China Roll - Love is Not Allowed to Imitate

Author: Lei Hezi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Reason to Read The love story of "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" is unparalleled in terms of the charm, style, sweetness, sorrow, praise, implication, depth, breadth, and life-affirming beauty of the story itself, as well as the extent of people's widespread, universal, emotional, experiential, and appreciative understanding of it. It is both popular and refined; it is despairing yet hopeful; it makes people weep uncontrollably, and then grants them a radiant dream with wings. This world cannot tolerate true love, so they carry their ideal of love, transform into butterflies, and seek a new world to soar freely. To love each other, to fly together as a pair. They found it—a colorful land of love. They have been together through countless cycles of rebirth. In that extraordinary realm beyond the reach of ordinary mortals, they will continue to reincarnate because their love is eternal, ageless, and always captivating. Throughout history and across cultures, countless tragic and beautiful love stories shine like stars in the sky. But how many truly stand out? How many can rival the "butterfly transformation"? What is universally known? Liang and Zhu! What is brilliant and unique? The butterfly transformation!
Story Summary The story takes place by the beautiful Cao'e River in the Jin Dynasty (377 AD) in Cao'e County. In the Wuxi region, there lived a handsome, kind-hearted, and virtuous young man named Liang Shanbo. One day, following his parents' wishes, he hurriedly set off for Hangzhou to pursue his studies. Upon reaching the grass bridge, he felt slightly tired and took a break in a nearby pavilion. In the Shuyu Zhu Village, there was a wealthy family headed by a man named Zhu Yuanxia, who had a daughter named Zhu Yingtai. Beautiful as the heavens, lively, cheerful, and intelligent, Zhu Yingtai convinced her parents to disguise herself as a boy, using the name Zhu Jiudie, and also set off for Hangzhou to study at the academy.
At the grass bridge pavilion, the handsome Liang Shanbo and the boyish Zhu Yingtai met. The honest Liang Shanbo greeted Zhu Yingtai with a bow and exchanged pleasantries, discussing their hometowns and ages, passing the time with casual talk. Fearing her identity might be exposed, Zhu Yingtai feigned interest in a young girl named "Jiuniu" to distract Liang Shanbo. Moved by the injustice of Jiuniu being denied education due to her gender, Liang Shanbo felt deeply touched. The two, sharing the same aspirations, sworn brotherhood, and set off together for the academy.
This scene was witnessed by Ma Wencai, who was also heading to Hangzhou under the guise of studying but seeking pleasure. He was awestruck by Zhu Yingtai's beauty and remarked, "What a delicate and refined scholar! Her grace is as elegant as jade, her voice as melodious as orioles and orioles singing in the ears. If she were dressed as a woman, she would undoubtedly captivate countless men!"
The academy was not only a great place for learning but also surrounded by water, with picturesque scenery. Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai supported and cared for each other in their studies. Zhu Yingtai had long developed feelings for Liang Shanbo, deeply in love with him. Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and the honest Liang Shanbo finally noticed the ear-shaped marks on Zhu Yingtai's hair, feeling puzzled.
Coincidentally, Ma Wencai, who had been secretly watching Zhu Yingtai and had been ignored by her, came to provoke her, forcing her to recite the Analects on purpose, testing her gender further. Later, Ma Wencai eavesdropped and heard a maid, disguised as a scholar's attendant, calling Zhu Yingtai "Miss Zhu" and delivering a letter from her father urging her to return home. Overjoyed, Ma Wencai overheard Zhu Yingtai leaving a jade fan pendant for the headmistress, asking her to arrange a marriage with Liang Shanbo. But the cunning Ma Wencai, eager to strike first, planned to propose to Zhu's family before the headmistress could do so.
"Three years of studying together, our bond is as vast as the sea. Shanbo cannot bear to part from Yingtai. Together, we walk down the mountain, heading toward Qiantang." Liang Shanbo bid farewell to Zhu Yingtai for eighteen li. Along the way, Zhu Yingtai used countless metaphors, but Liang Shanbo still failed to grasp her deep affection. Finally, Liang Shanbo said, "Brother, you're getting more absurd. How can two men marry? Let's go!" Zhu Yingtai sighed, "Alas, playing the lute to a cow that doesn't understand music. My dear brother is as foolish as a cow." Later, Zhu Yingtai had no choice but to say, "If you, Brother, haven't settled on a wife yet, I'll act as a matchmaker for you. I have a younger sister named Jiuniu. I wonder if you'd like her? She's my twin, born on the same day. Her looks are just like mine. My father asked me to choose a worthy bride. Come early with your bridal carriage. I'll meet you on the seventh day of the seventh month at my home."
After Zhu Yingtai left the mountain, Liang Shanbo felt an inexplicable longing, which the headmistress noticed. She explained to him, and Liang Shanbo, realizing the truth, spoke in a dazed voice, "Yingtai is a woman. So, Yingtai is Jiuniu, and Jiuniu is Yingtai. Three years of studying together, she was actually arranging her own marriage." The headmistress smiled and said, "Since there is a marriage agreement, you should go and ask for her hand tomorrow. Tell the master and go visit Yingtai."
However, he never imagined that Ma Wencai had already beaten him to it, proposing to Zhu's family. Zhu Yingtai was trapped in the pain of her father forcing a marriage with Ma Wencai. After meeting with Zhu Yingtai on the tower, Liang Shanbo learned the truth and was struck dumbfounded. Upon returning, he fell ill from unbearable longing and died.
"They erected a tombstone at Huqiao Town, with two stones—one black, inscribed with 'Liang Shanbo,' and one red, inscribed with 'Zhu Yingtai.' Though they couldn't be husband and wife in life, they would share the same tomb in death!" Zhu Yingtai, heartbroken and helpless, pretended to agree to her father's arrangement for a marriage with Ma Wencai, on the condition that "two white silk lanterns be placed in front of the bridal carriage, three thousand pieces of silver ingots behind it, and the bridal carriage should first go to Huqiao Town. Yingtai must wear white and plain clothes to mourn her brother's tomb. If Father doesn't agree, I cannot go in the carriage."
At the tomb, Zhu Yingtai wept uncontrollably, as if dead. The sky darkened, clouds gathered, and suddenly, a brilliant light flashed, followed by a thunderclap. Rain poured down as if the sky had cracked open. At that moment, Liang Shanbo's tomb cracked open, revealing a hole the size of a door. Zhu Yingtai, seeing this, shouted, "Brother, I'm here!" and leaped into the hole. She then covered it with the earth from both sides of the opening.
The wind stopped, the rain ceased, and the sky gradually cleared. Two beautiful butterflies spread their wings, one above the other, one to the left, one to the right, fluttering around the trees and the new tombstones. They flew higher and higher, eventually disappearing into the branches of towering pines. (Anonymous) P1-3