Table Of ContentThe White Snake
and Her Son
A Translation of
The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak,
with Related Texts
Edited and Translated,
with an Introduction, by
W L. I
ILT DEMA
The White Snake
and Her Son
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 1 7/26/09 4:40:50 PM
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 2 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
The White Snake
and Her Son
A Translation of
The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak
with Related Texts
Edited and Translated,
with an Introduction,
by
Wilt L. Idema
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 3 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
Copyright © 2009 by Hackett Publishing Company
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
14 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
For further information, please address:
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 44937
Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937
www.hackettpublishing.com
Cover design by Abigail Coyle
Text design and composition by Carrie Wagner
Printed at Malloy, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bai she zhuan. English. 2009
The White Snake and her Son : a translation of The Precious Scroll
of Thunder Peak, with related texts / edited and translated, with an
introduction, by Wilt Idema.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-87220-995-4 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-0-87220-996-1 (cloth)
1. Tales--China. I. Idema, W. L. (Wilt L.) II. Title. III. Title: Translation of
The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak, with related texts.
GR335.B3513 2009
398.20951--dc22
2009010478
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48–1984.
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 4 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Ma Rufei
The Story of the White Snake 1
anonyMous
The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak I 9
The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak II 51
fouR anonyMous youth Books (Zidishu) 87
The United Bowls
87
Sacrifice at the Pagoda
93
Weeping at the Pagoda 97
Leaving the Pagoda
103
appendixes 111
I. Li Huang and Other Classical Tales of Bewitching Snakes 113
II. West Lake Monsters 119
III. The White Snake on Stage 135
IV. The Virtuous Seductress
151
V. The Elder Brother of Zheng Defeats Duan in Yan 157
Bibliography 161
Glossary 169
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 5 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 6 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
Preface
The exploits of Mulan, the legend of the White Snake, the romance of
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and the thwarted love of Weaving Maiden
and Buffalo Boy continue to fascinate Chinese audiences all over the world.
As the embodiment of Chinese people’s wisdom, virtue, and pursuit of love,
these tales have been told and retold throughout the twentieth century; they
have also been performed on the stage, adapted for the screen, and rewritten
as dramas for television. They have inspired theme parks and postage stamps,
violin concertos, and Western-style operas. In their modern transformations
these traditional tales have been hailed as the quintessence of Chinese culture,
as instruments for cultural renewal, and as tools of criticism.
The earliest extant premodern versions of these Chinese tales and legends are
no less varied and multiform than their modern adaptations. By the time they
were recorded, each of these stories had already undergone a centuries-long
period of development and change. Depending on the time, region, and genre
in which it was created, each version is unique and brings its own perspective and
meaning to the story. Moreover, each of these texts reflects the idiosyncrasies
and personality of its author (whose name has usually been lost). We could
make no greater mistake than to assume that these stories embodied a single,
unchanging, essential meaning, even though many modern and contemporary
scholars write about these stories as if they did.
Despite the popularity of these tales and legends among modern and
contemporary authors and intellectuals, in late-imperial times such tales and
legends (with the exception of Mulan) were mostly ignored by the scholars
and literati of the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties.
Nonetheless, these texts flourished in the realm of oral literature and in the many
genres of traditional popular literature (suwenxue). This series aims to introduce
the contemporary English reader to the richness and variety of traditional
Chinese popular literature of late-imperial China, and to the wide discrepancies
between the different adaptations of each story by translating at least two
different premodern adaptations in full. Each of these sets of translations will
be preceded by an introduction tracing the historical development of each story
up to the beginning of the twentieth century. The translations will be followed
by a selection of related materials that will provide the readers with a fuller
understanding of the historical development of each story, and help them place
the translated text in the development of Chinese popular literature and culture.
vii
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 7 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 8 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
Acknowledgments
First of all it is my pleasure to thank the staff of the Harvard-Yenching Library
for their assistance in locating materials on the legend of the White Snake.
This little volume utilizes only a fraction of the rich holdings of the Harvard-
Yenching Library in the field of traditional Chinese popular literature acquired
in the course of the last few years.
I also would like to express my gratitude to the students and teaching fellows
who pointed out typos and malapropisms in drafts of the translations included
in this volume, and to which they were exposed in class. Professor Sarah Allen
of Wellesley University kindly went through all of the translations and saved
me from many mistakes against good English usage. Gustavo Espada assisted in
making scans of the artwork.
Last but not least I would like to express my thanks to the copyeditor and
production staff at Hackett Publishing Company. Their meticulous attention
to detail has greatly enhanced the quality of the final product.
All remaining shortcomings are of course irrevocably and completely my own.
Wilt L. Idema
IDEMA_WS_FNL2_072609pm.indd 9 7/26/09 4:40:51 PM
