36 Heavenly Spirits
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The 36 Heavenly Spirits or 36 Heavenly Chieftains (天罡星三十六星) refer to the two divisions amongst the 108 Liangshan bandits in the epic Chinese tale, the Water Margin; the other division being the 72 Earthly Fiends or 72 Earthly Warriors. This segregation essentially determined where the heroes were seated when they gathered for feasts and meetings in the grand hall of their lair.
The first 36 were the more senior members, such as the leader Song Jiang, the deputy Lu Junyi and the founding members such as Hua Rong and the Ruan brothers.
