Legend of the White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake is a well-known legend in China, and is regarded as one of China's Four Great Folktales. It tells of a touching story between a White Snake and a human, and their heart-warming love. Events from the legend occurred at the West Lake of Hangzhou, and it was told that the lovers met each other on the ‘Broken Bridge’, which is now a scenic spot of West Lake. The Leifeng Pagoda located on the side of West Lake is also another located mentioned in the legend.
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One day, a boy named Xu Xian buys some tang yuan from the Broken Bridge of West Lake without knowing that they were immortality pills. After a few days, he went back to the bridge seeking for the seller of the tang yuan to ask about the weird effects he had. The man helped Xu Xian vomit, and the tang yuan fell into the lake.
In the lake was the white snake spirit who wished to become an immortal. Fortunately for her, she came across Xu Xian’s tang yuan and gained magical powers from it. The White Snake was grateful to Xu Xian and their destinies become intertwined. Eighteen years later, the White Snake and her sister transformed themselves into beautiful young women during the Qingming festival. It was when the White Snake met Xu Xian at the Broken Bridge of West Lake. They fell in love and were married. They move to Zhenjiang, where they open a medicine shop.
However, a tortoise spirit who was jealous of White Snake of her immortality transformed himself into a Buddhist monk called Fahai. So, he went to Xu Xian and persuaded him that during the Duanwu Festival his wife should drink wine. The White Snake drank the wine and revealed her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian died of shock after seeing that his wife was not human. The White Snake and her sister travelled to Mount Emei, where they brave danger to steal a magical herb that restores Xu Xian to life.
After coming back to life, Xu Xian maintained his love for the White Snake although knowing her true identity. Fahai again tried to separate them by capturing Xu Xian and imprisoning him in Jinshan Temple. The White Snake and her sister fought with Fahai to rescue Xu Xian. The White Snake used her powers to flood the temple and drowned many innocent people. However, she was not very powerful because she is was pregnant with Xu Xian's child, so she did not manage to save her husband. Later, Xu Xian escaped and reunited with his wife in Hangzhou, who gave birth to Xu Mengjiao. Fahai looked for them again and defeated the White Snake, this imprisoning her in Leifeng Pagoda.
Several years later, Xu Mengjiao received a Zhuangyuan title (the first place in the imperial examination) and offered sacrifice to his mother in front of the Leifeng Pagoda. Touched by his actions, god made the pagoda collapsed and the family reunited happily. Fahai was also defeated by the White Snake’s sister and it was said by some that he fled to hide inside the stomach of a crab. Thus, some say that the internal fat of the crab is orange due the colour of Fahai’s clothes.
Works Cited
Legend of the White Snake. 2015. Web. 16 November 2015. <http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/13Traditions53.html>.
Lei, Lily Hong. Legend of the White Snake （白蛇传）. 2015. Web. 16 November 2015. <https://lilyhonglei.wordpress.com/folktale/legend-of-the-white-snake-%EF%BC%88%E7%99%BD%E8%9B%87%E4%BC%A0%EF%BC%89/>.
Shepard, Aaron. Lady White Snake. 2005. Web. 16 November 2015. <http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/062.html>.
The Chinese Legend of White Snake. n.d. Web. 16 November 2015. <http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/WhiteSnake.htm>.
一尾鱼. The Legend of White Snake. 21 August 2012. Web. 16 November 2015. <http://cn.hujiang.com/new/p422912/>.