The Chinese legend of the butterfly lovers - Lijun Zhang

Dig into the Chinese myth of Zhu Yingtai, who disguises herself as a boy in order to attend school, and her love Liang Shanbo.

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Although only boys were allowed at the Confucius Academy, what Zhu Yingtai wanted was to go to school. She begged her parents to let her attend dressed as a boy and, seeing her determination and clever disguises, they finally agreed— as long as she kept her identity a secret and later returned to the traditional path they’d set for her. Lijun Zhang shares the Chinese myth of the butterfly lovers.

Lesson by Lijun Zhang, directed by Amir Houshang Moein.

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[kaaiito]

to everyone saying "butterfly only lives for two weeks" -- how long it may be, it will still be the love of a lifetime, and that's what matter.

[kaaiito]

the idea of love that sparks from their eyes without one looking at the other's gender is just so special.

[givemecookies]

The real meaning of "historians will say they were best friends"

[tsugaru_solos]

"Without hesitation, Yingtai threw herself in."

True romance is so rare and incredible it can only be told as myth. Awesome. 💘

[火-pg]

although they left life apart from each other and heartbroken they reunited on thier next life as butterflies, creatures that are free from human rule, stories of legends are mostly sad but somehow deeply beautiful, great animation and great narrating ♡

[ANJROTmania]

The music is definitely inspired by the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto. It's a very famous chinese orchestral music made inspired by this tale. Please give it a listen!

[ednacole]

Butterflies are also a symbol of devotion, because they have only one partner in their lives

[jamessirot]

Amazing as always. Also, I didn't realize there was another Chinese legend about a girl disguising herself as a man. First Mulan, and now this bittersweet tale.

[HayashiManabu]

I’m Chinese and I’m really impressed by how good the pronunciation of the Chinese names are. Also thanks for making this video, I’ve encountered this legend many times in the form of concertos and movies and poems, and it’s nice that the rest of the world can know about it too :)

[CistudeSuisse]

I love this tale, because it shows that even in Ancient China, gender's roles ("You are born as a girl/boy, so you NEED to do this and that) were a terrible ennemy to freedom, liberty and happiness.

[AkshayNumberOne]

The Chinese pronunciations are spot on!
Good job Ted Ed 👍

[ruo-ye]

"When Yingtai's wedding day came, it also felt like a funeral." :'(

[debjitsahooUTube]

"And when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful." -Ruskin Bond 🙂❤️

[queenning]

Chinese folk tales include so many stories about girls disguised as boys to pursue different careers and live their best lives. E.g. Mulan fighting for her country and sharing her father's burden, Zhu Yingtai pursuing education, the widows from Yang family becoming female generals after their husbands died in war.

My grandma likes to watch Yue Opera which is a type of traditional Chinese Opera. Some of her favourite stories are about smart young women in ancient China who dressed like boys so they could attend the national exams and become officials or scholars.

[KSayWhatNow]

Two lovers
Forbidden from one another
A war divides their people
And a mountain divides them apart
Built a path to be together...

[rollintweeds]

Successful lovers are friends, selfless and equal. Beautifully told tale.

[esma]

Wow. Thank you Ted-Ed. This was very beautiful in a tragic way.. It's fascinating to learn about myths from different parts of the world. So it would be interesting to hear about ancient Persian and Turkish mythologies as well.

[theashapeshift]

The way she mixes Chinese pronunciation of the names in sentences makes me feel so serene

[aurionc]

My goodness— how in the world did you captivate me and break my heart in 5 minutes?? Thank you for this beautiful tale.

[Jryb]

This story is so beautiful, despite being tragic. And the animation at 0:54 literally left me breathless. Great job!