July 19
With so little time left in Hangzhou I felt like I really wanted to pursue my quest of finding some of the spots where the West Lake stories took place. We started out on the Su Causeway. With the breezes blowing, willows weeping and water calm except for a few fish jumping, we had a tranquil walk.
We passed the Three Moon Reflecting Pools - stone lanterns in the water. This site represents the Stone Incense burner story. I was surprised that these pagodas were not made more prominent - pictures of the pagodas lit up adorn many a post card and guide book.
As it got dark we walked to the Leifeng Pagada. It was quite beautiful. Outside there was a sculpture depicting the White Snake, the most famous West Lake Story. Each floor of the inside of the pagoda represented many different perspectives of the West Lake. Buddhist paintings adorned one floor, historical depictions of the lake another, and calligraphy and poetry about the lake were in another. Best of all was the floor that completely retold the White Snake story in wooden relief sculptures. These art works were intricate and delicate and at the same time strong and powerful. I loved seeing this most famous folk tale retold.
A moving love story is contained in the Leifeng Pagoda history. The story tells of a young scholar who falls in love with a beautiful woman, unaware that she is a white snake who has taken on human form. A monk intervenes in order to save the scholar’s soul and casts the white snake into a deep well at the Leifeng Pagoda. Over centuries the story has evolved from horror story to romance with the scholar and the white snake-woman genuinely in love with one another, but such a relationship is forbidden by the laws of Heaven. The legend was existed as oral traditions long before any written compilation. It has since become a major subject of several Chinese opera, films and TV series.
http://www.topchinatravel.com/china-guide/chinese-traditional-performan…
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