Legend of white snake

Name of Chinese national intangible cultural heritage: Legend of white snake

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 6

Project No.: i-6

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Hangzhou Cultural Center

The legend of white snake

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

The legend of white snake in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province is a bright pearl in Chinese folk literature. The images of white lady, Xu Xian, Fahai and Xiaoqing expressed the people's desire for the liberation of human nature, which is the precious spiritual and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. A large number of ancient traditional customs preserved in the legend make the legend of white snake one of the most abundant oral heritages of folk culture in China.

The legend of the White Snake began in the Tang and Five Dynasties, and basically took shape in the Southern Song Dynasty. In Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong's imitative version of the legend "white lady Yongzhen Leifeng Pagoda" is the earliest and relatively complete text of the legend. From Ming and Qing Dynasties to modern times, the adaptation and performance of folk oral literature and all kinds of popular literature and art permeate and fuse with each other, making the legend of white snake become the classic theme of story, ballad, Baojuan, novel, romance, storybook, drama, Tanci, film, TV, animation, dance, comic strip and other literary forms. Its influence expanded continuously, and finally spread throughout the country, and spread to Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, India and many other countries.

Folklore often appears "multi-source" phenomenon, so does the legend of white snake. Folk literature experts believe that Zhenjiang and Hangzhou are important places for the legend to spread. The legend of white snake is widely spread in different areas, and it is one of the four most popular legends of Han nationality, along with the legend of Liang Zhu, Meng Jiangnu and Niulang Zhinv.

The legend of white snake has greatly enriched the treasure house of Chinese folk literature and art. The story is strange and the characters are vivid. The white lady is an important typical image in the Chinese art gallery. The legends reflect the main social thoughts, beliefs, values and deep national psychology in different periods since the Southern Song Dynasty, which has important historical value. The folk customs in the legend of white snake are also very rich, which has important reference value for understanding the local conditions and customs of Jiangnan. As for Hangzhou, the main place of the legend, the legend of white snake is closely related to the natural and cultural landscapes such as broken bridge, Leifeng Pagoda and West Lake, which makes Hangzhou and West Lake have more rich cultural connotations.