< Return to Video

The Chinese myth of the immortal white snake - Shunan Teng

  • 0:07 - 0:11
    The talented young herbalist named Xu Xian
    was in trouble.
  • 0:11 - 0:13
    It should have been a victorious moment–
  • 0:13 - 0:16
    he had just opened his very
    own medicine shop.
  • 0:16 - 0:19
    But he bought his supplies from
    his former employer,
  • 0:19 - 0:22
    and the resentful man
    sold him rotten herbs.
  • 0:22 - 0:26
    As Xu Xian wondered what to do with this
    useless inventory,
  • 0:26 - 0:28
    patients flooded into his shop.
  • 0:28 - 0:30
    A plague had stricken the city,
  • 0:30 - 0:32
    and he had nothing to treat them.
  • 0:32 - 0:34
    Just as he was starting to panic,
  • 0:34 - 0:39
    his wife, Bai Su Zhen, produced a recipe
    to use the rotten herbs as medicine.
  • 0:39 - 0:43
    Her remedy cured all the plague-afflicted
    citizens immediately.
  • 0:43 - 0:47
    Xu Xian’s former boss even had to buy back
    some of the rotten herbs
  • 0:47 - 0:48
    to treat his own family.
  • 0:48 - 0:53
    Shortly after, a monk named Fa Hai
    approached Xu Xian,
  • 0:53 - 0:56
    warning him that there was
    a demon in his house.
  • 0:56 - 0:59
    The demon, he said, was Bai Su Zhen.
  • 0:59 - 1:00
    Xu Xian laughed.
  • 1:00 - 1:04
    His kindhearted, resourceful wife
    was not a demon.
  • 1:04 - 1:05
    Fa Hai insisted.
  • 1:05 - 1:10
    He told Xu Xian to serve his wife realgar
    wine on the 5th day of the 5th month,
  • 1:10 - 1:12
    when demons’ powers are weakest.
  • 1:12 - 1:15
    If she wasn’t a demon, he explained,
    it wouldn’t hurt her.
  • 1:15 - 1:17
    Xu Xian dismissed the monk politely,
  • 1:17 - 1:20
    with no intention of serving
    Bai Su Zhen the wine.
  • 1:20 - 1:23
    But as the day approached,
    he decided to try it.
  • 1:23 - 1:26
    As soon as the wine touched
    Bai Su Zhen’s lips,
  • 1:26 - 1:29
    she ran to the bedroom,
    claiming she wasn’t feeling well.
  • 1:29 - 1:32
    Xu Xian prepared some medicine
    and went to check on her.
  • 1:32 - 1:34
    But instead of his wife,
  • 1:34 - 1:38
    he found a giant white serpent with a
    bloody forked tongue in the bed.
  • 1:38 - 1:41
    He collapsed, killed by the shock.
  • 1:41 - 1:42
    When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes,
  • 1:42 - 1:45
    she realized immediately what
    must have happened.
  • 1:45 - 1:49
    The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was
    an immortal snake
  • 1:49 - 1:51
    with formidable magical powers.
  • 1:51 - 1:53
    She had used her powers to take a
    human form
  • 1:53 - 1:56
    and improve her and
    her husband’s fortunes.
  • 1:56 - 1:58
    Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian,
  • 1:58 - 2:01
    but she had one more idea to save him:
  • 2:01 - 2:05
    an herb that could grant longevity
    and even bring the dead back to life,
  • 2:05 - 2:07
    guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole
  • 2:07 - 2:12
    in the forbidden peaks of the
    Kun Lun Mountains.
  • 2:12 - 2:16
    She rode to the mountains on a cloud,
  • 2:16 - 2:18
    then continued on foot passed gateways
    and arches
  • 2:18 - 2:21
    until she reached one
    marked “beyond mortals”
  • 2:21 - 2:23
    hanging over a silver bridge.
  • 2:23 - 2:24
    On the other side,
  • 2:24 - 2:27
    two of the Old Man’s disciples
    guarded the herb.
  • 2:27 - 2:30
    Bai Su Zhen disguised herself as a monk
  • 2:30 - 2:34
    and told them she’d come to invite
    the Old Man to a gathering of the gods.
  • 2:34 - 2:35
    While they relayed her message,
  • 2:35 - 2:38
    she plucked some leaves
    from the herb and ran.
  • 2:38 - 2:41
    The servants realized they had been
    tricked and chased her.
  • 2:41 - 2:44
    Bai Su Zhen coughed up a magic ball
    and threw it at one.
  • 2:44 - 2:46
    As the other closed in on her,
  • 2:46 - 2:48
    she put the herb under her tongue
    for safekeeping,
  • 2:48 - 2:52
    but its magic forced both of them
    into their true forms.
  • 2:52 - 2:54
    As the crane’s long beak
    clamped around her,
  • 2:54 - 2:56
    the Old Man appeared.
  • 2:56 - 2:59
    Why, he asked, would she risk her life
    to steal his herb
  • 2:59 - 3:01
    when she was already immortal?
  • 3:01 - 3:04
    Bai Su Zhen explained
    her love for Xu Xian.
  • 3:04 - 3:07
    Even if he didn’t want to be with her
    now that he knew she was a demon,
  • 3:07 - 3:10
    she was determined to
    bring him back to life.
  • 3:10 - 3:14
    The two had a karmic connection dating
    back more than a thousand years.
  • 3:14 - 3:16
    When Bai Su Zhen was a small snake,
  • 3:16 - 3:18
    a beggar was about to kill her,
  • 3:18 - 3:20
    but a kind passerby rescued her.
  • 3:20 - 3:23
    Her rescuer was Xu Xian in a past life.
  • 3:23 - 3:26
    Touched by her willingness
    to risk her life for him,
  • 3:26 - 3:31
    the Old Man permitted her to leave the
    mountain with the immortal herb.
  • 3:31 - 3:36
    Bai Su Zhen returned home
    to revive Xu Xian.
  • 3:36 - 3:37
    When he opened his eyes,
  • 3:37 - 3:41
    the terrified look frozen on his face
    became a smile.
  • 3:41 - 3:41
    Demon or not,
  • 3:41 - 3:44
    he was still happy to see his wife.
Title:
The Chinese myth of the immortal white snake - Shunan Teng
Speaker:
Shunan Teng
Description:

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-chinese-myth-of-the-immortal-white-snake-shunan-teng

The talented herbalist Xu Xian had just started his own medicine shop where he created remedies with the help of his wife, Bai Su Zhen. One day a monk named Fa Hai approached him, warning him that there was a demon in his house. The demon, he said, was Bai Su Zhen. Xu Xian laughed. How could his kind-hearted wife be a demon? Shunan Teng traces the tale of the immortal white snake.

Lesson by Shunan Teng, directed by Kino Bino.

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
03:44

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions