The stories featured in Greak-Out are usually original adaptations of classic Greek myths. This week's story features snakes pretending to be people, potion drinking, a violent crane, and mountains where mortals can't go. Welcome back to Greak-Out. Today, we're taking a field trip back to China to learn more about Dow Legends. Now, longtime listeners may remember that we discussed another Dow legend back in Season 8, the legend of the Jade Emperor, and that was our first dip into the Dowism Waters. Now, we're back for another episode from Chinese mythology. What we are calling Chinese mythology here is a collection of history, religion, and folk tales that all come from the large area of land. We now call the people's Republic of China. It features elements from three major belief systems. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Yeah, that's right. And over time, the story's kind of blended together and got all mixed up when they were passed down from generation to generation, kind of like the thousand-year-long game of telephone that we refer to from time to time. And today, we're talking about a very famous tale from Taoism. It's so beloved that it's been featured in books, movies, and in TV series for years, and if you're a fan of snakes like the Oracle is, you're really going to love this one, because today, it's all about the legend of the white snake. Right, but that is not at all the white snake I was talking about. Well, I know, but it happens to be my favorite band. Wait, really? A band called White Snake? Obviously. You know, I wouldn't have picked you for an 80s hair band fan, but okay. I like it. Oh, you like the rock band hair of the 80s, huh? You know, I was kind of parcel to the punk things like that guy from Flaka Seagulls that had the hair that went, and you actually, you know what, we are getting way off track here. Sorry. Today's myth has nothing to do with 80s bands or hair, but everything to do with snakes. Now, this myth is a long one, and there's a very elaborate setup, kind of like a prequel. So, for the sake of time, we're just going to skip to the main part of the story. And we start with two snakes, a white snake and a blue green snake. They lived on a mountain called Mount Amet. Mount Hermet is the highest of what is now known as the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. Now, as I mentioned, there's a whole other story here, but you just sort of need to accept the fact that these two particular snakes discovered a way to transform into two beautiful human women named Baizu-jen and Shao-cheng. I love this story because, usually, humans transform into snakes, but this involves snakes masquerading as humans. It's an effective, plot twist. Exactly. I knew you were going to dig this one. Now, these two snake women, these two snake women, yeah, let's call them snake women. They were best friends, and one day, they decided to travel to Hangzhou, a famous city in China. This was a long journey, and it required them to take a ferry boat to cross a big lake. It wasn't very long into their ride on the ferry boat before it started to rain. Luckily, a kind man named Shushien offered his umbrella to the ladies. Shushien and Baizu-jen got to talking, and they found out as it turns out they had a lot in common and before the ferry ride was over, these two had made plans to meet up again. He was rather handsome, wasn't he? Baizu-jen asked her friend Shao-cheng. He was okay for a human. Personally, I prefer snakes. Shao-cheng replied. But did you see how thoughtful he was? Baizu-jen asked. He even offered us an umbrella. Not many men or snakes would think to do that. Well, probably because snakes do not have umbrellas nor the arms to carry them. Shao-cheng replied. A fair counterpoint. But regardless, Shushien and Baizu-jen began to spend time together on a weekly basis. It wasn't long before the two declared that they were in love. Have you told him you're actually a snake? Shao-cheng asked. I'm not planned to become a snake again. Baizu-jen replied. So the information is irrelevant. Well, not completely irrelevant. Again, fair counterpoint. While I am devoted to snakes of all kinds, it is important to expose information regarding your species to your future life partner. I think I have to agree with you on that one oracle. But Baizu-jen did not tell Shushien about her snakey secret and the two were married. The couple were incredibly happy. They lived together in a beautiful home and even opened a medicine shop where they worked together to provide the town with herbs and other healing items. Traditional Chinese medicine now commonly referred to as T.C.M began in ancient China and continues to be used today. Now it includes things such as acupuncture and tai chi, as well as traditional herbal remedies. Baizu-jen had never been happier. Even though she was keeping a big secret from her husband, she didn't really feel guilty about it. She had no plans to turn back into a snake and she was in love with Shushien and would be his wife, his human wife, for the rest of her days. What could go wrong? Well, unfortunately, lots. Because unbeknownst to Baizu-jen, there was another person in town who happened to know her secret. His name was Fahai and he was the abbot of a Buddhist temple. An abbot is a monk or holy man who holds an administrative position within the temple. Now typically monks are known for their kind acts and good vibes, but Fahai was not. And when Fahai came into the shop, he was able to tell straight away that Baizu-jen was really a snake. Don't ask me how, you can call it intuition or guidance from the divine or whatever, but Fahai was immediately convinced that Baizu-jen wasn't the human woman she was appearing to be. In fact, Fahai took it upon himself to let Shushien know about his wife. There is something wrong with that creature. Fahai said to Shushien when his wife went home to start dinner. You mean my wife? Shushien said, confused? Yes, she is not what she seems. She is a snake. Now Shushien was concerned. Was there something wrong with this guy? Was he experiencing hallucinations? Was he sick? Please, take a seat, sir. Shushien said, trust me when I say this. Your wife is a powerful snake, a white snake if I'm not mistaken, and she is currently masquerading as a woman. She is not human. This is all a game to her. Shushien just stared at the man. You don't believe me? I can't see that I do. Shushien replied, 5. Have her drink wine during the dragon boat festival, and she will reveal her true self. The dragon boat festival is a holiday that occurs every year in late May or early June. It is to commemorate the poet Chuyen. It is said to be a magical day that includes lots of celebrating, praying for good luck, and warding off evil spirits. And also, apparently turning your wife back into a snake. Seems like a good thing to me. Now Shushien eventually got rid of Fahai, but he couldn't seem to completely get rid of the conversation in his mind. He just couldn't forget about it. What if his wife really was a large white snake in disguise? Then it would be a happy day indeed. I'm not sure Shushien would agree. He couldn't let this go. Was he being deceived? Was Baisu Gen going to secretly slither towards him in the middle of the night and squeeze into death? False. I will not participate in this anti-snake propaganda. Snakes that squeeze their prey only account for 11% of all snake species. So it is statistically unlikely that Baisu Gen would squeeze him to death. Okay, okay. Summertime Oracle. Look, Shushien just wanted to know the truth. Was Baisu Gen really a snake in disguise? It seemed ridiculous, but why was this monk so convinced? So Shushien decided to go ahead and make the special wine for Baisu Gen to drink. He figured, hey, yes, nothing loose. If she drinks the wine, nothing happens. Well, no harm, no foul, right? He'd forget about the whole thing and finally get some peace. But if she turned into a snake, no, no, no. Shushien was not going to let himself think about what would happen next. So on the day of the festival, Shushien made the special wine and poured a glass for his wife. He looked into her eyes and smiled as they clinked their glasses and began to drink. And nothing happened. Shushien felt a huge sigh of relief. The couple spent a few more hours together enjoying the festival and then they went off to bed. In the morning, Shushien rolled over and reached for his wife. Only her skin felt a little weird, kind of cold and... ...slimy. Shushien threw back the covers and instead of his beautiful wife, he saw a large white snake in the bed. White is not a common color for snakes. We don't know what exact species that by turned into a recent venomous snake was found in Asia. And scientists have called it Su-Chen's Great, or Bungaroos Su-Chen-A. After this Chinese myth... Shushien screamed, waking the snake from her peaceful slumber. When Baisu-Chen realized what had happened, she hissed at her husband. I can't explain. But Shushien didn't want to hear it. He couldn't hear it. In fact, he couldn't hear anything. He could hardly bear the heartbreak in betrayal that he felt finding out his wife was not human. Shushien fell to his knees, clutched his heart and died. Well, that's rather dramatic. And then suddenly, the audio changed. The announcer took a sip of water as the listeners began to hear a commercial. Yeah, we're going to take a little commercial break and then we'll be right back with more are greaking out. Every dream of traveling the world with your family, but without leaving your home, Unculture kits my son, Asher, and I visit friends around the world and now you're invited. We bring you real audio adventures like paddling down the Botswana's Oka-Vangodelta and even swimming with gnar walls under Arctic ice. Our adventure to the Spark Curiosity built connections and create magical family moments. So, grab your imaginary passports because it's time to become a world-trodden explorers right where you are. And that's culture kit podcast. Oh, hard. 12-year-old Winston Chiu has rescued his sister and the moon. But now he's about to have an even bigger problem in a Magpie-turned-human running for mayor of San Francisco. Exotic birds are gathering. People are getting brainwashed and Winston knows something foul is a foot. Check out Book 2 in the Winston-Chiu series, Winston-Chiu versus the Wing Meisters, inspired by Chinese mythology, available wherever books are sold. And that takes care of that. We are back to greaking out. Baissou-jen transformed back into her human form. It's still me. Shou-chen. Shou-chen. She said, but it was no use. Her husband was dead. Her active portrayal, her inner snake, had killed him. This is all my fault. Baissou-jen cried. My secret killed him. I should have told him the truth, but I will not let him die for my mistake. Or you could say that feeding his wife a magical ocean without her knowledge or permission led directly to his death. Two ways of looking at it. But either way, Baissou-jen was convinced that this was her fault and she refused to let her husband pass away. Now, she didn't have the power she needed to revive the dead. But she had heard of a magical herb that could restore humans back to life. The herb was currently located in the mountains and was under the magical protection of the old man of the South Pole. The old man of the South Pole is a Taoist deity that commonly symbolizes happiness and longevity. Gotcha. He is not to be confused with the old man of the North Pole, commonly referred to as Santa Claus in American culture. I wasn't really thinking that, but thank you for clearing it up anyway. Although both men did have white beards and were associated with magical deer. Huh. That is a lot. But anyway, the herb was guarded heavily by magical spirits, but Baissou-jen decided she was going to go anyway. She told her friend Xiao Qing what she was planning to do. You can't go. They'll torture you! Xiao Qing said. It doesn't matter. I have to try. And with that, Baissou-jen traveled to the Kunlun Mountains to look for the magic herb. The Kunlun Mountains are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for almost 2,000 miles. It was a long journey, but Baissou-jen finally made it to the part of the mountains that was, quote, beyond mortals, meaning only for gods. There, she encountered a long, silver bridge. Baissou-jen knew that she needed to cross this bridge to find the herb, but she also knew that the herb itself would be heavily guarded by spirits capable of great magic. And while she was immortal and technically couldn't be killed, there were still plenty of ways that these spirits could cause her great pain, both physically and emotionally. But Baissou-jen also knew it was worth the risk. It was her actions and lack of disclosure that caused Xu Qian's death. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't find a way to make it right. This herb was the one thing that would save Xu Qian, and Baissou-jen was determined to do everything she could to get it. I'm sorry, Xu Qian. I will find a way to make this up to you. She whispered to herself as she began to cross the bridge. When she reached the other side, she saw the magic herb sitting on a gold platter. Well, that was easy, she thought to herself. Suddenly, the wind began to blow, and the earth began to shake. Baissou-jen gasped as two magical spirits appeared before her, both armed and looking quite angry. Well, maybe not that easy. You have entered the sacred land of the old man of a South Pole. The guard explained, why have you come here? I was at... For all her planning, Baissou hadn't actually thought of a reason why she would be in the sacred land. She knew she couldn't explain her intentions, but she had to have a good excuse to be left alone with the herb. I'm here to invite the old man of the South Pole to a gathering. She explained, I work with a local temple, and they ask me to come up here and see if he would make an appearance. The spirits looked at each other. We won't set. Stay here. Then the spirits disappeared. Immediately, Baissou-jen ran right over to the magic herb and began plucking off a few leaves, just enough to save Xu Qian. She raced for the bridge, barely able to contain her excitement that her plan had worked. Not so fast. A voice said, Baissou-jen turned around. The spirits had returned. Did you really think we would leave you alone with the magic herb? This was your first test, and you failed quite miserably. I'm sorry. But Baissou-jen said, I just really need this herb to save my husband. Let us assay you. The spirits said as they drew their swords, You came all this way for nothing. The guards approached her with their weapons raised. Baissou-jen turned and sprinted across the bridge towards safety, but the men were gaining on her, running fast. As soon as her foot touched the other side, she whispered a magic in chairman and produced a glowing sphere of magic. She turned and threw it across the bridge, hitting one of the guards and knocking him unconscious. What are you? Shout at the remaining guard. Baissou-jen continued to fight back with her magic. I am magic. I am a healer. I am a snake. I am human. I am undefinable. She said, Well, unfortunately for you, I have magic too. And the guard transformed into a magnificent crane, shooting magic out of his long beak. Baissou-jen dodged and ducked the crane spells all the wild casting enchantments of her own. Stop! A voice finally called from the mountains. Baissou-jen froze. It was the old man of the South Pole. She had admired him for years. Everyone with magic did. She hated that she was stealing from the old man of the South Pole, but Baissou-jen felt like she had no choice. She had to find a way to save her love. If you have magic, which indeed you do, and you are immortal, which indeed you are, then why do you need this magic herb? You should be able to heal yourself. The old man asked. It's not for me. It's my husband. He is dead because of me. And even my powers cannot bring him back. Baissou-jen told the old man the whole tale. She told him about turning into a human, about falling in love with Shushien, about the medicine shop, and how she was happier than she thought she had any right to be, and then she told him about the drink, and how Shushien had caught her in her snake form, and died from shock. By the end of the tale, the old man of the South Pole was deeply moved. You may take the herb, he said. Everyone deserves their shot, a true love. Baissou-jen smiled and thanked the old man profusely. She nodded to the magic spirits on her way out, and began the long journey home. Almost every mythology and culture had an interest in immortality. It was one of the questions that troubled humanity, obviously. And most mythologies have a tale of someone trying to find it. Yeah, and all across the world, they seem to believe that plants had the power to make people nearly immortal. I mean, that's what happened with our buddy Gilgamesh, remember when he went searching for immortality and in our story of Asclepius, the healer in Greek mythology. Ethno Botany is the study of how humans have used and continue to use plants in medical, religious, or other contexts. Oh, cool! I didn't know that was a thing! But, okay, anyway, back to the story. When Baissou-jen returned home with the herbs, she found her husband Shushien protected by her friend, Xiao Qing. You were successful! Her friend said. Not yet. Let's see if he winks. Baissou-jen crushed up the herb and then poured it down her husband's throat. Immediately the man coughed as his body began to fill with light. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Baissou-jen's plan had worked. Her husband was alive. And that brings us to the end of our episode today, folks. You hand-ended like that. There's so much left in the story. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I know. But we're actually out of time. We're going to tell the rest of the story in next week's episode. This couple has unresolved issues to work through lack of trust. Can seriously impact a relationship? Yes, I know, Oracle. I promise. We're going to talk more about it in the next episode. We're just out of time today. I do not approve of these Shenenigans. You know what? Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Next time I will definitely make sure to give you a heads up if we're going to do like a cliffhanger thing. That is all I ask. Okay. Thank you. That's it for this week. We have the rest of the legend of the White Snake coming next episode. So watch the space. Now, it's time to go. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And Lori Brota are producers. And Emily Everhart is our senior producer.
