Ancient Tragic Love Stories: Bai Suzhen
The story takes place in Suzhou and Hangzhou, by the West Lake, near the Broken Bridge, in the misty rain. After a hundred years of cultivation, they were finally able to share a boat ride. Then, with the simple act of offering an umbrella, their chance encounter continued, and soon after, they became a married couple in the human world.
Bai Suzhen’s dream was simple: to live as an ordinary person. She was originally a spirit, and with effort, she had the potential to ascend to immortality. Immortality is what many spirits dream of, but Bai Suzhen fell in love with Xu Xian at first sight. Remarkably, she gave up the bright path of becoming an immortal to live as a human.
But in the end, Bai Suzhen died at the hands of the man she loved. When she revealed her true form, she still looked up at Xu Xian—what kind of expression was in her eyes? In this legend, Leifeng Pagoda was initially just a structure built from bricks and stones, ordered by Fa Hai. Later, Xu Xian sought alms and built a seven-story pagoda, forever sealing Bai Suzhen beneath it.
All she did was love a man, yet he was the one who personally imprisoned her. She had always been obedient, gentle, and devoted to being a virtuous wife. In some versions of the story, she was even pregnant. Bai Suzhen’s love was unwavering; she would even defy the heavenly laws for him—so what?
But Xu Xian was hesitant, panicked, and defensive, and eventually, he tried to escape. Perhaps Xu Xian shouldn’t be blamed entirely—any man in his position would struggle to maintain love once they knew their partner was a spirit. Consider the scholars and spirits in “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio”: they fell in love, but there was never a happy ending. They were from different worlds, destined to part ways at dawn after their midnight tryst.
Unless the love was so deep, so profound that it transcended the boundaries of species; so deep that it didn’t matter who or what you were; so deep that one might even wish to be a spirit too, just to share the burden of sin. Spirits don’t understand how difficult it is to win a man’s true heart. Even if you give him the whole world, he may still scorn your origins.
That day, on the Broken Bridge, Bai Suzhen chose the wrong person. Or perhaps it was she herself who was mistaken; she lacked the spirit’s decisiveness and instead had a human’s obsessive longing.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
