Bai Suzhen

After one thousand years of disciplined training in Taoism on Mount Emei, the white snake, Bai Suzhen, is transformed into a woman by the essence of the Dragon King of the East China Sea. She decides to go out into the human realm and do good deeds in order to become immortal. She is later accepted by the goddess Lishan Laomu as a disciple.[2][6] While traveling in the human realm, Bai Suzhen comes across a green snake who is being threatened by a beggar. Pitying the green snake, she transforms into a human and rescues the green snake. In gratitude, the green snake pledged to remain by the white snake's side forever and becomes her sworn sister. Bai Suzhen often calls her Xiaoqing or Qingmei (青妹, lit. '[Little] Sister Qing').[7]

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 Buddhist 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 alcohol with Xiong Huang 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 Heaven.[2]

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.[8]

Bai Suzhen is worshipped as a deity in Chinese folk religion, where she is known as Madam White Snake.[9] It is said that she and Xu Xian once practiced Chinese medicine and that believers came to them seeking healing and health advice.

In Taoyuan City, Yangmei District, Taiwan, the White Snake Temple was built in 1991 and dedicated to her.[10][11] 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.[12][13]

Located in Jizhou, Tianjin, 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.[14]

• 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.[15][16]

• 
  Figurines, including one of Bai Suzhen, in the White Snake Temple in Taiwan
• 
  A wood relief decoration in the Leifeng Tower, Hangzhou
• 
  Hand-carved 3D wood reliefs depicting the story of Bai Suzhen
• 
  Image from the Summer Palace, Beijing, China, depicting the legend
• 
  White Snake Temple in Taiwan
• 
  Statutes in the White Snake Temple
• 
  Bai Suzhen in an opera portraying the legend
• 
  Statutes of the three protagonists in the Peking Opera.