The Butterfly Lovers

Meet the voices

• Narrator · 旁白 — Tells the old story of Liang and Zhu, the way it has been told for a thousand years.
• Zhu Yingtai · 祝英台 — A bright, stubborn girl who wants to study so much that she becomes someone else to do it.
• Liang Shanbo · 梁山伯 — A kind, earnest scholar. Clever with books — much less clever with hints.
• Master Zhu · 祝老爷 — Yingtai's father. He loves his daughter, and he loves a good match even more.
• The Matchmaker · 媒婆 — The Ma family's chatty matchmaker, who cares a great deal about lucky days and very little about broken hearts.
• Yinxin · 银心 — Yingtai's maid and only confidante, who goes to school with her dressed as a book boy.
• Sijiu · 四九 — Shanbo's book boy, cheeky, chatty and loyal to the end.
• The Teacher · 先生 — The strict but fair old schoolmaster in Hangzhou who teaches them both.
• The Old Steward · 老管家 — Master Zhu's old steward, who never knows the young lady when she is dressed as a boy.
• Liang's Mother · 梁妈妈 — Shanbo's poor, loving mother in Kuaiji.

25 chapters in 5 parts

Part 1: Off to Hangzhou 去杭州

Part 2: Three Years, One Secret 三年的秘密

Part 3: The Eighteen-Li Road 十八里路

Part 4: Heartsick 心病

Part 5: The Wedding Day 出嫁

Key words in The Butterfly Lovers

• 小姐 xiǎo jie: young lady
• 墓 mù: grave
• 读书 dú shū: to study
• 书 shū: book
• 兄弟 xiōng dì: brothers
• 爸爸 bà ba: father
• 学生 xué sheng: student
• 红包 hóng bāo: red envelope
• 夫妻 fū qī: married couple
• 妹妹 mèi mei: younger sister

Behind the story

The Butterfly Lovers (梁山伯与祝英台, usually shortened to 梁祝) is one of China's Four Great Folk Legends, with The White Snake, Lady Meng Jiang and The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. It is often called the Chinese Romeo and Juliet.

The story is set about 1,600 years ago, when girls could not go to school. It was already written down in the Tang dynasty, and the two butterflies first appear in writings of the Song. This graded adaptation follows those old versions over 25 chapters, from the Tang records to Feng Menglong's retelling in the 1620s and the ballads and operas of the Qing.

Did you know?

• 十八相送, “the eighteen-li farewell,” is the famous walk where Yingtai drops hint after hint and Shanbo misses every one.
• The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (1959) by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang is one of the best-known pieces of Chinese classical music.
• Butterflies in pairs still stand for lasting love in China, thanks to this story.