Background

The tragic love story of Xu Xian and the White Snake is a fairy tale widely circulated among the Chinese people. According to the story, the White Snake, in the appearance of a beautiful lady, met a yong man called Xu Xian by the Broken Bridge by the West Lake. They got married and ran a pharmacy in Zhenjiang. Their happy marital life was disturbed several times by Monk Fa Hai from the Jinshan Temple, who finally seperated the couple by confining the White Snake under the Leifeng Pagoda using wizardry. The story of the White Snake originated from a reported discovery of a huge boa. The plot has the same source as "The Three Pagadas by the West Lake" written in the Southern Song Dynasty. The story has various versions from different times and areas, and has developed in long years into a popular, beautiful folk tale

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