In ancient China there lived a beautiful young girl named Zhu Yingtai. Now Zhu was not only beautiful but also intelligent. But at that time girls were not allowed to go to school. Zhu was also very persuasive and she managed to convince her parents to allow her to dress herself as a boy and go to school in the neighbouring town.
On the way to the school she met a handsome young man called Liang Shanbo. Now it turned out that Liang and Zhu were going to the same school. So there on the side of the road they swore an oath of brotherhood.
When they got to the school, they studied together, lived together, and played together. Yet Liang never knew that Zhu was actually a girl. Well, the girl Zhu fell madly in love with the boy Liang, and the boy Liang was somewhat confused by the strange feelings he had towards this pretty young “boy”.
Three years passed, Zhu was called back home urgently and she discovered that she had been promised in marriage to the most powerful family in the village. Liang followed Zhu there three months later. When he found out that Zhu was a girl, he was overjoyed. He fell madly in love with her and they promised they would be together, happy, if not in this life, then in the next. When he found out about the betrothal, and realised that he could do nothing about it, he was heart-broken, and fell ill, and two months later he died.
Zhu, on her way to her wedding, took a detour via Liang's grave. A terrible storm blew up and the grave cracked open. Zhu, keeping to her promise, followed Liang into his grave. When the storm had passed, from the crack in the grave two beautiful butterflies flew out. Happy together, if not in this life, then in the next.
And this is the story of “梁山伯与祝英台Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai”, or The Butterfly Lovers - The Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet.
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