Butterfly Lovers

The earliest record of the legend can be traced back to the late Tang Dynasty. In Shi Dao Si Fan Zhi (十道四蕃志), the author Liang Zaiyan (梁載言) wrote^[4]:

The righteous woman Zhu Yingtai was buried together with Liang Shanbo.

In Xuan Shi Zhi (宣室志), the author Zhang Du (張讀) wrote^[5]:

Yingtai, a daughter of the Zhu family of Shangyu, disguised herself as a man and attended school together with Liang Shanbo from Kuaiji. Shanbo's courtesy name was "Churen". Zhu returned home first. Two years later, Shanbo visited her and only knew that she was a woman then. He was disappointed and felt as though he had made a loss. He asked her parents for her hand in marriage but her family had already betrothed her to the Ma family. Shanbo assumed office as a magistrate in Yin (鄞, in present-day western Ningbo) and died of illness later and was buried west of the city of Mao (鄮, in eastern Ningbo). Zhu was on her journey to the Ma residence by boat and passed by Liang's grave. The strong wind and waves prevent the boat from advancing. After learning that it was Shanbo's grave, she set foot on land and broke down. The ground suddenly cracked open and Zhu was buried within. Chancellor Xie An proclaimed the grave as "Tomb of the righteous woman".

The legend was also recorded in various official records such as Yin Xian Zhi (鄞縣志), Ning Bo Fu Zhi (寧波府志) and Yi Xing Jing Xi Xin Zhi (宜興荊溪新志).

[edit]Liang-Zhu Cultural Park

The Liang Shanbo Temple built in 347 by the locals in memory of Liang Shanbo, who had contributed greatly during his term in office as a magistrate to resolving the problems caused by the flooding of the river. The Liang-Zhu Cultural Park ([6]) in Ningbo was built by the locals, with the love story as its main theme. The "Liang-Zhu Tomb" (梁祝塚), "Liang Shanbo Temple" (梁山伯廟), "Husband and Wife Bridge" (夫妻橋) and Qin Gong (寢宮) are officially recognised by the Chinese Liang-Zhu Culture Association as culturally significant sites for the birth of the legend.

[edit]Artistic interpretations

[edit]Stage plays and operas

The legend had been adapted into traditional Chinese opera in several local varieties, as Liang Zhu in Yue opera (also called Shaoxing opera) and In the Shade of the Willow (柳蔭記) inSichuan opera. The Yue opera version was made into a colour motion picture in the 1950s^[6] in the PRC. The filming by the Ministry of Culture and the East China Military and Political Commission took place in Zhu's legendary home town of Shangyu.

Based on the romance, the Shaw Brothers also produced Love Eterne^[7][8], a film in Huangmei Opera directed by Li Han Hsiang in 1962, starring Ivy Ling Po and Betty Loh Ti.

In 1981, Jann Paxton conceived a full length ballet, titled The Butterfly Lovers Ballet, which made its official United States premiere in 1982 at the Agnes de Mille Theatre by the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The leading roles were played by Sean Hayes and Alicia Fowler. Paxton's story line followed the classic Chinese version, but with the addition of several supporting characters.

In May 2001, a group of students from the University of Oxford formed the Liang Zhu Drama Production Company, and rewrote the whole story into a contemporary drama that was performed in English.

A Cantonese stage musical was produced in 2005, featuring pop singer-actress Denise Ho as the title role.

The story has been adapted into Vietnamese Cai Luong a number of times, with its Sino-Vietnamese title as "Lương Sơn Bá-Chúc Anh Đài. The story's ending is similar to the original one but with some differences. The leading roles have been played by Vietnamese actors and actresses such as Hương Lan, Phi Nhung, Tái Linh, Phương Mai, Mạnh Quỳnh and Vũ Linh.