The plaintive melody of the violin concerto for "The Butterfly Lovers," or Liang Zhu, has moved audiences at home and abroad for more than a half century. The nearly 30-minute masterpiece, written in 1958 by composers Chen Gang and He Zhanhao when they were still music students, is based on a tragic romance between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai 1,700 years ago.

The story is set during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (266-420).

According to the most popular version of the legend, Zhu Yingtai, the only girl from the Zhu family in Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province, loved reading and longed to go to school. As women were not allowed to take up academic pursuits, Zhu disguised herself as a man and traveled to Shaoxing to study.

At school, Zhu met Liang Shanbo from neighboring Ningbo and the two became good friends. In the following three years, Zhu and Liang lived, studied and traveled together, but Liang never discovered that Zhu was actually a girl.

This happy time, however, came to an end as Zhu's father missed her and urged Zhu to return home. Before leaving, Liang promised to visit Zhu's family in Shangyu after finishing his studies.

Without enough travel money, Liang's journey to Shangyu was delayed. When he arrived at Zhu's house, Zhu Yingtai greeted him in a female costume. Liang had hoped to propose marriage, but it was too late. It had been arranged that Zhu was to marry another man she had never met.

Liang Shanbo suffered from depression and despair and eventually died. A year later, on the way to her wedding ceremony, Zhu visited Liang's tomb to remember the only man she ever loved. Suddenly, the tomb split open and Zhu jumped in. Sometime later, a pair of colorful butterflies emerged from the tomb and flew away together.

Having been adapted into a variety of operas, song and dance performances, TV series and films, the time-honored story continues to hold a place in the nation's affections as it expresses the hope for a free marriage for the ancient Chinese and praises women's bravery in the pursuit of love.

"The Butterfly Lovers" is counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the "Legend of the White Snake," "Lady Meng Jiang" and the "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl."