One Dream Thousands of Years

The story of   Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (Butterfly Lovers)   originated in Jiang Nan of China. Where is Jiang Nan? "Jiang Nan" is neither a province nor a city. In Mandarin Chinese, "Jiang" means river and "Nan" means south. "Jiang Nan" refers to a geographic area in China that sits right on the Yangtze River delta. It centers around the Lake Tai and comprises cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Shaoxing, Zhenjiang, Wuxi, Huzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo, Changzhou, Jiaxing in a narrowly sense. From the earliest Hemudu Culture (around 5000 to 4000 BC) to the most prosperous region in today's China, we invite you to explore the history, culture, and art of "Jiang Nan" with our original illustrations through the first series of our blog. Top: Map of China (The area in the rectangle is Jiang Nan); Bottom: Map of Jiang Nan -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1700 years ago in China, education was a privilege to men. Zhu Yingtai, a young girl from a wealthy family in Zhejiang Province, longed for knowledge and convinced her family to allow her to pursue education disguised as a man. She went to a private school in Hangzhou where she met Liang Shanbo, a young man who later became her roommate and the very best friend. For three years, they studied together and Zhu gradually fell in love with Liang. However, as nerdy as he is, Liang never suspected for once that Zhu was indeed a woman.  When Zhu turned 18, her family abruptly called her back and arranged her marriage to Ma Wencai, a man from another wealthy family in the nearby village. Despite their unwillingness to separate, Liang saw Zhu off at the Duan Bridge ("Duan" means broken in Chinese) on the West Lake in Hangzhou. Zhu hinted Liang that she was actually a woman but how could Liang get it given that no woman at that time were allowed to attend school.