Bai Suzhen

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"Madam White Snake" redirects here. For other uses, see Madam White Snake (disambiguation).

Bai Suzhen
Legend of the White Snake character
A Jingdezhen porcelain statue of Bai Suzhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art
In-universe information
AliasWhite Snake
NicknameLady Bai, Lady White
SpeciesSnake
GenderFemale
FamilyXiaoqing (sworn sister)
SpouseXu Xian
ChildrenXu Shilin (son)
ReligionTaoism
HomeMount Emei
Bai Suzhen
Traditional Chinese白素貞
Simplified Chinese白素贞
Lady Bai
Chinese白娘子
Madam White Snake
Chinese白蛇娘娘

Bai Suzhen (Chinese: 白素貞), also known as Lady Bai (Chinese: 白娘子; lit. 'Lady White'), is a one-thousand-year-old white snake spirit and the title character of the Legend of the White Snake, one of China's "four great folktales".[1] The legend has been adapted into several Chinese operas, films, television series and other media.[2][3] In some versions of the legend, Bai Suzhen becomes a goddess; her worshippers refer to her as Madam White Snake (Chinese: 白蛇娘娘).[4]

Bai Suzhen is regarded as a symbol of true love and good-heartedness by the Chinese people.[5]

Legend[edit]

After one thousand years of disciplined training in Taoism on Mount Emei, the white snake, Bai Suzhen, is transformed into a woman by the essence of the Dragon King of the East China Sea. Despite her inhuman origin, Bai is kindhearted and refuses to abuse her powers for evil, and decides to go out into the human realm and do good deeds to earn her immortality. She is later accepted by the goddess Lishan Laomu as a disciple.[1][6] While traveling in the human realm, Bai Suzhen comes across a green snake who is being threatened by a beggar. Pitying the green snake, she transforms into a human and rescues the green snake. In gratitude, the green snake pledged to remain by the white snake's side forever and becomes her sworn sister. Bai Suzhen often calls her Xiaoqing or Qingmei (青妹, lit. '[Little] Sister Qing').[7]

On a visit to West Lake, she falls in love with a young man named Xu Xian and soon becomes his wife. In an alternative version of the story, Bai Suzhen takes on a beautiful woman form to search for Xu Xian, who had saved her life in a past life. She feels indebted to him and wants to repay the favor by helping him in his life. Eventually, however, a Buddhist monk, Abbot Fahai, discovers her true origin and tells Xu Xian that Bai Suzhen is a snake spirit, but Xu Xian is not convinced. After receiving advice from Fahai, Xu Xian convinced Bai Suzhen to drink realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival. This caused Bai Suzhen to reveal her true form as a snake, but the sight frightened Xu Xian so much that he died of shock. Distraught and desperate to bring her husband back to life, Bai Suzhen went to Heaven to steal the immortal herb Lingzhi. She succeeded in her mission and used the herb to revive Xu Xian. She continues to compel her to fight for both her marriage and her freedom. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fought against Fahai and flooded the temple with water, hurting other living creatures. At last he tracks down the couple, defeats Bai Suzhen and imprisons her in the imposing Leifeng Pagoda. During her imprisonment, Bai Suzhen gives birth to a son named Xu Shilin. Later, Bai Suzhen's son grew up to be a successful scholar and went to the pagoda to pay respects to his mother, rescuing her and ascending to Heaven.[1]

In one version of the story, Bai Suzhen is transformed into the mount of the goddess Yaotai Laomu after her imprisonment. She continues to accompany Yaotai Laomu for many years as they work to assist all living beings and save the world.[8]

Worship[edit]

Bai Suzhen is worshipped as a deity in Chinese folk religion, where she is known as Madam White Snake.[9] It is said that she and Xu Xian once practiced Chinese medicine and that believers came to them seeking healing and health advice.

In Taoyuan City, Yangmei District, Taiwan, the White Snake Temple [zh] was built in 1991 and dedicated to her.[10][11] The temple inaugurated the annual Dragon Boat Festival to celebrate the birthday of Madam White Snake, and it has become a traditional and popular event.[12][13]

Located in Jizhou, Tianjin, the White Snake Cave is where the statues of Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing stand as deities. Legend has it that the White Snake practiced Taoism within this cave.[14]

Influence[edit]

Further information: List of media adaptations of the Legend of the White Snake
  • Suzhen's krait, a species of krait that was first identified in 2021, was named after Bai Suzhen in honor of her courage in pursuing true love and her kindness towards people.[15][16]

Gallery[edit]

  • Figurines, including one of Bai Suzhen, in the White Snake Temple in Taiwan
    Figurines, including one of Bai Suzhen, in the White Snake Temple in Taiwan
  • A wood relief decoration in the Leifeng Tower, Hangzhou
    A wood relief decoration in the Leifeng Tower, Hangzhou
  • Hand-carved 3D wood reliefs depicting the story of Bai Suzhen
    Hand-carved 3D wood reliefs depicting the story of Bai Suzhen
  • Image from the Summer Palace, Beijing, China, depicting the legend
    Image from the Summer Palace, Beijing, China, depicting the legend
  • White Snake Temple in Taiwan
    White Snake Temple in Taiwan
  • Statutes in the White Snake Temple
    Statutes in the White Snake Temple
  • Bai Suzhen in an opera portraying the legend
    Bai Suzhen in an opera portraying the legend
  • Statutes of the three protagonists in the Peking Opera.
    Statutes of the three protagonists in the Peking Opera.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "9 Powerful Snakes from History and Mythology". www.history.com. The History Channel.
  2. ^ "This Old tale still resonates today to a modern audience". China Daily. 10 April 2019.
  3. ^ "'The Legend of White Snake' is distributed in North America, Western Europe and widely across Oceania". SHINE. 4 April 2019.
  4. ^ "杨梅白蛇庙 全台唯一供奉白娘子 - 生活". 中时新闻网 (in Chinese). 1 June 2014.
  5. ^ "New deadly snake from Asia named after character from Chinese myth 'Legend of White Snake'". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  6. ^ "'The Legend of the White Snake, Chinese Mélusine Story'". Medievalists.net. 5 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Legend of the White Snake". Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture.
  8. ^ "桃園白蛇廟 白蛇佑眾生 - 焦點". 自由時報電子報 (in Chinese). 13 February 2013.
  9. ^ "全台唯一白蛇廟 小龍年到香火盛│TVBS新聞網". TVBS (in Chinese). 26 January 2013.
  10. ^ "直播:白蛇庙供白娘子养白蛇,300条!_ING现场-梨视频官网-Pear Video". Pear Live (in Chinese).
  11. ^ "全國唯一白蛇廟 端午「披掛白蛇」求好運 - 生活". 自由時報電子報 (in Chinese). 21 June 2020.
  12. ^ "向白娘娘賀壽 楊梅白蛇廟端午祈福 - 地方". 自由時報電子報 (in Chinese). 2 December 2020.
  13. ^ "白娘娘". wsm.org.tw (in Chinese).
  14. ^ "天津蓟县白蛇谷风景区里面的风景，不仅奇险，而且充满了神秘色彩". 知乎专栏 (in Chinese). 12 November 2022.
  15. ^ Chen, Ze-Ning; Shi, Sheng-Chao; Vogel, Gernot; Ding, Li; Shi, Jing-Song (18 March 2021). "Multiple lines of evidence reveal a new species of Krait (Squamata, Elapidae, Bungarus) from Southwestern China and Northern Myanmar". ZooKeys (1025): 35–71. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1025.62305. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7994289. PMID 33814945.
  16. ^ "Deadly new snake named after mythical Chinese goddess of healing". Mongabay Environmental News. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
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