The Legend of the White Snake (Chinese: ; pinyin: Báishézhuàn) is a Chinese legend centered around a romance between a man named Xu Xian and a female snake spirit named Bai Suzhen. It is counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being Lady Meng Jiang, Butterfly Lovers, and The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (or occasionally The Tale of Liu Yi or The Marriage of the Fairy Princess).In some categorizations, the Four Great Folktales include The Tale of Liu Yi (late 8th century, a short story by Li Chaowei of the Tang Dynasty) or The Marriage of the Fairy Princess (Dong Yong and the Seven Fairies).
The story has evolved and changed over different eras and regions to suit the preferences of the populace and rulers, serving as subject matter for novels, operas, and other media.
Overview Originally, the story was a simple folk tale with a broad framework in which a white snake demon transforms into a beautiful woman in white to abduct young men, satisfying her lust and eating their heart and liver. As times changed, various episodes were added or removed, and it eventually developed into a romance between a human male and a woman who is the incarnation of a white snake. Although the White Snake and the human become husband and wife, her true identity is eventually exposed by a Zen master or monk possessing spiritual powers, and she is imprisoned in the Leifeng Pagoda by the West Lake (Hangzhou).
However, in the process of development and change, the demon's original malicious intent was removed. The reasons for the White Snake's extermination were no longer emphasized, and the focus shifted to the romance. Eventually, versions were created that even feature a happy ending.
Kawada Ko (2014) speculates that stories involving snakes became prominently frequent in China from the medieval period onwards. As various stories were created and passed down through the early modern period, the legend was gradually formed and developed. Kawada suggests that the transition of the Legend of the White Snake projects the process of China moving from ancient times to the modern era.Kawada uses the Chinese periodization terminology of Naito Konan, roughly defining the late Han to Tang dynasties as "Medieval" and the Song to Qing dynasties as "Early Modern".
The legend gained significant attention in post-war Japan. In 1956, on the orders of Zhou Enlai, a Peking opera troupe led by Mei Lanfang visited Japan and performed pieces from The Legend of the White Snake.The performed pieces were Stealing the Immortal Herb (盜仙草), Flooding Jinshan (水漫金山), and Broken Bridge (斷橋). (Tsuneishi Shigeru, "Impressions of 'Legend of the White Snake'", Heibonsha Chinese Classical Literature Complete Works, Monthly Report No. 9, p. 5). This performance played an important role in the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China in 1972. (Mei Lanfang 120th Anniversary Lecture, Flyer back). That same year, Japan's first color special effects film, (Toho), was released. In 1958, Japan's first color feature-length animated film, The White Snake Enchantress (film) (Toei), was released, making the story familiar to the general Japanese public.
It has also been pointed out that this legend is related to the Lamia of Greek mythology.. Chinese folklorist and scholar classified the versions of The White Snake under the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index tale type ATU 411, "The King and the Lamia". In the Chinese type, the snake-like wife (lamia) is "always" a white snake, who is confronted by a holy man and reveals her serpentine disguise to her human husband, and, in some tales, can be banished under a pagoda.Nai-tung TING. A Type Index of Chinese Folktales in the Oral Tradition and Major Works of Non-religious Classical Literature. (FF Communications, no. 223) Helsinki, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1978. p. 72.
History and Evolution of the Tale
"Li Huang" (Tang Dynasty) The Tang dynasty story collection Boyi zhi (; "Vast Records of the Strange"), by Gu Shenzi (Zheng Huangu, mid-Tang era), contains a chuanqi tale titled "Li Huang" (). This is considered the oldest surviving story related to the Legend of the White Snake.Yoshio Imamura states at the end of the commentary on the Japanese translation of this legend that "Li Huang" can be seen as the prototype of the White Snake legend. p. 295. It was later included in the Taiping Guangji.Lu Ji of the Ming Dynasty (1515–1552) titled it "Record of the White Snake" in his Gujin Shuohai. Also, in the "Shuanghongtang Bunko" collection of the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo Website, the full text image database of "Old Novels: Republic of China Year 10 Shanghai Commercial Press Printed Edition" Catalog p. 123 No. 2445 includes "Record of the White Snake, 1 Volume".
Synopsis of "Li Huang": In the second year of the Yuanhe era (807), Li Huang, the nephew of the Salt and Iron Commissioner Li Xun, met a beautiful woman in white riding an ox cart in the East Market of Chang'an. When he asked her maidservant, he was told that she was a widow whose mourning period for her husband had just ended and that she had no money. Li Huang advanced her money and silk, and was invited to her residence. An old woman claiming to be the white-clad lady's aunt (clothed in blue-green) appeared, claiming they were poor and owed 30,000 cash, and offered to let the lady serve him. Li Huang sent a servant to fetch 30,000 cash and stayed there for three days at their invitation. On the fourth day, the old woman urged him to return home temporarily so his uncle would not blame him for staying out so long. The servant noticed that Li Huang smelled raw and fishy but returned home as ordered. When asked by his family what he had been doing for days, he fell ill and immediately went to bed. Eventually, he began to rave incoherently and told his fiancée that he was done for. When the bedding was fearfully lifted, his body had dissolved into water, leaving only his head. The family questioned the servant and went to the woman's house, but found only a desolate garden. There was a single Chinese honey locust tree; atop the tree was 15,000 cash, and beneath it another 15,000. Neighbors said that other than a large white snake often seen coiled under the tree, there was nothing there.
A different version appended in the Taiping Guangjiis named as "Another Version," where the plot is largely the same but with slight differences. The protagonist's name is Li Guan, and instead of his body turning to water, his head splits open and he dies. When the family went to the location of the woman's house, they found a withered pagoda tree, with traces of a large snake coiling. Digging up the roots, they found several small white snakes, which they killed before returning home.Tang and Song Chuanqi Collection Vol. 2 "23 The Monster of the White Snake - Li Huang" (Trans. Yoshio Imamura, 1988 Iwanami Bunko) ISBN 978-4003203828, p. 90-97. This translation also includes the "Another Version" section following "Li Huang".
"The Three Pagodas of West Lake" (Song/Ming Dynasty)
Around the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty (1541–1551),Chugoku Koten Bungaku Taikei Vol. 25 p. 536. a story considered to be the formation of the "White Snake Legend" appeared: "The Three Pagodas of West Lake" () in the Qingpingshantang Huaben compiled by Hong Pian (). This was a written record of a storyteller's script and is considered the oldest existing huaben.Japanese translations include "Qingpingshantang Huaben: The Three Pagodas of West Lake" trans. Yoshitaka Iriya, in Chugoku Koten Bungaku Zenshu Vol. 7 (Heibonsha, 1958) and Chugoku Koten Bungaku Taikei Vol. 25 (Heibonsha, 1970) ISBN 9784582312256 p. 390-401. Aoki Masaru in "The Novel 'West Lake Three Pagodas' and 'Thunder Peak Pagoda'""The Novel 'West Lake Three Pagodas' and 'Thunder Peak Pagoda'" 1938 <Kushi Yago> Included in "Jiangnan Spring", 1941 Kobundo Shobo, Reprint 1972 Heibonsha Toyo Bunko 217 ISBN 978-4582802177, p. 125-133. suggests that a story involving the three pagodas standing in West Lake seems to be the prototype. However, in this *huaben*, the "Thunder Peak Pagoda" (Leifeng Pagoda) does not yet appear; instead, it features "three stone pagodas."Aoki Masaru speculates that since the Three Pagodas were destroyed after the Chenghua era (1465–1487) and restored in the Wanli era (1573–1620), they were forgotten for almost a hundred years. He suggests an astute writer might have shifted the story to the Leifeng Pagoda on Nanping Hill, which was close to the ruins of the Three Pagodas.Incidentally, the reverse side of the 1 Yuan banknote depicts the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, one of the Ten Scenes of West Lake, showing the three pagodas on the lake.
Synopsis of "The Three Pagodas of West Lake": In the Chunxi era (1174–1189) of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Xi Xuanzan (), the only son of a commander named Xi serving under Yue Fei and living inside the Yongjin Gate of Lin'an Prefecture, went sightseeing at West Lake during the Qingming Festival. There, he found a lost girl dressed entirely in white silk. When asked, she said her name was Bai (White), she lived at West Lake, and had become separated from her grandmother. Since the girl grabbed Xuanzan's clothes and wouldn't let go, he took her home. Her name was Maonu. After more than ten days, an old woman dressed in black arrived in a sedan chair, claiming to be the grandmother. She invited Xuanzan to her home to thank him. Upon arriving at a mansion, a lady in white (the mother) appeared. Hearing that Xuanzan had saved her daughter, she treated him to a feast of delicacies. A servant then suggested killing a "former one" since a "new one" had arrived. The lady agreed to use him as a side dish for Xuanzan. Two strong men dragged out a young man, tied him to a pillar, cut open his belly, and presented his heart and liver to the lady. Xuanzan was too terrified to drink. After the lady and the old woman finished eating the organs, the lady seduced Xuanzan, asking him to marry her since she was a widow. They stayed together for over half a month. Xuanzan, looking yellow and emaciated, asked to go home temporarily. A servant then appeared suggesting the lady dispose of the "former one" (Xuanzan) as a "new one" had arrived. Just as his heart was about to be taken, Maonu begged for his life since he had saved her. Maonu told Xuanzan to keep his eyes closed, carried him on her back, and flew away. Xuanzan felt her neck and realized she had feathers. When he opened his eyes upon landing, he was on the city wall. A year later, during the Qingming Festival, Xuanzan was hunting birds with a crossbow. He shot a crow, which fell and turned into the old woman in black. He was captured and again forced to be the husband of the lady in white for half a month. Again faced with death, Maonu saved him. Later, Xuanzan's uncle, the Daoist Xi Zhenren from Mount Longhu, arrived. Seeing a black aura, he realized his nephew was possessed by demons. He summoned divine generals at the Four Sages Shrine by West Lake to capture the three demons. They appeared as a black chicken (Maonu), an otter (the old woman), and a white snake (the lady in white). The Zhenren trapped them in an iron cage, sank them into West Lake, and built three stone pagodas to suppress them. Xuanzan became a lay disciple of his uncle and lived out his life.
"Double Fish Fan Pendant" (Ming Dynasty)