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Story 60: White Snake and Xu Xian
White Snake and Xu Xian
Author: Anonymous
Legend has it that in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a young shopkeeper named Xu Xian (also named Xu Xuan) who lived in Zhuer Lane, Guojunqiao, Hangzhou (near today’s Drum Tower). During the Qingming Festival one year, he went to visit the graves near Lingyin. It rained heavily when we returned, so we hired a boat to go home at Broken Bridge. At this time, Bai Suzhen, who had been trained by the White Snake for thousands of years, and Xiao Qing’er, who had been trained by the Green Snake, turned into a maidservant and met Xu Xian.
Bai Suzhen fell in love with Xu Xian and asked to take a boat home. Xu Xian agreed to her. When they landed at Yongjinmen, the rain still continued. Xu Xian lent his umbrella to the two masters and maidservants, and went back to the shop in the rain.
The next day, Xu Xian went to Bai’s house to get an umbrella as promised and was warmly entertained by Bai Suzhen. Finally, Xiao Qing’er negotiated an agreement and the two got married. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Zhenjiang and opened a drug store. Their life as a couple was very happy.
Unexpectedly, Fahai, the presiding officer of Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, knew about Bai Suzhen’s origins. He thought that the Buddhist land in the south of the Yangtze River could not tolerate evildoers, so he used the name of visiting the temple to ask for alms to sow discord between Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen.
Under Fahai’s inducement, Xu Xian made Bai Suzhen drink realgar wine on the Dragon Boat Festival. He found that Bai Suzhen revealed her original form of a white snake after being drunk, and was frightened and fainted. Bai woke up and went to the Immortal Mountain to steal the celestial grass and save Xu Xian despite all the difficulties and dangers. However, after Xu Xian recovered from his illness, he was instigated by Fahai and went to Jinshan Temple to fulfill his wish.
Fahai asked him to become a monk and put him under house arrest. Bai Suzhen went to Suofu and begged in every possible way, but was insulted. She and Xiao Qing’er had no choice but to mobilize the shrimp soldiers and crab generals to pour water from the Yangtze River backward, flooding the Jinshan Mountains.
Fa Hai asked for heavenly soldiers and generals to resist. After a fierce battle between the two sides, Bai Suzhen was defeated and returned to Hangzhou. At this time, Xu Xian took advantage of the chaos and fled back to Hangzhou, where he met Bai and Qing at the “Broken Bridge”.
Not long after, Bai Suzhen gave birth to a boy named Xu Shilin. During the festive full moon, Fahai arrived. He offered a golden bowl and suppressed Bai Suzhen under the Leifeng Pagoda of West Lake, claiming that he would not allow her to see the light of day again until the tower fell. Xiao Qing’er, who escaped during the “Hebo”, later practiced in the mountains for many years and learned a lot of magic.
Finally, he knocked down the Leifeng Pagoda, rescued the White Snake, and ascended to heaven together. Fahai, who was defeated, had nowhere to hide, so he finally had to Hide in the crab shell. To this day, when people eat crabs, there is a “crab monk” inside the shell, which is said to be Monk Fahai.
