Do Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai have historical prototypes?
I believe everyone is familiar with the story of butterfly lovers. Their stories first began in the Jin Dynasty and were widely known in the Song Dynasty. This story tells the story of a daughter named Zhu Yingtai, who is very clever and bent on learning. However, the ancient ethics was strict, so she had to dress up as a man and met Liang Shanbo on her way to school. They started a long classmate career, and in the process, they fell in love. When Liang Shanbo knew that Zhu Yingtai was her daughter, they privately agreed for life.
However, it was stopped by the Zhu Yingtai family. As soon as he got home, he knew that he had been betrothed to the Ma family. When Liang Shanbo went to Zhu Yingtai's home to recruit, when he learned the news, he vomited blood on the spot. After returning home, he was seriously ill and died soon. Ma Wencai married Zhu Yingtai. When the sedan chair passed the cemetery of Liang Shanbo, suddenly a strong wind blocked their way. Zhu Yingtai got off the sedan chair and cried and offered sacrifices to Liang Shanbo. The grave suddenly opened, and Zhu Yingtai jumped into it, and the grave was closed immediately. They turned into two butterflies and danced, and finally no one in the world could stop them.
About butterfly lovers, the information is recorded as follows: Liang Shanbo was from the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yingtai was from the Southern and Northern Dynasties. They were separated by more than 1000 years and had no chance to fall in love. Zhu Yingtai is a chivalrous woman deeply loved by the people in history. She often robs the rich and helps the poor. While stealing jewels, she died by Ma Wencai's sword. People held a grand funeral for her, and the words "Tomb of Zhu Yingtai Women" were engraved on the front of her tombstone, and her heroic deeds were described in detail on the back of the tombstone.
Liang Shanbo was the magistrate of a county in Zhejiang in Ming Dynasty. He is a good official deeply loved by the people. People are very supportive of him. He is regarded as a model of honest and upright officials. He died of illness because of years of fatigue. People chose a treasure for him, which happened to be the graveyard of Zhu Yingtai. When people were digging graves, they found Zhu Yingtai's tomb and tablet, and learned about Zhu Yingtai's deeds, but they didn't have the heart to tear down Yingtai's tomb.
But they didn't choose a new place, so they were buried together. The black inscription is Liang Shanbo, and the red inscription is Zhu Yingtai. The story spread. Later, when novels became popular, scholars began to compile them. This is The Story of Liang Zhu. Who knew it would spread to this day? Although butterfly lovers didn't know it in history, who would say that they didn't have fate?