A collection of traditional patterns of lazy thrush

What kind of marriage is a male snake dish and a female rabbit?

The story of Bai Niangzi and Xu Xuan is well known to all women and children, and it is listed as China's love with Cowherd and Weaver Girl, butterfly lovers and Meng Jiangnv Crying for the Great Wall. The Legend of the White Snake is a household name, so it has been put on the stage, TV and big screen many times, from 1926 Tianyi Company's Legend of the White Snake to the drama Broken Bridge starring Mei Lanfang, to the TV series The New White Snake of 1992, and the animation Legend of the White Snake 2: Green released some time ago. Adapted works emerge one after another, representing different interpretations of the white snake story in different times. However, how did the well-known Legend of the White Snake take shape step by step? How did it evolve in the past oral communication and text rewriting? This article will briefly introduce the history of Legend of the White Snake.

Poster of "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery"

First, the snake harms people: the prehistory of the legend of the white snake

Looking back at China's strange Tan, we often see stories of animals turning into people and marrying mortals. The otter sometimes turns into a beautiful teenager, and sometimes the male dumpling turns into a male-female combination. There are all kinds of strange things, including snake essence, especially "beautiful snake", which is a common image in mysterious stories, and the whole white snake actually comes from the story tradition of beautiful snake.

However, most of the snake girls in early stories are not good people. They are vicious and insidious, and earth men just want to take their lives. The earliest prototype of the legend of the white snake in later generations is Li Huang of Bo Zhiyi in Tang Dynasty. This one tells the story of a snake hurting people:

Li Huang, the son of the salt and iron envoy in Longxi, wandered around the East Side of Chang 'an one day and met a widowed woman in white. She was very beautiful. Li Huang was invited to stay at his house because he lent her money to buy colored silk. An "old woman in Tsing Yi" came out of the room, claiming to be the aunt of a beautiful woman in white, and proposed to Li Huang that if his son could pay off the debt of 30,000 yuan for their family, he would give the woman to Li Huang for life. Li Huang was very happy. He immediately asked the servant to take out the money, live with the woman in white for three days, and then come back. On the way back, the servant smelled the stench of Li Huang. At home, Li Huang only felt heavy and dizzy, and then wrapped himself in a quilt and lay down. His wife told him that he was away these days, so he postponed the transfer of officials. However, Li Huang was too ill to answer anything, and even felt that his body was disappearing little by little. When I looked at the quilt, I found that his trunk had turned into water, leaving only one head. The family was frightened and called the servant to ask questions. Then they rushed to the woman's house in white, but it was an empty house: there was only one acacia tree in the yard, with 15 thousand yuan hanging on it and 15 thousand yuan under it. Ask the people who live nearby that there is a big white snake under the tree.

The plot of "Li Huang" is not quite the same as that of "The Legend of the White Snake", but later elements appear here. For example, the white snake can become a beautiful woman, and she has a female companion in Tsing Yi. From today's point of view, the main idea of this article is clear at a glance: it is to warn men (especially men with official background) not to approach women, otherwise not only their future will be ruined, but even their lives will be lost. Under the traditional ethics, the real threat is not the monster who can be a man, but himself and the woman as the object-it can be seen that the relationship between the sexes and the legitimacy of the white snake has always been an important theme. Li Huang gave his own answer to this question, so at the end of the article, he attached a story of a white snake:

Li Yan, Fengxiang's son, met a beautiful woman in white in the street with a strange smell, and then followed her all the way to her home and spent the night with her. As a result, I got home with a headache and a splitting brain. The family ran to Li Yan's place last night, only to find traces of a snake coiled under a withered locust tree. When the trunk was cut down, there were no big snakes below, but there were several small white snakes, so they were all killed.

1993 "Green Snake" stills

Comparatively speaking, the legend of the white snake, which is more closely related to later generations, should be the story of the three pagodas of the West Lake compiled by Qingping Mountain Hall:

When he was in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Xi Xuan Zan, the son of the ruler, was playing by the West Lake. He accidentally saved a lost little girl with white hair and took her home for a temporary stay. More than ten days later, Mao Nu's mother-in-law came to the door. To thank Xi Xuan Zan for his help, her mother-in-law invited him to her house to prepare wine to thank her. There is a woman in white in her mother-in-law's house, who looks as beautiful as flowers and jade. After three glasses of wine, Xuanzan could not help but ripple. At this time, a servant suggested, "Empress, there are new people coming today. Can we exchange the old ones?" Then two Hercules came out of nowhere, tied a white-faced boy to a general post, cut open his stomach, took out his heart and gave it to his mother-in-law. Xuanzang was terrified, but there was no way out. She was kept as a husband for nothing. Half a month later, another "newcomer" came, and it was Xi Xuan Zan's turn to be taken care of. Fortunately, the little girl Maonu remembered her kindness and took the initiative to help him escape home. Who promised that in the second year of Tomb-Sweeping Day, my mother-in-law turned into an old crow to come to you, took Xuanzang back and took away his heart, but Mao Nu came to the rescue again. A few days later, Xi Xuanzang's uncle, Xi, who was studying Taoism in Longhu Mountain, came to visit and said that he had come to see the black air in the west of the city. The next day, he went to the door of Bai Yi's house, called an angel, and arrested her mother-in-law and Mao Ni. A dozen people showed their true colors. "Mao slavery became became a black-bone chicken, the woman was an otter, and the White Snake was a white snake." Xi put these three monsters in an iron pot in the middle of the lake and built three stone pagodas to suppress them.

Generally speaking, the banshee in white in the Three Pagodas of West Lake is still a ferocious monster. Although she has more "lines" and personality than the snake in Li Huang, she is no different in murdering a man's life. However, from this story book of Song and Yuan Dynasties, we can already see many similarities with The Legend of the White Snake: First, the story book is clearly set in the West Lake of Hangzhou, and it mentions Yongjinmen and Siguan, and the story takes place in Qingming; Second, the structure of the whole story is basically the same as that of The Legend of the White Snake in later generations, and three main characters are established: White Snake, Man (Xi Xuanzan) and Xi (only one later became Xu Xuan and the other became Fa Hai). Thirdly, a "stone pagoda" dedicated to the white snake appeared at the end of the story, which can be regarded as the prototype of the later Leifeng pagoda, and the "stone pagoda" has always had important structural significance in The Legend of the White Snake. Now that all the basic elements are in place, just rewrite the image of the snake, and the well-known white snake story can come into being.

Second, the white snake under the Leifeng Tower: a familiar white snake story

According to legend, Song Gaozong loved different things in his later years, so under the guidance of the government, he scrambled to collect and display various scripts. The emperor's preference affected people's creativity, and popular stories emerged one after another. Hangzhou was originally a place with many different things, and the public made up many stories based on the local scenery. Under this trend, the spread of Qitan is naturally more and more prosperous.

As shown in the Three Pagodas of the West Lake, the white snake was widely circulated as early as the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was passed down in memory for hundreds of years until the Ming Dynasty. "Wanli Qiantang County Records" records: "Leifeng Tower, according to legend, is the town of herring and white snake, and father and brother tell each other." Tian Rucheng, a contemporary, also wrote in "A Tour of the West Lake": "Leifeng Mountain is a branch of Nanping Mountain. The vault is reflected back, and the old name is Zhongfeng, also known as HSBC. In the Song Dynasty, Xu Lizhi once lived here, named' Mr. Huifeng'; Or there is thunder in the cloud, so it is also called' Leifeng'. Princess wuyue built a tower here ... There are two monsters in the lake, white snake and herring, under the tower. " The evolution of the story of The Legend of the White Snake since the Song Dynasty cannot be verified today. We only know that in the Ming Dynasty, the white snake was tied to the local image of Leifeng Tower.

The cautionary tale (Volume 28) The White Niangzi Yongzhen Leifeng Pagoda

When it has been told by countless generations and is quite popular, there will always be literati who record it in words. It is Feng Menglong, the editor-in-chief of Warning Story, who undertakes this mission. According to his own dictation, he tidied up and polished it, and finally wrote a short story "The White Snake Leifeng Pagoda in Yongzhen", which was included in 28 volumes of the book. The White Snake Leifeng Pagoda in Yongzheng laid the core framework of the White Snake story: boat encounter, borrowing umbrella, stealing silver, pagoda, all key plots; White snake with straightforward feelings, willful Xu Xuan, loyal servant Qing Qing and skillful Fahai are the main figures with famous surnames.

Compared with the past, the greater change in The Legend of the White Snake is the rewriting of the image of the white snake. The sex of the White Snake has been greatly weakened. She has no intention of murdering Xu Xuan at all, but she is full of infatuation with this niche. What happened on the ship made her decide to marry Xu Xuan for life:

He shouted, "What animal monster is it? How dare you pester people? It can be said that it is prepared! " The white snake replied, "I am a boa constrictor. Because of the storm, Qingqing and I came to the West Lake to settle down. I don't want to meet Xu Xuan, but I can't bear to part with him. I offended the dogma for a moment, but I didn't kill him. Look! "

Thanks to the increase of space, the description of the white snake has also increased greatly, and she has begun to be endowed with some distinctive personality. White snake wanted to marry Xu Xuan as soon as possible, and took the initiative to do many things for this relationship: knowing that Xu Xuan had no money to get married, she took fifty taels of silver from Qiu in advance; When Xu Xuan went out without good clothes, he immediately took out the stolen gold beads and dressed her husband softly. Xu Xuanlian suffered two lawsuits and was sent to Suzhou and Zhenjiang. She also followed all the way and took the initiative to mend fences-but even though she paid a lot for her husband, White Snake was not a servile woman. On the contrary, she has a strong sense of independence and self-esteem. When Xu Xuan blamed his "fiancee" for being sent to Suzhou, White Snake only felt offended and very angry:

"I put the money on the bed and hope it will be better," said the white snake. "How do I know there are many things? I saw that you deserve to be here, so I took some travel expenses and came here by boat to find you. Now that everything is clear, I will go. I dare say that you and I were not husband and wife in our last life! " The king said, "madam, you have come a long way, why don't you go?" And stay here for a few days, but ignore it. " Qing Qing said, "My wife has been staying for two days since the host family urged me again and again, and I promised to marry Xiao Erguan." The white snake casually said, "Shame! Nobody wants to be a slave? Just to distinguish between right and wrong. "

Ren Lvying's cartoon The Legend of the White Snake.

In another place, Xu Xuan went to Chengtian to play, and met a man who said that there was a mass of black gas on his head, and something must be bothering her, so he burned it for him. At that time, Xu Xuan was a little suspicious that his wife was strange, so he did it. As a result, the white snake did not appear in the sky, but her husband's distrust made her quite dissatisfied. White snake to out of this tone, the second day to go to the meeting, taught him a lesson:

"Everyone is here," said the White Snake. Come and read! " The gentleman handed the book to the white snake. Mrs. White took it and swallowed it. Everyone looked at it, but nothing happened. Crowd: "How can you say this is strange? ! "Everybody scold this gentleman together. The gentleman was stunned by the curse, speechless for a long time and full of fear. The white snake said, "Your officials are here." . "He can't arrest me. I have learned a drama since I was a child, and I have tried to let my husband show it to everyone. " I saw the white lady mumbling something, not knowing what to read. I huddled up the gentleman and hung up the phone. Everyone was taken aback when they saw it. Xu Xuan stayed. "If it weren't for everyone," said the lady, "I would hang this gentleman for a year!"

The anger of the White Snake is not only because she is afraid to reveal her true colors, but also because she has lost the right to pursue marriage. She wanted to be suspended from school. She didn't mean to hurt anyone, just for a small punishment. This behavior looks really lively and lovely, and it also shows her strong self-esteem. In short, the white snake in the White Snake Leifeng Tower in Yongzhen has not faded out, but its posture is no different from others, and the people's attitude towards this image has changed into sympathy and affirmation, which has created space for further rewriting.

Qing Jiaqing Engraving Fang Chengpei's Leifeng Pagoda

The story of Leifeng Pagoda in Bainiangzi Town was basically stereotyped, but the widespread popularity of the legend of White Snake was still in the Qing Dynasty: not only literary works emerged constantly, such as the marriage of Ben Baijia and the strange case of Leifeng Pagoda beside the West Lake. Moreover, there are three kinds of scripts frequently performed on the stage of traditional Chinese opera, all of which are called "Leifeng Tower", namely, the printed version of Kanshan Pavilion by Jue, the banknote version of Liyuan and the Shuizhujia version by Fang Chengpei, among which the Leifeng Tower (also known as "Leifeng Tower") by Fang Chengpei is more representative. On the basis of many scripts at that time, Fang Chengpei's "Leifeng Pagoda" added more bridge segments, such as Dragon Boat Festival, stealing grass, fighting water, breaking the bridge and having children, which enriched the story and strengthened the drama conflict. In this book, the image of the white snake has further evolved, and her anger gradually faded and she became a woman with both beauty and goodness. The white snake was born in the flat peach garden in Xichi for thousands of years and will soon bear fruit. Because the relationship between Shangbeizi and Xu Xuan was outstanding, she longed for the world of mortals and decided to go to the world to find a predestined relationship:

Today, the aurora shines brightly on Mount Emei, and a white snake sneaked into the flat peach garden of Queen Mother Xichi. He stole the flat peach and realized his confession. It's been a thousand years. I didn't care about this, refused to lead an honest and clean life, turned myself over and married Lin 'an Xu Xuan. Xu Xuanyuan is the waiter in front of my seat. Because of his old relationship, he ordered this case to be added. But I'm afraid he will get lost and forget his true colors. (Second delivery bowl)

Although the pursuit of Xu Xuan is only because of fate, White Snake is full of feelings for her husband, and the dialogue is also profound:

[Life] Being loved gracefully by a lady makes me feel grateful. [Dan] The official is talking there.

Just because you have feelings, just because you have feelings, you are willing to follow the slave piano. From now on, Cecil will become attached to Qiao Song. May Cecil always belong to Qiao Song. (seventh subscription)

The white lady accidentally drank realgar wine and showed her true colors. She happened to be seen by Xu Xuan, and she was scared to death and could not wake up. Anxious white snake had to go to Songshan and risk his life to return to the grassland. When Xu Xuan heard the story of Fahai, the White Lady denounced him for breaking up the husband and wife and ruining the marriage, and called the aquarium to make a scene and drowned Jinshan. These new plots especially show the depth of white snake's love. In contrast, Xu Xuan is very fickle, and the whole play is also dark and derogatory, which sets off the positive image of White Snake:

The merchant mobilized the song "Golden Dragonfly" [Golden Indus]. Once I am with you, I will always look forward to my honeymoon. I don't remember at that time, I had a three-year certificate, but now I feel this way. Dong 'ou ordered me to return to Qianmeng. How dare a humble person? [Sang Dan] said to Qing Ruquan, why did he believe it? [Wipe away tears and sing] The sewing box ruined the beautiful flowers. Ren Yuling, it's really unlucky to solve three problems. Lazy thrush, you are surprised to ask questions at night. [Shengbai] is a humble person. Parasite [Dan] made me wander around and lost my life. How can I not be annoying? (The 26th Broken Bridge)

Another important change of Fang Chengpei's "Leifeng Tower" script is to add a happy ending to the story. The White Snake has been under the tower for more than 20 years, and her son Xu Shilin has grown up, and even won the top prize in high school. But the emperor didn't allow the Leifeng Tower to be demolished, so Xu Shilin had to hold a memorial service in front of it. He wept bitterly because of his mother's injustice. Xiaogan moved heaven, even his ancestors were deeply moved. He decided to forgive the white snake's life and let their family reunite:

If you say that everything is sex, you can repent your sin and you will see it disappear. A scholar has a hundred lines, putting filial piety first, and being sincere as an arrow. Although he is a snake, he has been practicing for a long time. Adhere to elegant practice, neither confused by madness; Teach your son loyalty and never forget the great righteousness. There have been disasters in the past, but the number has not exceeded two generations. What is commendable is that his son widely planted good fruits and pulled out mysterious branches. He was born in Yili and was forgiven. From then on, washing the heart, common sound, can get positive results. (lap 34)

Stills of the drama "Broken Bridge" starring Mei Lanfang

Fang Chengpei's "Leifeng Pagoda" absorbed the advantages of some scripts of "Legend of the White Snake", polished it more coherently and completely, gained a higher reputation, and had a far-reaching influence on later generations. Famous works, including Mei Lanfang's drama Broken Bridge, Tian Han's script The Legend of the White Snake, and the TV series The Legend of the New White Snake, all adopt the story framework of Leifeng Tower. It can be said that Fang Chengpei's Leifeng Pagoda is the original version of most later adaptations of The Legend of the White Snake.

Third, the theme and image of the white snake story.

In the eyes of our ancestors, the snake is an incomprehensible creature: it has no limbs, molts and revives, and comes and goes without a trace. Therefore, early humans were both afraid and awed by snakes: on the one hand, people thought snakes were fierce and inaccessible, and imagined them as symbols; On the other hand, snakes have mysterious colors and occupy a place in ancient myths. Up to now, we can see many "people and snakes in one" (such as Nu Wa). At the same time, in tradition, snakes are often auspicious signs. Seeing a snake may herald wealth and longevity. Snakes, it is worth noting that snakes are soft and like to live in wet places. The ancients associated snakes with women. This can explain why snake spirits are often women, not that there are no male snake monsters in the records, but that once the image of "female snake spirits" is formed in people's minds, it gradually becomes a routine in mysterious stories. In today's view, the two sides of snakes are quite similar to the contradictory mentality of traditional male chauvinism: on the one hand, nature is inviolable, but it cannot be destroyed, so people sometimes admit the charm of the opposite sex; On the other hand, under the lessons of traditional morality, people have accepted the concept of abstinence and are afraid of being destroyed. There is no doubt that in traditional cultural writing, the ambivalence towards oneself is often manifested in men's fantasies and fears about women.

1992 stills of TV series "The Legend of the New White Snake"

Throughout the development of the legend of the white snake, we can clearly see that the theme of the story has changed from "abstinence" to "love worship". Early stories of the legend of the white snake, such as Li Huang and the Three Pagodas of the West Lake quoted in this paper, are urging people to restrain their desires. The white snake in the story is directly shaped into a symbol, and the so-called "harmony" will inevitably lead to serious consequences, openly expressing the denial and degradation of women. Even Feng Menglong's "The White Lady's Forever Zhen Leifeng Pagoda" is no exception. Because of the influence, Feng Ben's foothold is abstinence: Fahai, the representative figure of thought, finally succeeded in The Legend of the White Snake, and Xu Xuan was not born for a thousand years, but also voluntarily became a monk. In the end, Fahai left eight poems, which can quite set the tone for the whole article: "Persuade the world to rest, and people are fascinated." The mind is natural and undisturbed. How can you be bullied by E? But look at Xu, it will be troublesome to file a lawsuit. It wasn't the old monk who came to save it, but the white snake swallowed it, leaving nothing behind "-however, this may not represent the real idea, but it actually brings new possibilities to the interpretation of the white snake story, and something is about to break through the barrier of abstinence. In fact, the story of the white snake Leifeng Tower in Yongzhen has little to do with abstinence. It has successfully created a beautiful and frank image of the white snake, and the desire and personality of the white snake have been affirmed for the first time, just as Feng Menglong himself praised the "utmost affection" in the world, saying that "if heaven and earth are ruthless, there will be nothing". Obviously, these are the affirmation and pursuit of human nature in the Ming Dynasty. From this to the Qing Dynasty, many white snake stories (such as Fang Chengpei's Leifeng Tower) began to praise the white snake's right to pursue love without reservation, and condemned Fahai's act of breaking up other people's marriages without reservation. Here, the legend of the white snake as a lover finally settled.

In line with the evolution of the story theme, the image of the white snake has also undergone a transformation from "human" to "human". The early white snake was a complete monster; Of course, not all the monsters in the story are numerous, but people do shape the white snake into a good woman who specializes in killing young men. It can be seen that the image of the white snake at this time is very dull and monotonous. As mentioned earlier, the situation has changed in The White Snake is both human and sexual, and her words and deeds are closer to a real woman, but she still retains some ferocious spirit. For example, Xu Xuan believed that Fahai said that she had changed, and the white snake flew into a rage: "If you listen to me, you like to be happy, and everything will be over." If you have ulterior motives, you will be taught that the whole city is full of blood, and anyone who climbs the flood waves with his bare hands will die! "This threatening gesture is very close to the snake in the Three Pagodas of the West Lake, but the white snake didn't really kill anyone, so these words reflect her independent personality and rebellious spirit from the side. This may indicate that in the Ming Dynasty, women's sense of independence still needs to be mediated by "strange" identities in order to be expressed more smoothly. After all, in the public's imagination, they are heterogeneous and can transcend human norms, thus pinning people's repressed thoughts. In the Leifeng Pagoda written by Fang Chengpei in the Qing Dynasty, although the white snake was still a girl and her strange ferocity disappeared, she became a graceful and beautiful ideal woman, a victim and victim who was desperate for love, and was called "Bai Yungu who was looking for a spouse". It is worth noting that compared with the past, the white snake in the Leifeng Tower has a new identity: mother-in fact, according to the play, "Xu Shilin, the son of one thought, cultivated good fruits extensively, which is commendable, and forgave her with forgiveness. "White snake has committed the crime of intermarriage with human beings. She can't push it to the Leifeng Tower alone, and only her son does it for her. The white snake was redeemed as a mother rather than a woman. Therefore, the white snake in the Pagoda of Leifeng is not so much an ideal female image as a good wife and mother in line with traditional principles, which can only be said to be the limitation of the times.

Stills of White Snake 2: The Green Snake Robbery

As a cultural name with a long history, rewriting is the eternal fate of Legend of the White Snake. Even though classic works and literature have established prototypes, they are divorced from the traditional ideological environment. Everyone, whether it is White Snake, Xiaoqing or even Fahai, has released a huge space for interpretation and is calling for new personal stories. In the future, people will continue to write their own white snake stories, and each creation will make the white snake story glow with new vitality in different times.

refer to

1, The Formation of the Story of the White Snake by Chen Yongchao, Art Hundred Schools, No.2, 1997.

2. Research on the Evolution of Liu Yun's Legend of the White Snake, Capital Normal University, 2002.

3. Xie Yanqing's Great Tradition and Small Tradition-Three Variations of the White Snake Story, Folklore Research,No. 1, 2007.

4. Li Xia's "On the Evolution of the Image of White Snake and Its Cultural Implication", Literature Research No.2, 20 12.

5. Wang Li on the evolution of The Legend of the White Snake, Journal of Liaodong University, No.5, 2005.

Editor in charge: Zang Jixian

Proofreading: Xu Yijia

The above is about the marriage of male snake dish and female rabbit, and it is about the sharing of new white snake. After watching the snake dish, the rabbit must be a male snake. I hope this will help everyone!