Where did the legend of the white snake come from? Who wrote it?

The earliest shaping story of the white snake legend is recorded in Feng Menglong's Warning Story, Volume 28, White Snake Leifeng Pagoda in Yongzhen.

In the early years of Qing Dynasty, Huang Tu's "Leifeng Pagoda" (Wang Shan Pavilion) was the earliest opera in China. He only wrote that the white snake was suppressed under the Leifeng pagoda, and there was no sacrifice to the pagoda. Later, The Old Manuscript of Liyuan (probably written by Chen's father and daughter, but the existing score is incomplete) is a widely circulated book, with the plot that a white snake gives birth to a child.

In the 11th year of Jiajing, the owner of Yushan published a novella "Biography of Leifeng Tower". In the fourteenth year of Jiajing, the story of the snake spirit has completely changed from a simple monster to a sentient and righteous woman.

Extended data:

In the movie Green Snake, the White Snake wanted to drown the Jinshan Temple, but she was drowned in the flood. At that time, the White Snake had Xu Xian's flesh and blood. For the sake of his children, he was willing to be sent off the Leifeng Tower. Finally, Fahai was soft-hearted, saved the child and entrusted the child to the green snake.

In most TV dramas, the final outcome is that when Bai Niangzi and Xu Xian's child Xu Hanlin pay homage to the Leifeng Tower, the Leifeng Tower falls down, and Bai Niangzi and Xu Xian meet again and live a happy life.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Legend of the White Snake