China's "Romeo and Juliet"

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Do you know the story of Romeo and Juliet? In Chinese legends there is also a story of love and ultimate death. The story called the butterfly lovers is the Chinese version of that popular tale.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.
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[@soyking4412]

Agreed, I think the Chinese version is the better story too. They actually spent time to get to know each other first as friends then as a couple so you know the love they shared is more genuine as opposed to Romeo and Juliet who fell in love on first sight which is creepy.

[@elizabethhuang8450]

IKR lol

[@MelodyLiuJade]

The entire plot of Romeo and Juliet took place in 5 days. That's terrifying. Honestly though, the idea of falling in love with a genderbent version of your BFF is pretty...weird.

[@arianacathrine4324]

Not only that but Romeo and Juliet is rumored to be Shakespeare making fun of teenage love, the Chinese version you can tell that their love wasn't just puppy love.

[@brndonlu9635]

Romeo and Juliet is in Europe so thigns were different in China.

[@DarthJF]

I hope they didn't turn into the sort of butterflies that live only a day. THAT would be depressing!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

haha yea that would suck

[@wonphi]

That would only suck relative to a human being. For a butterfly, 1 day will be a lifetime, and having spend a lifetime with the person you love, that doesn't suck at all! :)

[@IllusionQueen4Eva]

+wonphi Agreed! That reminds me of one of my favourite quotes... "If this entire lifetime of yours is only an instant, and even if we can only be together for an instant in this lifetime, that is still an entire lifetime."

[@TryinaD]

dude why did you do this to me

[@omogoshywoshy5194]

0.0 ...

[@ace_bassin1749]

I'm not Chinese but to hear and learn about your culture is so amazing, how things started . Keep it up

[@IllusionQueen4Eva]

Liang Shan Bo's name was on the stone monument of his grave, so the chance of some other person's body being in the grave would be close to 0%. I agree with some of the other commentators. I honestly don't agree with this story being called the "Chinese equivalent" of Romeo and Juliet. Shan Bo and Ying Tai have been together for three years. They know each other's personalities pretty well. Unlike Romeo and Juliet where it's "Oh hey, you look hot! Let's get married even though I've only known you for one night!" Romeo and Juliet was not true love. It was more like, "attracted by appearance".

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

There is a famous Chinese saying "上有天堂下有苏杭" meaning up there is heaven, down here there is Su Zhou and Hang Zhou...basically that Su Zhou and Hang Zhou are so beautiful - just random fact

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

***** cant escape fate

[@dannychao297]

Mia always wear so much make up.... Mike just wear t-shirt to show off mucles

[@maijian7884]

Off the Great Wall is the best

[@svmathtutor]

A young woman from Su Zhou told me it was the women from Su Zhou who were known to be beautiful. :-) I guess her version was a little biased. Could be both -- the scenery and the women. She said it was because the water was good. Maybe the water helps the natural scenery and the people. :-)

[@Redelmopaint]

So this is why my auntie smacked me for seperating a pair of butterflies... But the other butterfly chased me.. So i threw the net down and the other butterfly was set free..

[@LiLiyan121]

Lol

[@svmathtutor]

My father scolded my brother for separating frogs who had jumped on top of other frogs and were riding "piggyback". My father smirked and told my brother, those frogs were "having fun" and you interrupted them. I didn't understand that explanation until 20 years later and had a delayed "Ohhhhhhh, that's what father meant by "having fun." :-)

[@katarzynamatracz4011]

the chinese making an honorary oath of friendship? you mean like "let's be bff's forever!"?

[@lyejupyo]

+Katarzyna Matracz If you watch some old chinese dramas, there is an actual ceremony which they would drink each other blood with alcohol to become 'real' brothers =]]

[@linksibuna9574]

That's why it is called Blood Brothers because of the fact that you drink eachothers blood to swear an oath of Brotherhood for eternity. The Norse have a similar oath where they cut their palms(not cut it off but enough to make it bleed and then they would swear an oath of brotherhood for life)

[@Dianuxkasfenix]

My Chinese teacher told us this story last week but his version (btw, he mentioned that there are more than one version, so there is no hate here, okay :< ) the boy had committed suicide and she had done it later as well. I also really like this version :3

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

yea there are different versions

[@sanitater3271]

I grew up being told that she smashed her own head on the gravestone.

[@elizabethhuang8450]

.....

[@finaldynastyhero4231]

I like that version also but dude Zhu Ying Tai must have had a killer disguise on to make Liang Shan Bo oblivious for 3 consecutive years.

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

I think back then ppl were lot more innocent and easy to trick

[@finaldynastyhero4231]

Must be. In any case spies should be proud and follow Zhu Ying Tai's example XD

[@supermonkeyyyyyy]

Worked with Mulan too :P

[@finaldynastyhero4231]

supermonkeyyyyyy ah yeah so true :) Just thinking back to the movie now: "A WOMAN!" dun dun dun

[@amyyb3926]

butterflies have short lives though, they should turn into turtles

[@amberlii]

Lol!

[@enterchannelname7514]

hey at least they didn't have to start off as a caterpillar

[@ibjohnsonnn7622]

The drawings and music are so good with this storytelling. Good job!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@sunnykaren1]

I remember watching the animated version of this and completely fell in love with it and i still watch it now

[@KeVtArO]

Like other commentators here, I have also visit Hangzhou before. Beautiful city, the Westlake was just filled with music from the Butterfly Lovers theme song lol

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Yea beautiful place

[@androsthewarriorhighalpha]

this story is so beautiful.. so much soul to it..

[@AlisaYao]

Hangzhou is my hometown and I used to hear this story all the time growing up. Still makes me shed a tear every time I hear it

[@user-mg8fw1lw9f]

This story at least had the characters grow up together and much time has passed. Romeo and Juliet is more about teenagers that had the hots for each other over the course of a few days and several people died as a result.

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

haha like that summary

[@blakeyang877]

I heard a very similar story from my parents that was pass down by many generations in the hmong story telling, the story is very similar and somehow the same as I recall from start to end of these two lovers. That's really amazing.

[@justahappyfellow]

Whoever animated this, good job! Didn't know about the Chinese Romeo and Juliet until this video, thanks.

[@wts.mysoul]

I love this story. I read the book in high school and fell in love with it. It was a beautiful story and I want to own it as a book. ;A;

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@carmen-emilyxie5267]

I like this Chinese version better than the Western one

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

glad you liked it :-)

[@brndonlu9635]

Why?

[@abbyl4621]

Thank you for making this video! ^^

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@sakura0830]

I remember crying like crazy when I was 12 when I first watched the movie. man, I can still feel the pain

[@kyni87]

We want more storiiiiies !!! :D thanks guys for your wonderful work !

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@AnimeAndMusicLover16]

I remember my mom mentioning something about "butterfly lives" where two people who love each other very much have intertwined lives, if one passes away the other soon follows...I wonder if this is where its from

[@raeiau]

This is so beautiful!

[@ElegantDreamCatcher05FJC]

I remember reading this story somewhere. So sad yet beautiful.

[@xiaofei89]

Great story! Loved the drawings =)

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@bbaox4408]

Awhhh! I've heard of this story but not the whole story. However I liked it so much better being retold this way. Amazing drawing and narration;)

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

BBAO Song Thanks :-)

[@GhaliaAlmira]

I love these stories!

[@PajYolanda]

I LOVE the story. It has always been one of my all time favorite Chinese stories. 👫💑 👍😃

[@darlyndelight]

There are heaps of versions and I watched this in Chinese class long time ago~ Reminded me of my old childhood days because when I went to Chinese school I was told this story~

[@ChristianJiang]

I went to Hangzhou! A fantastic city!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

agreed

[@linkatouch]

Omg!!! I used to watch it when I kid, cry so much !!!!!

[@AznDutyCalls58]

I always love the drawings for some reason :)

[@ggjune7392]

This is so cute! Is there by any chance a Japanese version that you know of? I've done some research but can't find any *tear* but this is still beautiful and adorable and gave me feels.. Lol (btw I just found your channel randomly today. Love your videos so far! ) ❤️💛💚💙💜

[@donaldkong5172]

And the best part is that butterflies are like a symbol if change and evolution. Even though they lost their physical bodies, their spirit will forever cycle together over and over. ^_^

[@angelamai3733]

Oh I remember this story. My mum would use to tell me this story. My fave story

[@tamasseres6976]

Hi! Great video! I really like these short historical and informative videos. :) Keep on your good work! 再见! :D

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

thanks!

[@katreviakones3779]

The first part reminds me of To the Beautiful you... the korean drama

[@som8885]

yes sooo true haha, and that one where she dresses up as her brother and takes his place in the band.

[@katreviakones3779]

Sommer Isley Uhh that's not the drama im talking about :)) lol its when a girl dresses up as a boy and goes to an all boy school to encourage her favorite sport player to not give up on his dream

[@som8885]

Yeah I know that's why I said "and". I know you are talking about the one with Koreas Fairy, the guy who thinks he it gay, and the high jumper

[@katreviakones3779]

Sommer Isley Lol yesssss!!! Thats the one xD

[@nouthao9799]

Lol. Love ur comments at the end about the two love stories!!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@zebra86]

Nice story. The music in the background was amazing, I've always wondered about the origins of this kind of "fluite" music and weither there's someone famous behind it. Would you cover a topic about the chinese music sometime? Specifically this kind of beautiful relaxing type of it : )

[@laniiv6992]

i just watched the movie made in 2008 and man i was crying so much i love this legend

[@taachibingu]

Awesome video!! By any chance... Can you tell us the stories of 帝女花 and 红楼梦 as well? I would love to see them in your videos! ^^

[@mikeYXiong]

I watch the movie when I was younger and it was so goood!!especially the animated version

[@bloodguts6786]

Beautiful Story.

[@relivhhh]

that was beautiful..

[@victoriarose2363]

They already did this story but it is still beautiful

[@tmvt32]

So coooool!!!!!

[@koolaidjammers6982]

"You know what would be really messed up? If that was the wrong grave." I lost it xD

[@VampJapgirl231]

That was such a sweet story! Wow I love it!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@user-di2on5gl2d]

Nothing beats the original movie and sound track of 1963, starring Ivy Ling Po as Liang Shan Bo

[@Niyuxzita]

i really love this story ;) thnks guys

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching!

[@herms16]

such a moving story

[@MsTheeloisa]

This sounds like Mulan and Romeo and Juliet mixed together ahahah

[@rubydawnbrooke8438]

I read this when I was 3... I couldn't tell until you guys said the names lol,

[@LeavesofWinter]

I really liked this story .. I hope there is a chinese drama tell this story i'll watch it defiantly !

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

there is....its too sad

[@LeavesofWinter]

Thanks for the reply . Oh i'm happy to hear that !! what's called ?

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

butterfly lovers

[@LeavesofWinter]

Thank you very much !!

[@Blackwolfninja89]

Charlene Choi starred in the movie.

[@motherofbiscuit]

I read the title and I knew I will see Mike :D I love this guy, haha :)

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for the love :-) - Mike

[@HF-di9rt]

cute, articulate, informative and cheerful. well done!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@TheAgentOfDeath]

this reminds me so much about one k drama i watch

[@DrinkingStar]

I saw the 1994 movie story version. I was unaware of the version of the legend that you describe. The movie version seems more realistic than the version you mention. I prefer the 1994 movie version. I made a music video with film clips from that movie using the Butterfly Lovers Concerto from the 2008 Chinese Music Festival. KZbin removed my music video even though my 2 sources for my music video were posted on KZbin. P.S. I think Shakespeare adapted his play of Romeo and Juliet after hearing the story of Butterfly Lovers. I think the 1994 movie version of the Butterfly Lovers is one of the best love stories ever made into a movie.

[@jasonpursley3206]

Great story! You guys know how to keep us in suspense ( 10 facts part 2).

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

haha we wanted to spice things up a bit

[@julietspaghetti]

a really cool video

[@sum3741]

Amazing story!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@jacobecleoleonardobalasta6415]

The Chinese version is way more beautiful than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

[@wrouillie]

OMG, made me cry...so romantic.

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Rouillie Wilkerson great legend

[@selaynay]

I just learned about this in my Chinese class!! There's a movie about it! And I think a song?

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

yup and a TV series...all sad

[@soniinaaz]

Really Sad Story :(

[@DangGee1]

Who's illustrating all these stories you guys are telling? They're really good!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

We have a very creative artist Flora that helps us out :-)

[@jadetran9342]

This is my favourite story ever since I was little even if it was sad ;-;

[@sunnyhu7]

thanks for educating me on Chinese literature

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

thanks for watching Sunny!

[@CourtneyWuFace]

aw I had a cartoon movie on this story and i never really understood what they were saying, but it was my favorite movie ever.

[@wax8079]

I need this as a movie

[@purpleXnXblu]

When you got to the part where she jumps into the grave, I had an image of her falling 7 meters going "ooof!" pick her self up, look up and say very meekly "....anyone up there?"

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

hahaha

[@bmboy8052]

Liang Shanbo's grave (actually a place for remembrance rather than the true tomb) is right in my hometown. We built a park in early 2000s surrounding the grave and we even worked out the butterfly species they turned into lol. Here is the location if anyone goes to Ningbo, China!

[@bmboy8052]

goo.gl/maps/mW3QDnChmhGjVYRf9

[@bmboy8052]

It was said that this Common Mormon butterfly is the species mentioned in the legend: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_polytes. Why? Because it's the only large butterfly in that region where the male looks different from females and they often fly together in the air courting each other!

[@Blackwolfninja89]

I just remembered I have a movie of this starring Charlene Choi and Wu Chun.

[@andyzhang7890]

I was talking with my Asian friends about this and Romeo & Juliet, and now I've stumbled upon this video...

[@strawberries1411]

Thank you for sharing this story,,,I agree...at least they spent time together as lovers/butterflies...I love The Butterfly Lovers music

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@rogerfaint499]

Butterfly Lovers concerto is one of the great classical musical pieces.

[@pok3.m0n_54]

already knew that story. It's so cute

[@GunGirlYuna]

Hey otgw I'm a big fan of these videos explaining stories. Could you do a video on the Legend of the Condor Heroes and the Return of the Condor Heroes?

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

wow those are super long and complicated, to this day i cannot watch return of the condor heroes....because of that one scene

[@Cococake13]

This is way better than Romeo and Juliet. Awesome drawings btw~ ^^

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@enterchannelname7514]

I think if you search up Liang shan bo or something you can find a movie (on youtube) the story is a little different from what was mentioned here but it's still really good

[@4tje]

I've learned about the Butterfly Lovers because of the movie with Charlene Choi & Wu Chun, but also because I like the song by Gary Cao & Genie Zhou ^_^

[@Wenishaful]

I watched the movie for this :)

[@juliakrystal19]

At least this story has a happy ending. They're together after all ❤️

[@sfighter991]

Wow, what a story, it's almost similar to "Romeo and Juliet", but minus the violence. The ending was sad, but beautiful. Good story.

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@maivkib]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOVE THIS STORY!!!! I LOVE ALL THE MOVIES TOO

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

yea classic

[@maivkib]

AAAHHH AHH THANK YOU AGAIN FOR COMMENTING!!

[@masodemic4509]

This story is way better than Romeo and Juliet, because at least they known each other for 3 years before they were lovestruck

[@supermonkeyyyyyy]

Jumping into the wrong grave XD Childhood ruined. By the way, great storytelling, just subscribed, do more of these

[@mochi9043]

I mean it was probably a secluded area . He was a official, so he wouldnt be with the poor people

[@bloom1072]

Is there a book about this? I want to read it now-

[@lalalalaMUSE]

There is a 1994 HK Movie adaptation of it. It is called "The Lovers" and it can be found on KZbin. :)

[@niggogado]

+BubbleTea Cole there are book about this, but all in classical chinese...

[@elizewinchester]

This is way better than romeo and juliette.

[@EmilyYeh1833]

Sounds more like Shakespeare's The Twelth Night then Romeo and Juliet

[@pumpkinpumpkin3654]

I love this version than the oringal

[@user-di2on5gl2d]

Best version 1963 with ivy ling po & Betty Loh ti

[@memorylessme]

I think there was a scene where yingtai's father was threatening shanbo with poison as well. Can't really recall. It's one of the famous scenes from the opera of this story

[@999roze]

Hey Asian Beauty Secrets and Strictly Dumpling / Off the Great Wall . Did you watch the movie/drama adaptations of this story. I managed to watch the Vietnamese opera of the story which did have so many differences to the original in order to expand the characters even further .I also watched the TVB Drama Journey to the West back in 1996 where one of Zhu Bajie's rebirths that would end in tragedy was Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai where the whole scene was a parody of the 1994 movie "The Lovers".

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

I can't watch any adaptation of this story because I know the ending and can't do all the sadness - Mike

[@999roze]

Gosh Mike I wouldn't think that you'd be such a sap at Ancient Chinese Romantic Movies though!!!

[@superanimefan88]

there is a cartoon movie, and a live-action movie of their story called "Butterfly Lovers". The movie is so sad and tragic, but good.

[@zhubajie6940]

Didn't realize Butterfly Lovers took place in Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou. Boy do I feel stupid. That and Lady Green Snake too. Chalk up another one for 杭州 my favorite Chinese city!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

it is beautiful

[@rungthang6295]

So sad!! For me though

[@athenacao5598]

You guys should act this out!! :D It will be so cool!!!~

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

We don't want to jump into graves :-(