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Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist themes influence the plot and relationship between man and wife and mother and son. Religion and virtue limit unconventionality.

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Chinese media scholar Jen-Hao Hsu explains how modern  adaptations of traditional folktales must use “affective moments” to display queerness, since political agenda influences the existence and continuation (or lack thereof) of controversial topics in Chinese culture.

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Despite being created in 1993, Green Snake, a relatively modern adaptation, displays a strong queer relationship between the white and green snakes. Hsu delves into the cultural divides between the West and China, the latter relying on “Confucian morality” (amalgamated from Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism) for legitimacy surrounding societal expectations.

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Emerson highlights that though the white snake is not naturally a human, she holds many kind and virtuous characteristics of a paragon Chinese woman during that time.

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In comparison to the monk Fa Hai, a powerful religious figure and the obvious symbol of authority, it seems like the role and value of religion is inverted. This brings into question whether religion is truly worthy of human dedication and whether religion actually deserves the authority it seems to have.

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In Taoist China, a white snake (usually referred to as Bai Suzhen) and a green snake (different tales give her different names) meet, and through some version of magic, they transform into the visage of two beautiful young women. Some tales attribute this change to magical Taoist pills, others to their own magical cultivation. They meet a human man called Xu Xian, whom Bai Suzhen falls in love with. She marries him, hiding the fact that she is, in fact, a white snake at true form. A Taoist monk convinces Xu Xian to trick his wife into drinking a wine that reverts her to her true form, and time and time again after Bai Suzhen is forced into trials of retrieving her husband’s trust or saving his life. Essentially, since their marriage, they have yet to experience a true day of peace and happiness.

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Yet, despite her apparent lack of responsibility as a key figure in the tale, the green snake’s voice never leaves the pages. Her presence is simply undeniable. Yet, despite such an obviously profound relationship, scholarly discourse on a queer relationship between the two snakes remains scant. Though this may be due to Chinese culture’s tight-lipped attitude towards the topic, the depiction of the two characters’ dynamic in both historically accurate retellings and modern adaptations undeniably portray a relationship that surpasses simple sisterhood.

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By contrasting this queer relationship to the heterosexual relationship the white snake has with her human husband, [tales] reveal blah blah to expectations and authority. This essay will prove the superficiality and irony of conventionality and authority in the face of genuine happiness, outline how queer relationships, gender norms, and the feminine self were perceived in Eastern political and societal culture, and help the academic world embrace queer theory in Chinese folk tales and literature.

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Scholar Whalen Lai unpacks the demonization of women as seductresses in this tale, describing the white snake as an incredibly powerful that is often underestimated by both the tale’s human society and the tale’s readers.

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Analyze how women were portrayed in relation to societal values and the influence of religious elements during that time and the white snake’s power.

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This 1993 film adaptation tells the tale from the green snake’s perspective. Her powers exceed even that of the monk Fa Hai’s, for she is able to seduce him and effectively overpower him in her effort to learn what true love means.

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It becomes apparent that this journey to understand love all leads her back to her loyalty and love for the white snake. The scenes are rich with her dialogue and thoughts as well as feminist discourse surrounding depth of emotion, humanity, and power.

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The first couple of episodes of the show that Qing’s (the green snake) infatuation with the white snake transcends a heterosexual relationship.

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The 2019 released series called The Legend of the White Snake. This myth has been the inspiration source of many television shows, book adaptations, and more. In epsiode 3, Qing’s cross-dressing, desire to become a man in order to protect the white snake, and antagonistic nature towards Xu Xian all display a protective and jealous nature over the white snake.