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Valentine's Day is here and love and romance rules the air. Hence it is only apt that love stories take center stage, even in Feng Shui Times.
Perhaps the most famous love story from China is the story of Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai, also known as The Butterfly Lovers. This touching story - handed down from generations through story telling has been transformed into several Chinese operas and movies. In 1959, a group of students created a concerto for this story, and the haunting melody befits the core of the tale. The last version of the Butterfly Lovers was 'The Lovers', a 1994 film by Tsui Hark that rendered many moviegoers to tears.
In feudal China, women did not have the right to go to schools or choose their married partners. Marriages were seen as a type of association between prominent families and the main reason for arranged marriages was to assure the status of families in society. The role of women was to be a dutiful daughter to her father and a dutiful wife to her husband.
Zhu Ying Tai was the only daughter of a rich landlord. Although he was rich, he did not have much social standing among the affluent and well known. Ying Tai had a thirst for knowledge and persuaded her father to send her to school. Her father thought that Ying Tai would have a better chance of getting a marriage offer from the son of a local wealthy man who had power in the court if she was more intelligent. Thus he agreed to Ying Tai's request and sent her to school disguised as a boy.
At school, Ying Tai met a new friend Liang Shan Bo. Shan Bo was from a poor family and could not pay all of his school fees. The school principal allowed Shan Bo to pay part of his fees by working part-time at the school doing odd jobs. Due to his background, Shan Bo was determined to study hard and pass the imperial examination so that he could get a job as a court officer. Shan Bo and Ying Tai became fast friends and later became sworn 'brothers'.
Ying Tai was not very good at her studies whereas Shan Bo excelled in every subject. During their final examination, Shan Bo helped Ying Tai to cheat and they were both caught. The examiner decided to give Ying Tai another chance with the condition that if she failed the new examination, Shan Bo would be failed too. At this, Ying Tai studied hard and passed the exam, much to their delight.
At this time, Ying Tai had fallen deeply in love with Shan Bo. Shan Bo felt great affection for Ying Tai but was worried because Ying Tai was a 'male'. Before Shan Bo headed to the capital for the imperial examination, he told Ying Tai that if Ying Tai were a female, he would marry her. Ying Tai then pledged her 'sister' to Shan Bo and told him to return to ask for her 'sister's hand in marriage. Shan Bo agreed and went on his way. Not long after, Ying Tai's father summoned Ying Tai home for her impending marriage with the rich man's son.
Shan Bo passed the imperial examination and was offered the position of district officer in his hometown. He met up with Ying Tai and was delighted when she revealed her true self. They made vows of love and Shan Bo promised to send emissaries to Ying Tai's house to ask for her hand in marriage. However, Ying Tai's parents rejected Shan Bo because he was not of equal status with their family, and they had accepted the marriage offer from the rich man's son.
Needless to say, Shan Bo was greatly devastated and went home in misery. When Ying Tai heard the news, she was distraught and refused to join in the preparation for her marriage. She managed to contact Shan Bo with the help of her loyal maid and together they made plans to escape.
Unfortunately a servant found out their plans and informed Ying Tai's parents. On the night Shan Bo and Ying Tai tried to flee, they were confronted with Ying Tai's parents and their servant. Ying Tai was forcefully carried back to her chambers and Shan Bo was beaten repeatedly with cudgels. After they saw him heavily wounded and covered in his own blood, they threw him out into the streets. Through the help of a few kind souls, Shan Bo managed to return home. His mother brewed a lot of medicine for him but he never got better. Ying Tai was locked in her own chambers with only her maids for companion. Her parents turned a deaf ear to her cries and pleas and went on with wedding preparations.
A few nights later, Ying Tai's mother went to see Shan Bo. She requested him to write a letter to Ying Tai advising her to accept her marriage to the rich man's son. Shan Bo refused to do such a thing until he saw Ying Tai's mother kneeled down before him. His own mother also persuaded him to write the letter. Shan Bo started writing the letter reluctantly and paused to envision Ying Tai's lovely face. Suddenly he coughed out blood and went limp. Ying Tai's mother took the bloodied letter and told her daughter that if she calmed down, she would let her read Shan Bo's letter. Ying Tai agreed but her mother took the letter away. Ying Tai's loyal maid stole the letter and took it to her mistress. As soon as Ying Tai saw the blood on the letter, she was heartbroken because she knew that Shan Bo had died.
Ying Tai told her mother that she would only agree to the marriage if her wedding sedan passed by Shan Bo's grave on the way to the groom's house. Her mother agreed.
On the wedding day, the wedding troops took the opposite way from Shan Bo's grave. It turned out that Ying Tai's father had specifically instructed them to take another way. On their way, a sudden storm occurred and fallen trees blocked their path. They had no choice but to take the other road, which passes by Shan Bo's grave. Upon nearing Shan Bo's grave, Ying Tai jumped from her sedan and tore off her wedding attire to reveal mourning clothes. She ran to Shan Bo's grave and knelt down to mourn for her lover and their cruel fate.
Suddenly a crack of lighting split open Shan Bo's grave. Without hesitation, Ying Tai jumped into the opening and the grave closed, burying Ying Tai together with Shan Bo. The storm ceased and the servants found Ying Tai's mourning clothes by the grave. At this moment, two butterflies appeared out of nowhere and rested on Shan Bo's grave. After some time, they flew away together, seemingly reluctant to leave their resting place. The servants believed that the butterflies were incarnations of Shan Bo and Ying Tai and that they were finally together at last. That is why this determined couple is also called "The Butterfly Lovers".
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Suan Tew
Managing Editor for Feng Shui Times. |
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