Bai Suzhen is a snake demon cultivated for a thousand years, who took human form in order to repay the scholar Xu Xian for saving her life in her previous life.
The Legend of the White Snake is one of the ancient Chinese folk tales of love. It took place in Hangzhou, Suzhou and Zhenjiang during the Song Dynasty. White Snake is a thousand-year-old snake demon, in order to repay the scholar Xu Xian for saving her life in his previous life, she took human form to repay the favor, and then she met the green snake spirit Xiaoqing, and the two of them became companions.
Bai Suzhen exerted her magic power and trickery to get acquainted with Xu Xian and married him. After the marriage, Fa Hai, a monk of Jinshan Temple, told Xu Xian that Bai Suzhen was a snake demon, and Xu Xian was skeptical. Later, Xu Xian followed Fa Hai's advice and made Bai Suzhen drink wine with Xionghuang during the Dragon Boat Festival, which forced Bai Suzhen to reveal her original form, but scared Xu Xian to death. Bai Suzhen went to heaven to steal the immortal grass to bring Xu Xian back to life.
Circulation:
The "Legend of the White Snake" was widely circulated in China, beginning with oral transmission, and then appearing in folklore in the form of commentary, storytelling, and play-acting, and then gradually evolving into theater performances. Later, there were novels, and after the Republic of China, there were operas, opera and cartoon interpretations.
In modern times there have also been movies based on The Legend of the White Snake, choreographed modern dances, and new novels. The story appeared under the name of "The Legend of the White Snake" roughly in the late Qing Dynasty, and did not have a fixed name before that.