Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai
| Butterfly Lovers | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 梁山伯與祝英台 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 梁山伯与祝英台 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai | ||||||||||
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| Liang Zhu | |||||||||||
| Chinese | 梁祝 | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Liáng Shānbó yǔ Zhù Yīngtái |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | loeng4 saan1 baak3 jyu5 zuk1 jing1 toi4 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Liáng-Zhù |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | loeng4 zuk1 |
The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo (梁山伯) and Zhu Yingtai (祝英台), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (梁祝).
The story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White Snake (Baishezhuan), Lady Meng Jiang, and The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid (Niulang Zhinü). Six cities in China have collaborated in 2004 on a formal application for the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on the legend at UNESCO, submitted in 2006 through the Chinese Ministry of Culture.
The legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is set in the Eastern Jin dynasty (265-420 AD).
Zhu Yingtai is the ninth child and only daughter of the wealthy Zhu family of Shangyu, Zhejiang. Although women are traditionally discouraged from taking up scholarly pursuits, Zhu manages to convince her father to allow her to attend classes in disguise as a man. During her journey to Hangzhou, she meets Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing). They chat and feel a strong affinity for each other at their first meeting. Hence, they gather some soil as incense and take an oath of fraternity in the pavilion of a thatched bridge.
They study together for the next three years in school and Zhu gradually falls in love with Liang. Although Liang equals Zhu in their studies, he is still a bookworm and fails to notice the feminine characteristics exhibited by his classmate.
One day, Zhu receives a letter from her father, asking her to return home as soon as possible. Zhu has no choice but to pack her belongings immediately and bid Liang farewell. However, in her heart, she has already confessed her love for Liang and is determined to be with him for all eternity. Before her departure, she reveals her true identity to the headmaster's wife and asks her to pass a jade pendant to Liang as a betrothal gift.
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Wikipedia