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List of media adaptations of the Legend of the White Snake

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Portraying the "Legend of the White Snake" in Peking opera.

The Legend of the White Snake, also known as Madame White Snake, is a Chinese legend and one of China's Four Great Folktales of Chinese literature. Stories and characters were widely used, especially in Beijing opera, and has been adapted many times in modern film, television, stage, and other media. Some characters are worshiped as deities in Chinese folk religion.

Operas and stage plays

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Pai Niang Niang, created by Joseph Koo and Wong Jim. Premiering in 1972, it marked the start of the musical theater industry in Hong Kong.
White Snake, Green Snake (2005), created by Christopher Wong
The Legend of the White Snake, created by Leon Ko and Chris Shum

Films

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Television

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  • Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔), a 1977 Taiwanese television series.
  • Legend of the White Snake (白蛇傳), a 1985 Taiwanese television series.
  • The Serpentine Romance (奇幻人間世), a 1990 television series produced by Hong Kong's TVB, starring Maggie Chan, Maggie Siu and Hugo Ng.
  • New Legend of Madame White Snake / The Legend of White Snake (新白娘子傳奇), a 1992 Taiwanese television series starring Angie Chiu, Cecilia Yip and Maggie Chen.
  • The Legendary White Snake (白蛇後傳之人間有愛), a 1995 Singaporean television series starring Geoffrey Tso, Lin Yisheng, Terence Cao, Lina Ng, Ding Lan, Liu Qiulian and Wang Changli.
  • My Date with a Vampire (我和殭屍有個約會), a Hong Kong television series produced by ATV. The series made extensive use of the story, reusing it in the first season (1998) and a modified version in the second season (1999).
  • Madam White Snake / Legend of the Snake Spirits (白蛇新傳), a 2001 Taiwanese and Singapore co-produced television series starring Fann Wong, Christopher Lee, Zhang Yuyan and Vincent Jiao.
  • Madame White Snake (白蛇傳), a 2005 Chinese television series starring Liu Tao, Pan Yueming, Chen Zihan and Liu Xiaofeng.
  • The Legend of White Snake Sequel / Tale of the Oriental Serpent (白蛇後傳), a 2009 sequel to Madame White Snake (2005), starring Fu Miao, Qiu Xinzhi, Shi Zhaoqi, Chi Shuai and Cecilia Liu.
  • Love of the Millennium (又見白娘子), a loose sequel to New Legend of Madame White Snake (1992), starring Zuo Xiaoqing, Queenie Tai, Ren Quan and Shen Xiaohai.
  • The Destiny of White Snake (2017), a loose adaptation of the classic folk tale starring Yang Zi and Ren Jialun.
  • The Legend of the White Snake (2019), a web series adaption of the classic folk tale starring Ju Jingyi and Yu Menglong.
  • New Madam White Snake (2019), a web drama adaptation of the classic folk tale starring Sun Xiaoxiao, Lu Hong and Zhang Tianyang.

Others

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  • Lu Xun penned an essay "Comments on the Collapse of the Leifeng Pagoda" (论雷峰塔的倒掉) in 1924, celebrating its collapse as a symbolic blow to feudalistic and conservative forces, symbolized by the monk Fahai and his interference in the romance between Xu and Bai.
  • In the West, there have been children's picture book adaptations of the legend, written by Western authors and illustrated by Chinese artists, including:
    • Legend of the White Serpent by A. Fullarton Prior, illustrated by Kwan Sang-Mei[9]
    • Lady White Snake: A Tale From Chinese Opera, by Aaron Shepard, illustrated by Song Nang Zhang[10]
  • The novella The Devil Wives of Li Fong by E. Hoffmann Price is based on the story.
  • The legend is a major part of the fantasy novella "Fighting Demons" by S.L. Huang.
  • In 2009, Dantès Dailiang made use of the Chinese lyrics of the Legend of White Snake for his song La muse aux lèvres rouges (红唇之缪斯女神), recorded in his LP Dailiang.
  • In 2012 the Swatch company launched a model named The legend of white snake in honor of the Chinese new year, the year of the snake. The watch's hands are white and green snakes.
  • Scale-Bright (2014) by Benjanun Sriduangkaew is a novella that transposes the Legend of the White Snake to contemporary Hong Kong.
  • DC Comics used a variation on this tale for the origin story for the Wonder-Woman of China in an issue of New Super-Man, released in August 2017.
  • The White Snake Temple [zh] in Taiwan is dedicated to Bai Suzhen.
  • A PC game, Mizuchi 白蛇心傳 by Aikasa Collective, was released on Steam in 2020[11]. It is a Yuri version loosely inspired by the Legend of White Snake. The game was later picked up by publishers for release on Switch, PS4 and PS5 in 2024[12].
  • In the 2022 mobile game Dislyte, Bai Liuli is a Rare Esper with the powers of the White Snake.
  • Suzhen's krait, a species of krait that was first identified in 2021, was named after Bai Suzhen in honor of her courage in pursuing true love and her kindness towards people.[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ Boston Globe: "Curtain rises on ancient Chinese myth," March 1, 2010, accessed March 2, 2010
  2. ^ "Oregon Shakespeare Festival" website [1] Archived June 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 4, 2012
  3. ^ Tony Rayns audio commentary on Ugetsu, The Criterion Collection, 2005
  4. ^ "Weird Wild Realm: Films About Lady White Snake".
  5. ^ "Fujian xi ju: Fujianxiju". 福建省戯劇年鑑 (Fujian Drama Yearbook) (in Chinese) (1–6). Fujian: 中国戏剧家协会福建分会 (Fujian Branch of China Dramatists Association): 11. 1985. 近年拍摄的戏曲片《白蛇传》观众人数最多,达七亿人次、《七品芝麻官》五亿人次。 [In recent years, the opera film "Legend of the White Snake" has the largest audience, reaching 700 million people, and "Sesame Official" with 500 million people.]
  6. ^ "回望中国电影20年 从5亿人看《少林寺》到票房1日破亿" [Looking back at Chinese movies over 20 years, from 500 million people watching "Shaolin Temple" to the box office breaking 100 million in one day]. China Daily (in Chinese). 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  7. ^ Eolin, Sara. "Daphne Guinness Exhibit at FIT" September 13, 2011 in Aero Film Blog. http://aerofilm.blogspot.com/2011/09/fashion-week-has-settled-upon-new-york.html Archived October 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "我的蛇精女友 (豆瓣)". movie.douban.com.
  9. ^ Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1960,
  10. ^ Union City, CA: Pan Asian Publications, 2001.
  11. ^ "Mizuchi 白蛇心傳 on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  12. ^ "Mizuchi". Soft Source Publishing. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  13. ^
  14. ^ "Deadly new snake named after mythical Chinese goddess of healing". Mongabay Environmental News. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-08-21.