所屬名錄: 第一批國家級名錄

編號: I-7

申報地區或單位: 浙江省寧波市, 杭州市上虞市; 江蘇省宜興市; 山東省濟寧市; 河南省汝南縣

​

Inscribed list: National List, First Batch

Inventory no.: I-7

Nominating unit(s): Zhejiang Province, Ningbo City, Hangzhou City; Jiangsu Province, Yixing City; Shandong Province, Jining City; Henan Province, Ru’nan County

梁祝傳説敍述了梁山伯與祝英台的悽美故事，它亦是傳頌華人及外國人社會的故事，並衍生各種不同類型文藝作品。

​

廣傳的版本指故事發生在東晉時期，祝家唯一的女兒祝英台在說服父母後離家遊學。由於當時社會不鼓勵女性求學，所以她女扮男装；並結識了梁山伯。兩人日久生情，但因祝父後來把祝英台許配給富有商人馬文才，這段感情不得再維持下去。悲痛中，梁山伯抱着無奈離世，死後被葬在馬文才家的附近小路，亦是祝英台出嫁時必經的路段。婚禮當天，一場暴風雨逼使祝英台到山伯墓前祭拜，中斷了前往馬家的去路。

當她穿著優美精緻的婚服在為已故的愛人哀哭時，墳墓突然裂開，迎接她的來臨。祝英台在它閉合前奮不顧身躍進墳墓中。在眾人驚歎之下，山伯及英台的靈魂雙雙化成一對彩蝶飛去。

​

這著名的傳說在唐代文獻中有記載，於《十載四蕃志》有一句云：「義婦祝英台與梁山伯同冢」。雖然其同葬原因及歴史是否真有其人還是一個謎，晚唐時期的傳奇小說《宣室誌》則把這對情侶的傳說拓展成今天版本的初形。以上兩文獻皆為其後不同時期創作立下基礎。到了元至清朝時期，梁祝故事已經被改編成各種不同類型的藝術作品，包括奇幻小說、元朝雜劇、民間戲曲等，當中亦為故事添上新元素。

現今，這個被西方人稱為「東方版羅密歐與茱麗葉」繼續為各種電影及歌曲創作提供靈感。

​

The legend of the Butterfly Lovers is a bittersweet romance story of a pair of lovers – Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai—and is a well-known tale among the Chinese population and even the rest of the world, having been adapted into different forms of literature, theater, and art work.

 

The most common version of the story is set in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Zhu YingTai was the only daughter of her family, and despite the exclusion of females in the education systems, she was able to convince her parents in letting her go to school.  She disguised herself as a boy in order to pursue academic studies, and at the academy was where she met a fellow student, Liang Shanbo. Attracted to each other, their relationship was later interrupted when Zhu Yingtai’s strict father arranged a betrothal for her, with the wealthy merchant, Ma Wencai. Heartbroken and grieving, Liang died and was buried near the home of Zhu’s fiancé, where she would pass by during the wedding ceremony. On the day of Zhu’s marriage, while she was heading to the home of the groom for the ceremony, a storm broke out and forced Zhu to stop by the grave of her late lover.

 

As she was mourning her lover in her elegant wedding dress, the grave suddenly opened upon her arrival. Without hesitation, Zhu dived into the crack in the ground before it closed again. To everyone’s surprise, the spirits of Liang and Zhu re-appeared as a pair of inseparable butterflies, flying away.  

 

This well-known legend had its earliest written record dated to the Tang Dynasty, in which a snippet sentence from Shidao Sifan Zhi mentions that “the righteous Zhu YingTai and Liang Shanbo were both buried together in this grave”. Although the reason for them both sharing the same grave is unclear, or whether the both of them were real life persons, the story between the pair of lovers was further extended in the late Tang novelette Xuan Shizhi () to resemble the primary version of the story. Both Tang dynasty sources became the basis for further developments in future dynasties. During the Yuan to Qing period, the folklore was further transformed into different art forms, which included fantasy novels, Yuan Zaju, and folk opera, with more details and origins further explored.

 

This folklore has earned the nickname of “the Oriental Romeo and Juliet,” and continues to inspire various films and music productions with its tragic yet lovely story.