Lady White Snake: A Tale from Chinese Opera [Hardcover]

Lady White and her friend Blue (who are both snakes), decide to leave their residence at Mt. Emei and experience the human world. A young man, Xu Xian, offers the two women the use of his umbrella when it begins to rain, and plans to pick it up from them the following day. After spending the day drinking tea with the two women, Xu Xian and Lady White agree to marry. Unfortunately, the two do not live happily ever after--because of the meddling of a monk who considers Lady White a demon and tries to convince Xu Xian of that fact. After a series of confrontations between the monk and Lady White, the story follows operatic tradition as the monk finally succeeds in ripping the two lovers apart. He captures Lady White and imprisons her under a pagoda by West Lake, where she will remain until either the lake dries up or the pagoda falls. However, the story does conclude on a hopeful note. As the centuries pass, Lady White's friend Blue trains until she and her army are able to destroy the pagoda and free Lady White from her prison, giving her freedom and perhaps one day another chance at love.

The author has included some pages of extra information that is helpful to those of us who are not familiar with aspects of Chinese opera that appear in this story. The beginning also has a pronunciation guide on names non-Chinese speakers may have problems with. There is also a brief description about the style of Chinese calligraphy the artist chose to incorporate into the illustrations. The illustrations are quite impressive, especially the two page spread showing the battle between the armies of the monastery and Lady White. The illustrator makes it seem as though they are images from a production of the opera, which enhances the story.

This is a great, well-written book, telling a story that most readers will not be familiar with. All the readers though will appreciate the action of the story and the lovely pictures that accompany the text. There is love and excitement, and while there is not a `happily ever after' ending between Lady White and Xu Xian, there are hints that love might come again for Lady White. However, one thing to be aware of is that this book will probably work better as a read aloud book than one kids read themselves, because of the long plot and unfamiliar words.

This story will probably especially appeal to girls, in both the exotic costumes and the characters who are passionate and adventurous. While Lady White does marry and have a child, unlike the "traditional" female role, she is not someone who will passively stand by and watch things happen without doing something. Her friend Blue has a similar personality, even struggling over the centuries to become strong enough to free Lady White.

Lady White Snake: A Tale From Chinese Opera is a traditional tale illustrated with lovely Chinese drawings. Chinese characters show the symbols from long ago compared with modern. Chinese names have a pronunciation guide to assist the storyteller.

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