The 'Legend of the White Snake' tells of the white snake spirit Bai Suzhen, who falls in love with and marries the scholar Xu Xian. Her true form is exposed by the monk Fahai, Xu Xian is lured to Jinshan Temple, and Lady White floods Jinshan to rescue her husband, before finally being imprisoned by Fahai beneath the Leifeng Pagoda beside West Lake. The Ming-dynasty story 'The Three Pagodas of West Lake' from the Jiajing era is considered the earliest form of the legend.
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