''New Legend of Madame White Snake'' (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: ) is a 1992

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

starring

Angie Chiu Angie Chiu (; born 15 November 1954) is a Hong Kong actress, and was the third runner up in the 1973 Miss Hong Kong pageant. Early life In 1954, Chiu was born in Hong Kong. In 1971, Chiu graduated from Shung Tak Catholic English College and l ...

and

Cecilia Yip Cecilia Yip Tung (; born 8 March 1963) is a Hong Kong actress whose work is known throughout Asia, especially in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Career She began her acting career in 1982 with ''Nomad'' for which she was nominated for t ...

. It is based on the Chinese folk legend ''

Legend of the White Snake The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series. The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden L ...

''. First shown on

Taiwan Television Taiwan Television Enterprise, Ltd. (), commonly known as TTV and formerly known as Central Television and Voice of Taiwan, is the first terrestrial television station in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was established on April 28, 1962, and ...

in 1992, the series was broadcast on

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

in 1993 and became a major hit. It remained popular for more than 20 years, and was still one of the most replayed TV series in 2016.

Plot

After hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years of disciplined training in Taoism whilst living in a cave on Mount Emei, the protagonist Bai Su Zhen (Pure White Silk) has, with the help of a heavenly immortality pill, transformed herself from her true original form as a snake into a human form to seek immortality in the human world in her quest for divinity, guided by the Mother of Mercy, Guan Yin (lit. "Watcher of the World's Cry") She then meets and masters in single combat her would be ravisher. He then transforms himself into a female form and becomes her aide de camp. He is known as Xiao Qing ("Small Green") and like Bai had originally been a serpent. Bai at some point had been saved from being killed for her snake gall by a young cow-herd known to her only as her benefactor. One of her reasons to enter the human world was to repay him. Guan Yin had told him he would meet a higher man on Tomb Sweeping Day at the West Lake. Whether higher was meant literally or metaphorically was uncertain. Bai and Xiao Qing together search for this benefactor. Bai finds him and it is love at first sight. They meet on the Broken Bridge on Tomb Sweeping Day. Hanwen is there to visit the grave of his deceased parents. In this life Hanwen works in a pharmacy and studies medicine. Because Hanwen had saved Bai in her previous life when she was a snake she wishes to repay him. The two fall in love, marry, have a child, and are pursued all along the way by a religious zealot, Fa Hai. Fa Hai believes that a demon is always a demon and can never become good and belongs not in the human world hence his dogged pursuit. Bai has a child with Hanwen after their marriage. To save that child she agrees to be imprisoned in Lei Feng Pagoda (which literally means thundering wind tower), a symbol of the tomb.

Characters

Bai Suzhen Bai Suzhen ( zh, t=白素貞), also known as Lady Bai ( zh, c=白娘子, links=no), is a mythological figure in Chinese folk religion. She is a one-thousand-year-old white snake spirit and the title character of the Legend of the White Snake ...

/ Hu Meiniang 白素貞 / 胡媚娘 *

- Xu Xian / Xu Shi Lin 許仙 / 許仕林 * Maggie Chen (陳美琪) - Xiao Qing (Qing'er) 青兒 * Liao Wei Kai (廖威凱) as young Xu Shi Lin *

Chien Te-men Chien Te-men (, 28 August 1943 – 5 February 2018) was a Taiwanese actor. Selected filmography *''New Legend of Madame White Snake'' (1992) as Fahai. *''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'' (1994). *'' The Rose'' (2003). *''KO One'' (2005). *'' ...

(乾德門) as Fa Hai 法海 * Jiang Ming (江明) as Li Gong Fu 李公甫 * Yin Bao Lian (尹寶蓮) as Xu Jiao Rong 許姣容 * Xia Guang Li (夏光莉) as Li Bi Lian 李碧蓮 * Su Yu Xuan (蘇育玄) as young Li Bi Lian * Shi Nai Wen (石乃文) as Qi Bao Shan 戚寶山

References

{{Legend of the White Snake Taiwanese television series Works based on the Legend of the White Snake Television series set in the Southern Song Romantic fantasy television series Television about fairies and sprites