I've been a fan of Chinese culture from the age of 10. I grew up in NYC. and my best childhood friend was a Chinese American. Together with his parents I went to Chinatown and saw my first version of this story. Today at 65 I'm still a fan. I enjoy your videos very much. Thank you for this important contribution .
I'm wheezing, 'the stupid boy' lmao he was reeeeeaaalllllyyy dense omg I remember. Me and my sisters adored The Butterfly Lovers. We watched all of the versions we could find. Like the Hu Ge one and even the cartoon version!
I loved that film too (with Hu Ge and *gasp* Wu Chun - what a heartthrob he was in that film!) I bought it and must have watched it 5 or 6 times. That scene where Wu Chun silently leaps from the roof to the ground in slow motion will stay with me forever!
The Butterfly Lover Concerto is easily one of my favorite pieces of music ever. In the whole world. I can never get tired of listening to it. Also, 1994 Liang Zhu is such a phenomenal film.
Thanks for this video! 梁祝 also holds a special place in my heart, because of the violin concerto - it was the first music I ever heard and loved. My mom regularly played 吕思清's recording for me when I was a kid, starting from when I was still in her womb. I have several vivid memories of listening to 梁祝 with my parents and asking them to tell me what part of the story each movement in the concerto symbolized. When they forced me to learn violin and join orchestra in middle school (like all other Asian American kids lol) the thing that ultimately convinced me was that I could learn how to play 梁祝. (*Side note: I did learn how to play it a few years later!) I love this piece so so much, and I hope to spread this love to my future children too 🤗
Thanks for sharing! Fun facts: The Vietnamese transliteration = Lương Sơn Bá, Chúc Anh Đài. My earliest memory of this story was watching a Vietnamese cai luong (folk opera) adaptation back in the 90s.
Thank you for exposing me, guiding me, to The Butterfly Lovers. Yes, I will check it out. Thank you for teaching me. Greetings and blessings from Pennsylvania, U.S. What an adventure to be exposed to other cultures !!!
Thanks for another great video, I somehow like these informational videos more than drama reviews. Not that I don't like the drama reviews, but I also don't have enough time to much all the drama either...
I checked out the music on the both you mentioned above and realised that I have heard the song and music from the time I was a teenager! My mom took me to quite a number of chinese operas in different dialects and I must have watched this particular one story and listened to the music! What great memories!!
I love this video ! And I love your story about your performance and your portrayer of the female character! Thanks for sharing. Most interesting indeed!
Really good to have an explanation and walk through of the Butterfly Lovers, I love hearing myths and stories of different cultures and ancient variations :)
Please do a video on LGBT in ancient China. He could have been Bi and loved her as both a man and a woman. Thanks so much for sharing your love of such a classic story in all it's forms.
It's great that you put this explanation out and talked about how much you love this story. Being a BIG fan of this story. I feel like you have missed out and you owe the audiences a deeper explanation in regards to how Shanbo died.To me the most captivating part is that Their hearts are joint. It's like well and beyond the stage of soulmate to the point that they can sense each other's present, what they are thinking without talking. Shanbo knows that Yingtai will be there to meet him at the grave. Yingtai senses it when Shanbo passes away. It's like they are inseparable. Shanbo dies because he misses Yingtai too much to the point that he falls sick and dies. This seems to be extreme to normal people. But... this is why it makes it so captivating and intoxicating to watch! and I strongly believe that there are people like this in this world who can talk to each other heart to heart and know each other inside out to the point that if one dies, the other one will not be able to go on!!!
My father used to tell folklore to my siblings and me when we were little. One of my favorite tales was Yeeb Yaj Yuam and Tswv Yeeb Thaj (pronounced Ying Yah Youa and Chu Ying Tha), a story where a girl dressed up as a boy to go to school and falls in love with her classmate only for them to die at the end and turn in butterflies. I was amazed when I saw "The Butterfly Lovers" the film for the first time because there they were! However, something was off. Tswv Yeeb Thaj sounds a lot like Zhu Yingtai, however, Tswv Yeeb Thaj was actually male in the Hmong folklore my father used to tell me. As a child, I was just so happy that one of my favorite folklore was made into a movie. As I grew older and learned more about my ancestry, I realized that because our history dates back to China (there are still many Hmong/Miao people there), I could see why we would also have a butterfly lovers story, but still wonder today how the male character in the Hmong version ended up with the female's name in the Chinese version.
@@ms.chuisin7727 What I meant was that Liang Shangbo's name was switched to Zhu Yingtai in thr folk tale my father used to tell. The storyline and ending remains the same. Just the name was changed.
Yaaaaay!! I finally agree whole-heartedly with you on this one! The Hong Kong version of Butterfly Lovers is also among my all-time favorite, most re-watched films. (I also love the films of Wong Kar Wai. I'd love to hear your take on some of those classic films.) I sure wish there was an English subbed version of the 2007 Butterfly Lovers drama! I wonder if it's worth requesting it on Viki? (If everybody who watches this video requested it too it probably would really help!)
You are so so so good .... your passaion is contagious... pls pls 🙏keep doing what you do ... and thanks so much for the story and the film suggestion i loved it.
Hi, I just watched your Liang Zhu video. It is absolutely informative and valuable for me to know so much more about its and your history. I have similar lack of knowledge about the history of Chinese Cultural Revolution . I grew up in Hong Kong and during that period in Hong Kong and real information about it is blocked. Can you do a video on Chinese Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 with the before and after commentary if it is not politically tabooed. I think it will help a lot of people around the world to understand it better especially from your trusting subscriber for truth and information. Your new fan.
I’ve seen many dramas and movies adaptations of The butterfly Lovers and my favorites are the two you recommended as well. I didn’t know anything about the soundtracks but had thought it was so well picked. And I’ve done some research on The Butterfly Lovers but obviously, it doesn’t beat you! I’ve watched the 2016 drama version and it was okay but I wanted to watch it to compare it to previous version (something I’ve always done) but stopped after he found that she’s a girl. Thanks for the great insights!
This is so cool! We used to do the live dubbing thing in school. Our annual day in 8th grade was like that, and I was the voice of Maria from The Sound of Music.
Thanks a lot! Really like and appreciate this Liang Zhu video! LZ has been my top fav for the longest time n I used to watch the 1994 version everytime I feel down. No words to describe. My wife and most people knew that then and most would think I was mad or something. Thanks for the OST. I was telling my wife that u are a Amerian or something and then she said no n that u are living in China! So awesome u! Thanks again! 谢谢你！ Simon from Singapore.
Curious to know if the western Opera MADAME BUTTERFLY is also based on LiangZhu? It has a similar piognant/ melancholic melody. ( But i prefer the Chinese oomposition)
Thanks for making this comprehensive video! I knew what the violin piece sounded like but wasn’t familiar with the whole story or the composers’ backgrounds. Hopefully we can track down a copy of the 1994 DVD!
Just to add Shakespeare cranked out so many plays as he wasnt creating the stories or underlying plots from scratch, he was taking from what was popular at the time or history. The Romeo and Juliet premise has been recorded from 3rd century Greece and is older than that ;)
in my opinion, the west was mainly attracted by the beauty of the "butterfly lovers" concert music and not by the story of the star-crossed lovers. so many versions of the story had been made into movies during the 20th century especially in taiwan and hong kong, but did not get much notice by the west because the music to these movies/operas are in the "yellow plum tune" and played with traditional chinese musical instruments and not with violins,pianos etc. i heard from an interview with the composers that the motivations for writing the musical score was the admonishments of premier chou en lai to western trained musicians to transform the chinese foklore stories and operas into western style music that will eventually played to mass audiences in china using instruments like pianos, violins etc.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the 1963 Huangmei Opera version. That is the version I grew up with and the music brings back memories of this cassette tape that I had and just now I've found out what it's actually called (The Love Eterne) and that it's basically Butterfly Lovers. It's also utterly beautiful and all the mains were played by females! Which is so cool for its time if you think about it. (Could you please do a video about Huangmei Opera?? The beauty and the palace, lin dai etc... I wonder how many other people grew up with that stuff. It's music is so nostalgic to me, even though I literally don't understand any of it)
I like the 94 movie best too. Thank you for the vid, even though I am not a fan of the story, I do like the music, your vid is very informative! I do hope you make the video about homosexuality in ancient China, it sounds really interesting. There are some thing I've read about, but would love to hear you input.
@AvenueX Do you know the name of the song where they are walking home from school, and she's comparing all the happy ducks and animals trying to give him a hint? Been looking forever and I can't remember the name!
Hello, please, I would like to watch some Liang Zhu movies. Do you know where can I find some with english/french subtitles? Or even in Chinese or with Chinese subtitles. It's for my school project and it would help me a lot if you can recommend something. Thank you!
The Butterfly Lovers 1994 film was my fave ❤️ whenever I think about it I feel emotional too.
I've been a fan of Chinese culture from the age of 10. I grew up in NYC. and my best childhood friend was a Chinese American. Together with his parents I went to Chinatown and saw my first version of this story. Today at 65 I'm still a fan. I enjoy your videos very much. Thank you for this important contribution .
I'm wheezing, 'the stupid boy' lmao he was reeeeeaaalllllyyy dense omg I remember. Me and my sisters adored The Butterfly Lovers. We watched all of the versions we could find. Like the Hu Ge one and even the cartoon version!
I loved that film too (with Hu Ge and *gasp* Wu Chun - what a heartthrob he was in that film!) I bought it and must have watched it 5 or 6 times. That scene where Wu Chun silently leaps from the roof to the ground in slow motion will stay with me forever!
The Butterfly Lover Concerto is easily one of my favorite pieces of music ever. In the whole world. I can never get tired of listening to it. Also, 1994 Liang Zhu is such a phenomenal film.
🤝94 film is GOLD
please.. please... make video like this again. I love how passionate u explain everything. and your school experience actually get me emotional.
p/s: I will definitely hunt down this movie n drama
I have always love this story when I first saw the 1994 played by Nicky Wu and Charlie.
Thanks for this video! 梁祝 also holds a special place in my heart, because of the violin concerto - it was the first music I ever heard and loved. My mom regularly played 吕思清's recording for me when I was a kid, starting from when I was still in her womb. I have several vivid memories of listening to 梁祝 with my parents and asking them to tell me what part of the story each movement in the concerto symbolized. When they forced me to learn violin and join orchestra in middle school (like all other Asian American kids lol) the thing that ultimately convinced me was that I could learn how to play 梁祝. (*Side note: I did learn how to play it a few years later!) I love this piece so so much, and I hope to spread this love to my future children too 🤗
Wow, that sounds so cool. Violin is such a difficult instrument, respect!
I just came across 梁祝 while learning Chinese. It's a great story, thanks!
THOROUGHLY ENJOYED the story of Liang Zhu. Thanks for sharing such a cultural gem!
Thanks for sharing! Fun facts: The Vietnamese transliteration = Lương Sơn Bá, Chúc Anh Đài. My earliest memory of this story was watching a Vietnamese cai luong (folk opera) adaptation back in the 90s.
I remember the emphasis placed on this story in my Chinese class and how beautiful the story was.The Butterfly Lovers song and story is truly iconic
Please do a video about homosexuality in ancient China! That could be amazing and very informative!!!
i concur.
Yes! Please make a video on this subject!
When she is by it, can she also talk why it is banned from filmography?
+1
I fell in love with the 94 version and the 2 main lead too. It does have the best OST
Thank you for exposing me, guiding me, to The Butterfly Lovers. Yes, I will check it out. Thank you for teaching me. Greetings and blessings from Pennsylvania, U.S. What an adventure to be exposed to other cultures !!!
I cried like crazy when I watched the HK movie version back in the 90s
OMG! Hearing your personal Liang Zhu story at the end is the best of this video. Thank you for this continuing education in Chinese drama and culture.
Thanks for another great video, I somehow like these informational videos more than drama reviews. Not that I don't like the drama reviews, but I also don't have enough time to much all the drama either...
i remember watching the drama decades ago for this. i really loved it a lot and miss it.
i sat through the whole thing.
AAAH so exciting to get my first heart from a youtuber. Love You AvenueX keep working hard and I'll keep watching.
I checked out the music on the both you mentioned above and realised that I have heard the song and music from the time I was a teenager! My mom took me to quite a number of chinese operas in different dialects and I must have watched this particular one story and listened to the music! What great memories!!
😍 I love stories! TY for sharing! 🤗
Loved the 2007 version with Peter Ho, still one of my fav Chinese dramas~ 😊
Yea I watched the 1994 movie like 20 times. The score is one of my favorite driving music.
I love this video ! And I love your story about your performance and your portrayer of the female character! Thanks for sharing. Most interesting indeed!
Really good to have an explanation and walk through of the Butterfly Lovers, I love hearing myths and stories of different cultures and ancient variations :)
There is a cartoon version of the Liangzhu movie and I absolutely love its soundtrack! I think some of it were sung by Liu Ruoyin. One is called 蝴蝶
Please do a video on LGBT in ancient China. He could have been Bi and loved her as both a man and a woman. Thanks so much for sharing your love of such a classic story in all it's forms.
It's great that you put this explanation out and talked about how much you love this story. Being a BIG fan of this story. I feel like you have missed out and you owe the audiences a deeper explanation in regards to how Shanbo died.To me the most captivating part is that Their hearts are joint. It's like well and beyond the stage of soulmate to the point that they can sense each other's present, what they are thinking without talking.
Shanbo knows that Yingtai will be there to meet him at the grave. Yingtai senses it when Shanbo passes away. It's like they are inseparable.
Shanbo dies because he misses Yingtai too much to the point that he falls sick and dies. This seems to be extreme to normal people.
But... this is why it makes it so captivating and intoxicating to watch! and I strongly believe that there are people like this in this world who can talk to each other heart to heart and know each other inside out to the point that if one dies, the other one will not be able to go on!!!
My father used to tell folklore to my siblings and me when we were little. One of my favorite tales was Yeeb Yaj Yuam and Tswv Yeeb Thaj (pronounced Ying Yah Youa and Chu Ying Tha), a story where a girl dressed up as a boy to go to school and falls in love with her classmate only for them to die at the end and turn in butterflies. I was amazed when I saw "The Butterfly Lovers" the film for the first time because there they were! However, something was off. Tswv Yeeb Thaj sounds a lot like Zhu Yingtai, however, Tswv Yeeb Thaj was actually male in the Hmong folklore my father used to tell me. As a child, I was just so happy that one of my favorite folklore was made into a movie. As I grew older and learned more about my ancestry, I realized that because our history dates back to China (there are still many Hmong/Miao people there), I could see why we would also have a butterfly lovers story, but still wonder today how the male character in the Hmong version ended up with the female's name in the Chinese version.
So you're saying in your culture girl was a Male and they're gay? Or you mean the role was reversed?
@@ms.chuisin7727 What I meant was that Liang Shangbo's name was switched to Zhu Yingtai in thr folk tale my father used to tell. The storyline and ending remains the same. Just the name was changed.
Thank you. Very interesting presentation. Now I will watch more of your videos.
this video is lovely and made me laugh as well. thank u so much!
Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts and comments. Very interesting, you are awesome.
This video was so beautiful!
I think the first version you watched will always stuck with you... 😆 mine is the 1994 version superrrr loveee.. always cried buckets when watching it
BookMarks or postcards with the butterfly design would be great ^^
Yaaaaay!! I finally agree whole-heartedly with you on this one! The Hong Kong version of Butterfly Lovers is also among my all-time favorite, most re-watched films. (I also love the films of Wong Kar Wai. I'd love to hear your take on some of those classic films.) I sure wish there was an English subbed version of the 2007 Butterfly Lovers drama! I wonder if it's worth requesting it on Viki? (If everybody who watches this video requested it too it probably would really help!)
You are so so so good .... your passaion is contagious... pls pls 🙏keep doing what you do ... and thanks so much for the story and the film suggestion i loved it.
Know the story growing up and seen bits if Opera but never knew about the movie and series. On my to watch list now
Hi, I just watched your Liang Zhu video. It is absolutely informative and valuable for me to know so much more about its and your history. I have similar lack of knowledge about the history of Chinese Cultural Revolution . I grew up in Hong Kong and during that period in Hong Kong and real information about it is blocked. Can you do a video on Chinese Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 with the before and after commentary if it is not politically tabooed. I think it will help a lot of people around the world to understand it better especially from your trusting subscriber for truth and information. Your new fan.
I'd love to see that history!! I'm very curious to know about the historical context of homosexuality in Chinese culture.
I loved this! Thank you for sharing everything!!
1994 version of Butterfly Lover is my favorite version as well. It was so good I watched it so many times as well and yes the ost is superb.
I’ve seen many dramas and movies adaptations of The butterfly Lovers and my favorites are the two you recommended as well. I didn’t know anything about the soundtracks but had thought it was so well picked. And I’ve done some research on The Butterfly Lovers but obviously, it doesn’t beat you! I’ve watched the 2016 drama version and it was okay but I wanted to watch it to compare it to previous version (something I’ve always done) but stopped after he found that she’s a girl. Thanks for the great insights!
This is so cool! We used to do the live dubbing thing in school. Our annual day in 8th grade was like that, and I was the voice of Maria from The Sound of Music.
After a little search found the full version with russian subtitles. Thank you for the recommendation and god bless russian movie piracy :D
enjoyed this video - thanks for all the links, too!
I love love love the movie adaption by 吴奇隆 and 杨采妮 too! They looked so cute and good together and I cried lots every time I watch it.
Thanks a lot! Really like and appreciate this Liang Zhu video! LZ has been my top fav for the longest time n I used to watch the 1994 version everytime I feel down. No words to describe. My wife and most people knew that then and most would think I was mad or something. Thanks for the OST. I was telling my wife that u are a Amerian or something and then she said no n that u are living in China! So awesome u! Thanks again! 谢谢你！ Simon from Singapore.
Chinese, but I’m in 🇨🇦
@@AvenueX123 Wah! So awesome!
@@AvenueX123 U don't FB? I was wondering if I could add u. Thanks.
Curious to know if the western Opera MADAME BUTTERFLY is also based on LiangZhu? It has a similar piognant/ melancholic melody. ( But i prefer the Chinese oomposition)
You are so inspirational.
Thanks for making this comprehensive video! I knew what the violin piece sounded like but wasn’t familiar with the whole story or the composers’ backgrounds. Hopefully we can track down a copy of the 1994 DVD!
such a lovely video; thank you so much.
Just to add Shakespeare cranked out so many plays as he wasnt creating the stories or underlying plots from scratch, he was taking from what was popular at the time or history. The Romeo and Juliet premise has been recorded from 3rd century Greece and is older than that ;)
Thanks for mentioning yueju👍
in my opinion, the west was mainly attracted by the beauty of the "butterfly lovers" concert music and not by the story of the star-crossed lovers. so many versions of the story had been made into movies during the 20th century especially in taiwan and hong kong, but did not get much notice by the west because the music to these movies/operas are in the "yellow plum tune" and played with traditional chinese musical instruments and not with violins,pianos etc.
i heard from an interview with the composers that the motivations for writing the musical score was the admonishments of premier chou en lai to western trained musicians to transform the chinese foklore stories and operas into western style music that will eventually played to mass audiences in china using instruments like pianos, violins etc.
I love the 1994 Hong Kong version too!!!
Idk whether I should be proud or sad to be first but... first!
The Lu Siqing recording is a Marco Polo/Naxos cd coupled w Yellow River. Naxos has made numerous recording of Butterfly. Lu has a version w Yundi Li.
Bravo!!!
I'm surprised you didn't mention the 1963 Huangmei Opera version. That is the version I grew up with and the music brings back memories of this cassette tape that I had and just now I've found out what it's actually called (The Love Eterne) and that it's basically Butterfly Lovers. It's also utterly beautiful and all the mains were played by females! Which is so cool for its time if you think about it. (Could you please do a video about Huangmei Opera?? The beauty and the palace, lin dai etc... I wonder how many other people grew up with that stuff. It's music is so nostalgic to me, even though I literally don't understand any of it)
He was probably bi or pan.. these stories are created and last as they provide an easily remembered and engaging way of explaining concepts.
I like the 94 movie best too. Thank you for the vid, even though I am not a fan of the story, I do like the music, your vid is very informative! I do hope you make the video about homosexuality in ancient China, it sounds really interesting. There are some thing I've read about, but would love to hear you input.
FYI: LiangZhu’s another famous adaptation: Butterflies, the musical.
I like the animated version better
Mai Yia Yang yes that’s my childhood right there
We call it "sam pek eng tay" here in Indonesia
There's a cartoon version that was pretty well done too
I tried to check out all the links but unfortunately most of the links were taken off TH-cam.
Ok, that's a sad story! :(
@AvenueX Do you know the name of the song where they are walking home from school, and she's comparing all the happy ducks and animals trying to give him a hint? Been looking forever and I can't remember the name!
Hello, please, I would like to watch some Liang Zhu movies. Do you know where can I find some with english/french subtitles? Or even in Chinese or with Chinese subtitles. It's for my school project and it would help me a lot if you can recommend something. Thank you!
Yes! Please, please, please do a video on homosexuality in ancient China!!
00年的我 表示对梁祝的影视作品印象是动画电影（好像迪士尼拍的？）还有徐熙媛跟罗志祥那个搞笑版本的
I want to watch the Hong Kong 1994 version but I cant find any eng sub 🤧🤧🤧🤧
may i ask a copy for your thumbnail? Thank you
yue opera is in cantonese. most of them are portrage by female opera singer.
No...Although I am a Cantonese, I think it should be 越剧. 越 and 粤 has same pronounciation. And 越剧 is older than 粤剧……
Do talk about acient Chinese homosexuality PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!
By whom is the music written?
Ssssoooooooooo funny when you laughed about how he got sick and died lmao
Hahahaha Take notes. That's how you turn a famous Chinese folklore into a yaoi romance.
"The stupid boy" hahahaha he´s totally clueless
Who ask for differences between Romeo and Juliet VS butterfly lover.. 😠😡😡😤😤 u kill the story beauty.