Bixian Nunnery

Bixian Nunnery is just beside the back cave of Shanjuan Cave. It is said that Bixian Nunnery was Zhu Yingtai’s school in East Jin Dynasty. Zhu Yingtai is the heroine of Liang & Zhu (Butterfly Lovers), one of the four great romantic tales in China. Liang & Zhu was compared by Premier Zhou to the Chinese Romeo & Juliet. It is a tragic but beautiful and moving love story. Many versions of its origin coexist. Some believe the story happened in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. Some believe it was originated in Yixing, Jiangsu Province. Some hold the idea that it occurred in Runan, Henan Province. As a result, the love story has relevant versions which are somewhat different from each other. 

Yixing’s version goes that there was a village named Zhujia Zhuang on the hillside beside Shanjuan Cave. The villagers shared the same family name: Zhu. A rich man named Zhu Gongyuan lived there. He and his wife totally bore eight boys and one little girl. Unfortunately, the boys all died young. The little girl was then disguised as a boy by her parents so that she could be the successor. In ancient China, daughters were not allowed to inherit in law. The girl was thus named Zhu Yingtai, quite a masculine name. Zhu Yingtai was extraordinarily talented, and had a strong desire to learn. Therefore, her father established a school in Bixian Nunnery and invited some learned teachers and Buddhist nuns to teach. Zhu Yingtai, Liang Shanbo, and Ma Wencai, the three main characters of the story, one after the other enrolled in the school. They learned for ten years. Afterwards, they started their education tour together towards Qilu and Dongwu.

Due to the fact that they got along well with each other and they lived together for long, Ma Wencai discovered that Zhu Yingtai was a woman. Yet Liang Shanbo who was simple and a little bit slow didn’t know the truth. Ma Wencai wrote a love poem for Zhu Yingtai, which was known by his father. His father sent a matchmaker to Zhu Yingtai’s home to propose a marriage for his son. And Zhu Yingtai’s parents accepted.

However, Zhu Yingtai was in love with Liang Shanbo, though Liang Shanbo was too slow to know that. Later Zhu Yingtai left for home. Before she left, she dropped Laing Shanbo a hint that she had a younger twin sister who looked exactly the same as her and she would like him to marry her sister. Liang Shanbo was happy to know that and he promised he would ask his parents to arrange the proposal for him. In ancient China, marriage was absolutely in the control of parents. Zhu Yingtai told Liang Shanbo that she would like him to propose as soon as possible and she would wait for him. Then she left.

When she got home, her parents told her she was to marry Ma Wencai. Zhu Yingtai was astonished to learn that and she told her parents that she would wait for Liang Shanbo’s proposal. Her parents insisted that she should marry Ma Wencai for Ma Wencai was born in the purple and began to make arrangements for the wedding. Zhu Yingtai waited, day by day, in misery and desperation. But Liang Shanbo didn’t come, for his family was too poor to collect enough money for a proposal. When he finally got enough money and went to Zhu Yingtai’s home, he was happy to find that Zhu Yingtai was a female and yet shocked to learn that she was to marry Ma Wencai soon. He pleaded with Zhu Yingtai’s father to allow him to meet with Zhu Yingtai face to face for the last time. Finally, the two met with their eyes brimming over with tears of sorrow. There was nothing else they could do to free them from the tragedy.

Liang Shanbo was gloomy and heartbroken, and soon fell ill after he left Zhu Yingtai’s home. Before long, he died. At the news of his death, Zhu Yingtai made up her mind to commit suicide for love. On her way to the wedding, she got off the bridal sedan chair at Liang Shanbo’s grave. She cried bitterly for the death of Liang Shanbo. In response to her extreme sorrow, rain and wind, thunder and lightning, suddenly came forth with a vengeance. The grave abruptly cracked in the middle. Zhu Yingtai resolutely leaped into the grave. Afterwards, the crack healed. Rain and wind, thunder and lightning all stopped at once. And a rainbow turn up which formed a beautiful arc in the sky. Two butterflies flew out of the grave. They chased and played with each other. People believed they were Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

It’s rather fantastic yet fairly beautiful. The tale has been handed down from generation to generation. And in Bixian Nunnery, there is a qin and sword tomb for Zhu Yingtai. Many celebrities wrote poems for the love story and inscribed their poems in steles in the nunnery. In the southwest is Yingtai Pavilion. It consists of Qin Room, where Zhu Yingtai played the qin, a musical instrument, and the Study Room. In the nunnery, there is also Butterfly Room, which was constructed in memory of the butterfly lovers. You can enjoy the story performed in Yue Opera in the nunnery. As the origin of one of the most touching romantic stories in China, the nunnery has a special place where lovers can hang love locks.