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Bai Suzhen (t=白素貞), also known as Lady Bai (), is a one-thousand-year-old white snake Yaoguai and the title character of the Legend of the White Snake, one of China's "four great folktales". The legend has been adapted into several Chinese operas, films, television series and other media. In some versions of the legend, Bai Suzhen becomes a goddess; her worshippers refer to her as Madam White Snake ().
Bai Suzhen is regarded as a symbol of true love and good-heartedness by the Chinese people.
In the Ming and Qing version, Bai Suzhen depiction was changed to have a morally good depiction, showing more of a caring side. To which Bai Suzhen’s story became a tale of love.
On a visit to West Lake, she falls in love with a young man named Xu Xian and soon becomes his wife. In an alternative version of the story, Bai Suzhen takes on a beautiful woman form to search for Xu Xian, who had saved her life in a past life. She feels indebted to him and wants to repay the favor by helping him in his life. Eventually, however, a Buddhism monk, Abbot Fahai, discovers her true origin and tells Xu Xian that Bai Suzhen is a snake spirit, but Xu Xian is not convinced. After receiving advice from Fahai, Xu Xian convinced Bai Suzhen to drink realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival. This caused Bai Suzhen to reveal her true form as a snake, but the sight frightened Xu Xian so much that he died of shock. Distraught and desperate to bring her husband back to life, Bai Suzhen went to Heaven to steal the immortal herb Lingzhi. She succeeded in her mission and used the herb to revive Xu Xian. She continues to compel her to fight for both her marriage and her freedom. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fought against Fahai and flooded the temple with water, hurting other living creatures. At last he tracks down the couple, defeats Bai Suzhen and imprisons her in the imposing Leifeng Pagoda. During her imprisonment, Bai Suzhen gives birth to a son named Xu Shilin. Later, Bai Suzhen's son grew up to be a successful scholar and went to the pagoda to pay respects to his mother, rescuing her and ascending to Tian.
In one version of the story, Bai Suzhen is transformed into the mount of the goddess Yaotai Laomu after her imprisonment. She continues to accompany Yaotai Laomu for many years as they work to assist all living beings and save the world.
In Taoyuan City, Yangmei District, Taiwan, the White Snake Temple was built in 1991 and dedicated to her. The temple inaugurated the annual Dragon Boat Festival to celebrate the birthday of Madam White Snake, and it has become a traditional and popular event.
Located in Jizhou, Tianjin, China the White Snake Cave is where the statues of Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing stand as deities. Legend has it that the White Snake practiced Taoism within this cave.
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