10 greatest Chinese love stories

Here are the top ten widespread ancient Chinese love stories, some are myths or legends, some are literary works, and some are real persons. Most of them are tragic stories and there is also no lack of romantic comedy.

01

The Butterfly Lovers 

梁祝

The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Their love story is considered as the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet.

The legend is set in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, about 1600 years ago. In order to pursue her academic success, Zhu Yingtai decided to go to Hangzhou to attend classes in disguise as a young man. During her journey to Hangzhou, she met Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji. They studied together for the next three years and Zhu gradually fell in love with Liang. But Liang is a bookworm and failed to notice it. Later, after being clear about Zhu`s love to him, he headed for the Zhu`s family to propose marriage. 

Unfortunately, Zhu had been betrothed by her father to another man named Ma Wencai. Liang was so grieved that he suffered decease and finally died. On the day of Ma and Zhu’s marriage, Zhu went to Liang’s tomb to show respect to him. She was very grieved and begged for the grave to open up. After a while, the tomb opened as she wished and Zhu threw herself into it without any hesitation. Later on, the lovers turned into a pair of beautiful butterflies and flied wing to wing and would never to be separated again.

Their touching love story is very popular in China and other East Asia areas.

02

Niulang and Zhinu

牛郎织女

Niulang (cowherd) and Zhinu (weaver) is one of the most famous Chinese folk love legend. The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago.

Niulang was an honest and kind-hearted cowherd and lived by himself herding cattle and farming. One day he came across a beautiful girl – Zhinu, the seventh daughter of the Goddess, who had escaped from the boring heaven to look for fun, Zhinu soon fell in love with him and came down secretly to earth and married him. They lived a happy life and gave birth to two children. Unfortunately, the Goddess soon found out the fact that her daughter married a mortal. She was furious and took Zhinu back to the heaven.

Niulang was very upset after his wife left him. Driven by Niulang’s misery, his ox began to talk and helped him fly to heaven to meet his wife. At the time when he was about to catch up with his wife, the goddess found this and used her hairpin to slash it across the sky creating the Milky Way between them. Zhinu became the star Vega and Niulang the star Altair. They were separated on the two banks and could only feel their tears. Moved by their love and devotion, lots of magpies formed bridge for the couple to meet each other. The Goddess was also touched by their love and finally allowed them to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month.

On that day Chinese people will look up the sky and see the two stars Altair and Vega on the same side of the Milky Way for the once in a year meeting.

03

Legend of the White Snake

白蛇传

Legend of the White Snake is a popular folklore based in Hangzhou. It tells the love-story of Bai Suzhen (a snake turned lady) and Xu Xian.

Bai Suzhen was a human manifest of a white snake spirit. She fell in love with a scholar Xu Xian. The two married and soon had a child. However, their happiness was short-lived as a monk, Fahai, had discovered the real identity of Bai Suzhen and decided to separate them but failed. Fahai then captured Xu Xian and imprisoned him in Jinshan Temple. In order to rescue Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen and her sisiter Xiaoqing used her powers to flood the temple. However, Bai was eventually captured and imprisoned in the Lei Feng Pagoda.

20 years later, their son Xu Mengjiao topped the imperial examination. He paid respects to his mother at the Lei Feng Pagoda and his filial piety freed Bai Suzhen from Leifeng Pagoda and the whole family reunited.

04

Song of Everlasting Regret 

长恨歌

Song of Everlasting Regret is a long poem by Bai Juyi (772-846), depicting the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and his beloved concubine Yang Yuhuan.

On prosperous Tang dynasty, Yang Yuhuan first married the son of Emperor Xuanzong and somehow came into Xuanzong’s favor and the emperor finally took her as his consort. Emperor Xuanzhong was indulged in the beauty of Yang Guifei that he did not attend to his court duties and finally led to An’s rebellion in 755. Yang Guifei was blamed for the rebellion and forced to suicide herself. Tang Xuanzong was so upset that he later abdicated and was succeeded by his son.

Their love story is very famous around China and has been recomposed into a live dancing performance show in Xian City.

05

Romance of the West Chamber 

西厢记

Romance of the West Chamber is a Chinese dramatic work written by the Yuan Dynasty playwright Wang Shifu. It tells the story of a secret love affair between Zhang Sheng, a young scholar, and Cui Yingying, the daughter of a chief minister who had passed away.

Zhang Sheng met Cui Yingying when he stayed in a temple and soon fell in love with her. However, Yingying’s beauty became known by a local bandit. He dispatches ruffians to besiege them, in the hopes of taking her as his consort. Yingying’s mother declared that she would marry her daughter to whoever could save her. Zhang Sheng managed to save Yingying with his friend’s help. But her mother refused to fulfil her promise because he was poor. With the help of Hong Niang, Yingying’s maid, they broke the traditional barrier and finally married.

During the past several hundred years, it has greatly stimulated numerous hearts of the young people.

06

Feng Qiu Huang 

凤求凰

Feng Qiu Huang is a famous Chinese zither song. The song is about  the love story of Zhuo Wenjun and Sima Xiangru.

Sima Xiangru (179-113 BCE) was a well-known poet in Han Dynasty. Zhuo Wenjun was the widowed daughter of Zhuo Wangsun of Lin Hong County in Sichuan Province. One day during a social event in the wealthy man’s home Sima Xiangru played Guqin (Chinese zither), Zhuo Wenjun was listening from the next room and the song at once touched her heart. By a sudden gust of the wind, the curtain shifted. They saw each other and fell in love at first sight. They then eloped, running a wine shop and living in poverty until her father finally forgave them and gave them money.

Feng Qiu Huang as a love story can be found in numerous literature works and dramas. Feng Qiu Huang has served as a symbol of the youth’s pursuit for love, free marriage and happy life.

07

The Peacocks Fly to the Southeast 

孔雀东南飞

The Peacocks Fly to the Southeast by Xie Lingyun (385 – 433) is the first long narrative poem in Chinese literary history. This poem presents a tragic love story in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

This poem tells a tragic love story during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).  During Jian’an Period in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a girl named Liu Lanzhi from a common family married Jiao Zhongqing, who was from a well-known official family which was in decline at that time. Though they loved each other, Liu was forced by her mother-in-law to leave her husband due to difference in family status. Her elder brother forced her to remarry. Finally, Liu had no choice but drowned herself in a pond. After hearing her death, Jiao hanged himself on a tree in his yard to express his faithful love.

The Peacocks Fly to the Southeast presents people’s desire for love and free marriage in ancient China. The heroine’s faithful love and her courage in devotion to love have roused sympathetic response in many youth people.

08

Tian Xian Pei 

天仙配

Tian Xian Pei (The legend of Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy) is a story widely known in China.

The Seventh Fairy, the seventh daughter of the Jade Emperor, traveled to the mortal world to look for her flying “feather coat “.  She met a young man Dong Yong, who would sell himself into slavery to pay for his father’s funeral. The Seventh Fairy saw his loyalty and descended to Earth to marry Dong Yong without the knowledge of his father. When Jade Emperor discovered this he ordered his daughter to return to the Heaven and threatened to kill Dong Yong if did not come back to the Heaven. The Fairy had no choice but to leave her husband to save him. 

The story is much favored by the general public and has been selected on the List of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritages.

09

Chang’e Benyue 

嫦娥奔月

Chang’e Benyue (Chang’e Flies to the Moon) is a beautiful love legend in ancient China.

According to the legend, Hou Yi was a mighty archer who had shot down nine of the ten suns, leaving just the one that still lights up our skies. He had a beautiful wife named Chang’e whom he loved with all his heart. He wanted their happiness to last forever, so he asked the Queen Mother of the West for some magic water for the elixir of life. Hou Yi and Chang’e decided to share the drink in mid-autumn when the light of the full moon shone on earth. However, on that day an envious man who wanted the elixir for himself killed Hou Yi and threatened Chang’e. Chang’e drank the liquid and soon and then flew to the moon and became a goddess. She lives there with a rabbit named Jade.

Their touching story spread in China and the common people began to pray to the moon for luck and safety from the virtuous goddess.

10

Dream of the Red Chamber

红楼梦

Dream of the Red Chamber, composed by Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty, is one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels. The novel mainly centers love story the tale of Jia Baoyu and his cousins Lin Daiyu.

Beautiful and intelligent Lin Daiyu lost her parents in childhood and lived in her grandma’s home in Beijing receiving nonchalant treatment. Especially, when she and Jia Baoyu became increasingly fond of each other, their innocent love was suffocated by the feudal concept of “match made in heaven.” Suffering from long-term lovesickness, plus the heavy shock that Baoyu had to marry someone else; Lin lost her life at a very young age. Later Jia became a monk in a faraway place, mourning of his beloved one.

Their love story is called China`s Romeo and Juliet and the novel is favored by many Chinese people.