This is the story of White Snake and Green Snake –
In the earliest myths the white snake was considered an evil demon. Over the centuries, that legend has evolved from a tale of horror to a romance about forbidden love. The early 9th century Tang-dynasty literary collection Boyi zhi (博異志; “Vast Records of the Strange”) contains a tale about a man named Li Huang (李黃) meeting a woman clad in white (whose aunt or older sister was clothed in blue or green). After spending a night together Li Huang returned home only to fall ill, his body dissolving into water. Afterwards, his family searched for this mysterious woman only to find a giant white snake instead.
During the Qing dynasty the legend changed significantly thanks to its frequent use in Chinese opera. During the late 18th and early 19th century, three popular long-or-medium-length works presented the White Snake is as endearing and devoted. They were the play Leifeng Pagoda (1777) by Fang Chengpei (方成培), a thirteen-chapter novel also titled Leifeng Pagoda (1806) by Yushan Zhuren (玉山主人 “Master of the Jade Mountain”) and The Righteous Demons (義妖傳 approx. 1809),a transcribed text of a song by Chen Yuqian (陳遇乾).
In the stories a mystical white and green snake decend from O-mei Mountain, one of China’s 5 famous Wuxia mountains; mount O-mei or Emei is a legendary origin source for animal or shamanic martial arts. They transform into a pair of young women Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, respectively. During their travels among human they meet the young man Xu Xian who is the first to demonstrate human decency. This leads to Bai Suzhen falling in love with him, they are eventually married and open a medicine shop.
Eventually, the abbot of a nearby temple approaches Xu Xian telling him his wife is a demon-snake. This deception is ignored until circumstances result in Bai Suzhen unsuspectingly drinking a wine that reveals her true form as a large white snake. The shock of seeing his wife is not human causes Xu Xian’s death. But this does not dissuade Bai Suzhen from traveling to mount Kunlun (another legendary mountain; home of the peach of immortality) where she braves danger to steal a magical herb guarded by disciples of the Old Man of the South Pole.
This restores Xu Xian’s life but leaves him still fearful of his wife. Xu Xian returns to the Temple where the abbot imprisons him in hopes of protecting him from the snake demons. Xiaoqing decides to help her sister rescue Xu Xian and its during that battle he realizes that his wife’s love for him is genuine and that he no longer cares if she is a snake. He manages to persuade a sympathetic young monk to release him, but when he reaches his battered wife Xiaoqing is so furious that she considers killing him herself. Contrite, Xu Xian expresses his regret allowing both Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing forgive him, though Xiaoqing does so reluctantly.
This legend has been presented in a number of major operas, films, and television series. The white snake was simply known as the “White Lady” or “White Maiden” (白娘子) in in Feng Menglong’s original telling in Stories to Caution the World. The name “Bai Suzhen” was created in a later era.
As with most legendary tales told over time extensive modifications occur in its retelling. Among the variations from the original tale notable changes include—
- The green snake (Xiaoqing) is portrayed as a treacherous antagonist who betrays the white snake, as opposed to the traditional depiction of her as the white snake’s close friend and confidant.
- Alternatively, the green snake (Xiaoqing) is less evolved, less well-trained compared to the white snake (Bai Suzhen), and thus less cognisant of what it means to be human. She is more animalistic and therefore sometimes at odds with Bai Suzhen, thus explaining their differences both in character and actions.
- The Abbot Fahai is portrayed in a more sympathetic light as opposed to the traditional depiction of him as a vindictive and jealous villain: rigid and authoritarian, yet well-intentioned. His background story is also different in some adaptations.
- Bai Suzhen is freed from beneath the Leifeng Pagoda because her son’s filial piety moved Heaven.
- An alternative version of the story claims that Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen were actually immortals who fell in love and were banished from Heaven because celestial laws forbade their romance.