This is part 2 of my Hangzhou travel.  Read Part 1 about my Marco Experience

Hangzhou is the romantic capital of China, and all along the West Lake, couples, young and old, hold hands as they strolled along the lakeshore.  There are no private homes along the lake, the entire lake shore is accessible to everyone.

The West Lake is the setting of many ancient landscape paintings, poetry and calligraphy.  I would like to share one of my favorite childhood folk tales set on the West Lake of Hangzhou – the Leifeng Pagoda made famous by the Legend of the White Snake, also known as Madame White Serpent set in the Soong Dynasty.  The story has been made into movies, TV series, animation and operas.   The White Snake is supposedly held captive at the Leifeng Pagoda until she was rescued by her husband.

Leifeng Pagoda  is a five story tall tower with eight sides, located on Sunset Hill south of the West Lake in Hangzhou. Originally constructed in the year AD 975, it collapsed in 1924 but was rebuilt in 2002, since then it has been a popular tourist attraction.

Here is an ancient painting of the West Lake of Hangzhou:

And here we are on a boat ride on the West Lake of Hangzhou:

The basic story line of the White Snake Legend is this:
The White Snake is a 1,000 year old spirit whose attempt at becoming a goddess failed, and is thus trapped in the spirit world, not quite a goddess, not a human, yet is immortal and has magical powers.    She took the form of a human and seduced a young scholar who, unaware of the White Snake’s true form, married her.

A monk intervened in order to save the scholar’s soul and casts the white snake into a deep well at the Leifeng Pagoda.  Over the centuries the story has evolved from horror story to romance with the scholar and the white snake-woman genuinely in love with one another, but such a relationship is forbidden by the laws of Heaven.  A favorite ending for this love story is that the scholar eventually went and rescued the White Snake from captivity.

Here is a video clip of the movie with English subtitles (in this clip, the white snake seduces the young innocent scholar. Note the beautiful misty setting of the west lake:

There have also been variations on the telling of the story: like the scholar adopting the white snake as a pet while still a schoolboy; or himself being banished from Heaven and becoming a mere human on Earth.

An added character is a green snake who has also been turned into a woman and serves as the white snake-woman’s soul sister and confidante.

Related Articles:
1.  West Lake Impressions – Live Musical performed on West Lake directed by Zhang Zimou
1. A Chinese Opera on a Love Story between a Human and a Snake

Filed under: My Travels