Water Margin
Water Margin, also called Outlaws of the Marsh or All Men Are Brothers, is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, Water Margin was one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin Chinese.
Set during the Northern Song dynasty, the story follows a group of 108 outlaws that gathers at Mount Liang to rebel against the government. Later they are granted amnesty and enlisted by the government to resist the nomadic conquest of the Liao dynasty and other rebels. While the book's authorship is traditionally attributed to Shi Nai'an, the first external reference to the novel only appeared in 1524 during the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, sparking a long-lasting academic debate on when it was actually written and which historical events the author had witnessed that inspired him to write the book.
The novel is considered one of the masterpieces of early vernacular fiction and Chinese literature. It has introduced readers to some of the best-known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong, Pan Jinlian, Song Jiang and Lu Zhishen. Water Margin also exerted a significant influence on the development of fiction elsewhere in East Asia, such as on Japanese literature.
Historical context and inspirations
Water Margin is based on the exploits of the outlaw Song Jiang and his 107 companions; framed in the story as the incarnations of 108 demons representing 108 stars and the 72 "earthly demons" ). The activities of Song Jiang's group were recorded in the historical text History of Song in the annals of Emperor Huizong of Song, which states:Zhang Shuye's biography further describes the activities of Song Jiang and the other outlaws, and tells they were eventually defeated by Zhang.
File:Shuipo Liangshan.jpg|thumb|right|A flag that says "Enforcing the Way in Heaven's Name" on Mount Liang in Liangshan County.
A precursor and blueprint of Water Margin is a compilation of folk tales titled as Old Incidents in the Xuanhe Period of the Great Song Dynasty, where it also inserts the story of the treacherous ministers of the Song dynasty who controlled the government and caused great suffering to the people. It also serves as a comparison for the story of the heroes of Liangshan. If it is counted with Gong Kai's Praise of the Thirty-six Men of Song Jiang' from the same period, both works also mentioned the name of Yan Qing, as one of the thirty-six rebel leaders of Song Jiang's group. Furthermore, the archetype for Yan Qing's personality in the novel was suspected to be derived from Liang Xing, a Song general who fought against the Jin Dynasty.
Folk stories about Song Jiang circulated during the Southern Song. The first known source to name Song Jiang's 36 companions was Miscellaneous Observations from the Year of Guixin by Zhou Mi, written in the 13th century. Among the 36 of Song Jiang's companions, there are names like Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Ruan Xiao'er, Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, Liu Tang, Hua Rong and Wu Yong. Some of the characters who later became associated with Song Jiang also appeared around this time. They include Sun Li, Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song.
According to Ning Jiayu, a Chinese language professor at Nankai University, one theory suggests that Shi Jin was inspired by a real-life figure named Shi Bin, a rebel leader from Shanxi who lived during the early Southern Song dynasty and was a subordinate of Song Jiang in his early years.
Another outlaw figure allegedly inspired by a real person was Xie Bao. This theory relies on classical era records of Sanchao beimeng huibian. In this narration, the real Xie Bao was a minor rebel leader from Jizhou during the early Southern Song. In response to this rebellion, emperor Gaozong sent Han Shizhong, talented general with promising career, who managed to suppress these rebels group which led by Xie Bao and others. This raw historical kernel fueled speculation by modern Chinese historian and textual critic Wang Liqi that the figure was the real life inspiration for the fictionalized Liang Shan bandit hero. However, other Chinese historical critics like Wang Yu and Li Dianyuan were skeptical towards Wang Liqi's theory of this legend-history fusion for lacking supporting evidence to prove that the historical Xie Bao fled from Dengzhou to Jeju, as this conjencture could support the claim that the real life rebel was indeed the inspiration for the fictionalized Xie Bao.
Fang La, one of the primary antagonists in Water Margin, was inspired by the real-life rebel of the same name. His rebellion was linked to the spread of Manichaeism in China during Song dynasty. The rebellion which started by Fang La was portrayed as a prototypical "heretical uprising" in Chinese historiography.
Both the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty and the closing years of the Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty were marked by a chain of rebellions, which confused scholars a lot as to which of the two inspired the author, and hence when was the book written.
According to Lu Xun, there was a large marshland at Mount Liang which existed since the Song dynasty, which served as inspiration for the base for Liangshan bandits.
Plot
The opening episode in the novel is the release of the 108 Spirits, imprisoned under an ancient stele-bearing tortoise.File:Lu Zhishen Water Margin 2.jpg|thumb|200px|Lu Zhishen uproots a tree
The next chapter describes the rise of Gao Qiu, one of the primary antagonists of the story. Gao abuses his status as a Grand Marshal by oppressing Wang Jin; Wang's father taught Gao a painful lesson when the latter was still a street-roaming ruffian. Wang Jin flees from the capital with his mother and by chance he meets Shi Jin, who becomes his apprentice. The next few chapters tell the story of Shi Jin's friend Lu Zhishen, followed by the story of Lu's sworn brother Lin Chong. Lin Chong is framed by Gao Qiu for attempting to assassinate him, and almost dies in a fire at a supply depot set by Gao's henchmen. He slays his foes and abandons the depot, eventually making his way to Liangshan Marsh, where he becomes an outlaw. Meanwhile, the "Original Seven", led by Chao Gai, rob a convoy of birthday gifts for the Imperial Tutor Cai Jing, another primary antagonist in the novel. They flee to Liangshan Marsh after defeating a group of soldiers sent by the authorities to arrest them, and settle there as outlaws with Chao Gai as their chief. As the story progresses, more people come to join the outlaw band, including military personnel and civil officials who grew tired of serving the corrupt government, as well as men with special skills and talents. Stories of the outlaws are told in separate sections in the following chapters. Connections between characters are vague, but the individual stories are eventually pieced together by chapter 60 when Song Jiang succeeds Chao Gai as the leader of the band after the latter is killed in a battle against the Zeng Family Fortress.
The plot further develops by illustrating the conflicts between the outlaws and the Song government after the Grand Assembly of the 108 outlaws. Song Jiang strongly advocates making peace with the government and seeking redress for the outlaws. After defeating the imperial army in a great battle at Liangshan Marsh, the outlaws eventually receive amnesty from Emperor Huizong. The emperor recruits them to form a military contingent and sends them on campaigns against invaders from the Liao dynasty and rebel forces led by Tian Hu, Wang Qing and Fang La within the Song dynasty's domain. Although the former outlaws eventually emerge victorious against the rebels and Liao invaders, the campaigns also lead to the tragic dissolution of the 108 heroes. At least two-thirds of them die in battle while the surviving ones either return to the imperial capital to receive honours from the emperor and continue serving the Song government, or leave and spend the rest of their lives as commoners elsewhere. Song Jiang himself is eventually poisoned to death by the "Four Treacherous Ministers" – Gao Qiu, Yang Jian, Tong Guan and Cai Jing.
Characters
The 108 Heroes are at the core of the plot of Water Margin. Based on the Taoist concept that each person's destiny is tied to a "Star of Destiny", the 108 Stars of Destiny are stars representing 108 demonic overlords who were banished by the deity Shangdi. Having repented since their expulsion, the 108 Stars are accidentally released from their place of confinement, and are reborn in the world as 108 heroes who band together for the cause of justice. They are divided into the 36 Heavenly Spirits and 72 Earthly Fiends.Chapters
This outline of chapters is based on a 100 chapters edition. Yang Dingjian's 120 chapters edition includes other campaigns of the outlaws on behalf of Song dynasty, while Jin Shengtan's 70 chapters edition omits the chapters on the outlaws' acceptance of amnesty and subsequent campaigns.File:Suikoden.jpg|thumb|200px|Yang Lin, a hero from the novel, from Utagawa Kuniyoshi's series of woodblock prints illustrating the 108 Suikoden.
| Chapter | Main events |
| 1 | Marshal Hong releases the 108 spirits |
| 2 | The rise of Gao Qiu |
| 2–3 | The story of Shi Jin |
| 3–7 | The story of Lu Zhishen |
| 7–12 | The story of Lin Chong |
| 12–13 | The story of Yang Zhi |
| 13–20 | The stealing of the birthday gifts by the "Original Seven" |
| 20–22 | The story of Song Jiang |
| 23–32 | The story of Wu Song |
| 32–35 | The story of Hua Rong |
| 36–43 | Song Jiang's encounters in Jiangzhou |
| 44–47 | The story of Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong |
| 47–50 | The three assaults on the Zhu Family Village |
| 51–52 | The story of Lei Heng and Zhu Tong |
| 53–55 | The outlaws' attack on Gaotangzhou; the search for Gongsun Sheng |
| 55–57 | The first imperial assault on Liangshan Marsh |
| 57–59 | The outlaws' attack on Qingzhou; Huyan Zhuo's defection to Liangshan |
| 59–60 | The outlaws, led by Gongsun Sheng, attack Mount Mangdang |
| 60 | The first assault by the outlaws on the Zeng Family Village; the death of Chao Gai |
| 60–67 | The story of Lu Junyi; the outlaws attack Daming Prefecture; the second imperial assault on Liangshan Marsh |
| 67 | Guan Sheng defects to Liangshan; The third imperial assault on Liangshan Marsh |
| 68 | The second assault by the outlaws on the Zeng Family Fortress; |
| 69–70 | The outlaws attack Dongping and Dongchang prefectures |
| 71–74 | The Grand Assembly; the funny and lethal antics of Li Kui |
| 75–78 | Emperor Huizong offers amnesty for the first time; the fourth imperial assault on Liangshan Marsh |
| 78–80 | The fifth imperial assault on Liangshan Marsh |
| 81–82 | The outlaws are granted amnesty |
| 83–89 | The Liangshan heroes attack the Liao invaders |
| 90–99 | The Liangshan heroes attack Fang La |
| 100 | The tragic dissolution of the Liangshan heroes |
The extended version includes the Liangshan heroes' expeditions against the rebel leaders Tian Hu and Wang Qing prior to the campaign against Fang La.