The Civilized Song

3 min read

It’s a legend of love and learning-the“Butterfly Lovers”，or“Liang Zhu”，one of the most well known romantic folk legends of China.Having been passed down for almost 1，700 years across different regions of China，the story has been morphed into countless movies，plays，operas，and even a concerto.Hangzhou played a special role:it’s the place where the couple in the story fell in love.

The story begins with the wealthy daughter，Zhu Yingtai，gaining entry to a famous academy-a domain dominated by men.In the case of the Ming Dynasty version，this was the Wansong Academy，founded in 1498 in southeastern Hangzhou at Phoenix Hill.

In order to buck the system，Zhu disguises herself as a boy-perhaps more reminiscent of one of Shakespeare’s comedies rather than”Romeo and Juliet”to which the “Butterfly Lovers”is so often compared-and meets another student，Liang Shanbo.The two become fast friends and over the course of three years of study，Zhu secretly falls in love with Liang.Liang plays the part of an aloof and nerdy character，blind to Zhu’s secret longings，and，of course，her feminine features.The story intensifies when Zhu is suddenly recalled home.

It is said that the two friends couldn’t bear to part from each other，so they traveledtogether for 18li（9 kilometers）before saying farewell.The Hangzhou version states that the pair crossed the same bridge on West Lake back and forth 18 times，giving the name “Long Bridge”or to the bridge now found on the south of the lake.Ever the coy，love-struck student，Zhu hints constantly during this journey that she loves Liang.She even promises to match Liang with her“sister”for marriage.Months pass and eventually Liang pays a visit to Zhu’s hometown where it is finally made clear that she is a woman；the two fall madly in love，pledging themselves to one another.But，their love was not to be，as Zhu finds she is to be married off to a rich playboy.The news crushes Liang and his health begins to wane-eventually leading to his tragic death.

But，where the flesh was weak，the heavens were strong.On the day of Zhu’s wedding，a strong wind stops her marriage procession from passing where Liang is buried.She steps out of the sedan to pay her respects.There，the ground opens and she plunges herself into it to join Liang in his grave.The ground closes and two butterflies emerge as their spirits，fluttering in the wind，never again to be parted.

While this story’s lore and literature precede the Ming Dynasty，the grounds of Wansong Academy are closely associated with the“Butterfly Lovers”.The renovated academy today at Phoenix Hill in the southeastern quadrant of West Lake pays homage tothe original founded in 1498-one of the top four in all of China for nearly 500 years.

Originally equipped with a full library，scientific instruments，and a school of management.

the school was visited by Qing Dynasty emperors Kangxi and Qianlong，both of whom left inscriptions there，a boon to the institution’s reputation.Although it declined in the early 20th century，the buildings have been fully restored to their former Ming glory.

Apart from scholarly halls and elegant lacquered desks，the academy has been landscaped with bamboo，trees，flowers，and rockery-decorated throughout with stone tables and wood-carvings.And，to some extent，the legend of the”Butterfly Lovers”has a fitting memorial here；April hosts floral festivals and May sees a matchmaking event at the campus-a fitting tribute to the immortalized love Zhu and Liang and the camaraderie they found in their halcyon student days.