The Legend of the White Snake (Chinese Reader, Level 1): A 500-Character Graded Story with Vocabulary Notes

About This Book

The Legend of the White Snake is a Level 1 title in the “学汉语分级读物” series, published by Beijing Language and Culture University Press. It belongs to the 民间故事 strand, which sits at the easiest level of the three-level system. The book is designed for learners who know roughly 500 of the most common Chinese characters and can read a full story without constantly reaching for a dictionary.-12-13-14

The Story

A kind boy saves a white snake. Over two thousand years later, the snake has cultivated itself into a young woman named Bai Suzhen. The boy has been reborn many times and is now Xu Xian. Bai Suzhen finds him, they fall in love and marry, and she gives birth to a child. But a monk named Fahai opposes their union. The story moves through the classic episodes: meeting by West Lake, the theft of silver, their marriage, Bai Suzhen revealing her true form, flooding Jinshan Temple, and her final imprisonment beneath the Leifeng Pagoda on the shore of West Lake.-1-5

What‘s Inside

• Graded Chinese text: simplified language, controlled sentence difficulty, written to be readable at the 500-character level.

• Word definitions on every page: new words are glossed at the bottom of the page, so you can keep reading without stopping to look things up.

• Pinyin-English glossary at the back: a full vocabulary index with pinyin and English, for review and self-checking.

• Classical-style illustrations: artwork that echoes the story, helping you follow the plot and adjusting the reading rhythm.-12

• Cultural notes woven into the story: the legend carries Chinese history, customs, and folklore alongside the language.