Water Margin
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Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh (Traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; Simplified Chinese: 水浒传; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn), sometimes also translated as All Men Are Brothers, is one of the four most famous classical works of Chinese literature. Attributed to Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, the novel details the trials and tribulations of one hundred and eight outlaws during the early 12th century.
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Historical context and development
Water Margin is vaguely based upon the historical bandit Song Jiang and his thirty-six companions. The group were active in the Huai River region and eventually surrendered to government troops in 1119. Folk stories about Song Jiang circulated during the Southern Song. The first text to name Song Jiang's thirty-six companions was the 12th century Guixin Zashi. Among the thirty-six are Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Ruan Xiaoqi, Liu Tang, Hua Rong, Wu Yong, among others. Some of the characters to later become associated with Song Jiang also appeared around this time. They include Sun Li, Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song.
A direct precursor of Water Margin was the Da Song Xuanhe Yishi (大宋宣和遺事), which appeared around the mid-13th century. The text was basically a written version of storytellers' tales, based loosely on historical events. It is divided into ten chapters, roughly covering the history of the Song Dynasty from the early 11th century to the establishment of the Southern Song regime in 1127. The fourth chapter covers the adventures of Song Jiang and his thirty-six companions, and their eventual defeat by Zhang Shuye (張叔夜). Some of the more well-known stories and characters of the Water Margin are clearly visible, including "Yang Zhi selling his sword", "Stealing the birthday present", "Song Jiang kills his slave girl", "Fighting Fang La" etc. It places Song Jiang and his bandits in the Taihang Mountains.
Stories about the bandits of Mount Liang became popular as subject for Yuan Dynasty drama. During this time the material on which the Water Margin was based evolved into what it is today. Song Jiang's bandits were expanded to number one hundred and eight, and though they came from different backgrounds, all eventually come to occupy Mount Liang.
Authorship and early editions
There is considerable disagreement as to the author of Water Margin. Most consider the first seventy chapters to have been written by Shi Nai'an, whilst the last thirty chapters were written by Luo Guanzhong, also author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Luo may have been the disciple of Shi Nai'an. It has also been suggested that Shi Nai'an did not exist but was merely a pseudonym for Luo Guanzhong himself. Clues from the text itself strongly suggest that the author was a native of Zhejiang province (as both Luo and Shi were) who had little knowledge of northern China.
The earliest extant edition of Water Margin is a 100-chapter printed text dating from the mid-16th century. This is generally regarded as Shi Nai'an's original. Another edition, with 120 chapters, has been preserved from the Wanli era (1573-1620).
Critique and analysis
There are a number of obvious inconsistencies and errors in Water Margin, which reflect its background in the story cycles and folklore. Some of the most glaring mistakes in the Water Margin are the many laughable geographic errors scattered throughout. For example, the route of an entourage bearing a birthday present from Daming to Kaifeng is said to travel through the bandit-ridden mountain region of Qingzhou, yet Qingzhou was historically more than 500km away from the Daming to Kaifeng route. Another example is the exaggerated rescue of Song Jiang. The outlaws of Mount Liang supposedly travel some 600 km to Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi province), and are able to return apparently without harm. Interestingly, the waters of Mount Liang become frozen. In the famous story of Lin Chong at the Temple of the Mountain God (風雪山神廟), he walks ten days in mid-winter from a landscape covered in deep snow to find Mount Liang surrounded by "giant waves".
Regarding this novel and another classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a popular saying passing down in China that goes: "少不讀水滸, 老不讀三國", translated as "The young shouldn't read Water Margin while the old shouldn't read The Three Kingdoms." The former depicts the lives of outlaws and their defiance with the established social system. Along with the frequent violence, brawls, passionate brotherhood and an emphasis on machismo, it could easily have a negative influence on young boys. The latter presents all kinds of sophisticated stratagum, deceptions, frauds, trickeries, traps and snares employed by the three kingdoms and their individual characters to compete with each other, which might tempt the experienced old readers (the old and senile are traditionally well respected, trusted and considered wise and kindhearted in Chinese society) to use them to harm other people. Besides, old people are supposed to "know the will of the heavens" (says Confucious). They shouldn't exhaust or strain themselves with always having to consider how to deceive others.
Modern transformations
The Water Margin was a successful Japanese television adaptation of the story, which was sold to many other countries.
The novel inspired the popular RPG video game series Gensou Suikoden, as well as an earlier military strategy game by Koei, called Bandit Kings of Ancient China.
A Hong Kong comic series was also drawn by the popular Hong Kong mangaka, Li Zhiqing.
A 1972 movie of the same name was produced by the Shaw Brothers (Singapore). Reviews: Kung Fu Cinema (http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/watermargin.htm) | Dragon's Den UK (http://www.dragonsdenuk.com/reviews/water_margin.htm)
A 1980s TV serial was also produced in Hong Kong by the studio TVB.
A 40 episode TV serial (水滸全傳) produced in Mainland China was released in 2004.
de:Die Räuber vom Liang Schang Moorfr:Au bord de l'eauja:水滸伝nl:Water Marginzh:水浒传