The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is a famous Chinese love story from long ago. Zhu Yingtai was a girl who wanted to learn in school, but because society did not allow women to go to school, she had to disguises herself as a boy. Over time, she fell in love with him, but did not reveal her feelings until much later. This is a letter from her to Liang Shanbo, if she had decided to tell him how she felt about her.

To Liang Shanbo from Zhu Yingtai:

                By the time you read this, I will have already left. I have only one reason why I decided to go, and it is because I hold a secret within me. This secret, if revealed to you, will change our friendship, and I cannot bear to tell you these words face to face. So instead I have decided to write this letter to explain everything.

                To explain my secret, I should begin by explaining my childhood. When I was a small child, I remember always plain in the family garden. It was fill with orchids, cherry blossoms, lilies, and chrysanthemums. Fluttering from petal to petal were beautiful butterflies.

They were so graceful, almost magical. I loved chasing after them, trying to catch and hold them in my hands. I was devastated when I discovered that by holding the delicate butterflies in my hands I would hurt their wings and they would never be able to fly again. It was then that I promised myself to always watch the butterflies from a distance, never getting close to them again.

I am sure you are noticing that my childhood is a very feminine one. This is because in truth, I am a woman. I dressed myself in men's clothes, learned to act like a man, and did everything I could to hide that I am a woman.

I did this because I wanted to learn and experience new things. I wanted to read literature and write poetry. I wanted to be more than I was before. I noticed that men appreciate beauty differently than women. Rather than chase a butterfly, why would look at it from far away. So for me, the disguise was easy. Except when it came to being with you.

The two of us started as friends, but slowly as I learned more about you, I discovered that my feelings for you had grown. You were kind to me from the beginning. When I first attended the school I felt lost and ignorant of the school rules. You showed me around, helped me get used to the life of a scholar. Whenever I did not understand what the teacher was saying, you helped explain until I understood everything. And then I fell sick.

I remember barely having enough strength to sit up, let alone learn anything. You took care of me throughout the ordeal. You prepared the medicine, even buying the herbs for me even you though you had little money for yourself. And on top of that you helped me catch up whatever lessons I missed. I thanked you for your kindness, and you smiled saying that it was something friends should do for each other.

Friends. I realized at that moment I did not want to be just friends. I realized at that moment I had fallen in love with you. It was a difficult time because I had to hide myself, never revealing that I was a woman dressed in men's clothes. I could never reveal my feelings for you. For the first time, watching from afar proved too much to handle.

I knew that if I told you the truth it would destroy our friendship just as easily as the wings of a butterfly. But as much as I tried to hold the secret inside me, I knew that eventually I would have to confess my feelings for you. I do not know how you may feel about this truth. You might feel betrayed, or you may find that have the same feelings that I have for you.

I have decided to return home; I've learned all I can here, both in matters of the mind and of the heart. If fate decides to bring us together, then I will rejoice with all my heart. But if we should never happen to see each other again, then I will always remember the friendship that we shared together. I hope your future will be a great and prosperous one.