Sun Erniang
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Sun Erniang (孙二娘) is a character in the Water Margin and one of the only three females among the 108 Liangshan heroes.
Sun Erniang had a vicious look on her face, as though ready to make a kill anytime, had strong arms and legs, was well-dressed and wore makeup, making her look like a yaksha, earning her the nickname 'Female Yaksha' (母夜叉).
Once, Sun Erniang's father passed by Shizipo and had a fight with Zhang Qing when the latter tried to rob him but defeated Zhang instead. He recognised Zhang Qing's talent and brought him home to teach him martial arts. Also, Zhang later married Sun Erniang.
Sun Erniang and Zhang Qing opened a tavern at Shizipo, luring unsuspecting men into their tavern to drink their drugged wine, and then killed them and robbed their valuables, under the pretext of running an honest business. Also, they made buns with human flesh fillings from the men they had killed. Once, Lu Zhishen passed by Shizipo and was lured into Sun Erniang's trap and he drank the drugged wine and was knocked out. Luckily, Zhang Qing returned home on time and saved Lu from his gruesome fate. Zhang and Lu later became sworn brothers.
Another time, Wu Song passed by Shizipo on his way to exile in Mengzhou and was almost lured into Sun Erniang's trap, but he was more wary and did not fall for it. He pretended to be knocked out and had a fight with Sun Erniang, which he won. The fight was later stopped by Zhang Qing who returned home and he became sworn brothers with Wu Song as well.
Wu Song fled to Shizipo for refuge later after killing his enemies in Mengzhou. Sun Erniang and her husband helped Wu Song by disguising him as a travelling monk to avoid arrest from the government and saw him safely to Erlong Mountain to join Lu Zhishen. Sun Erniang and her husband later also joined the band on Erlong Mountain, and went to Liangshan together with the other heroes after the battle of Qingzhou, and the pair formed part of the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Sun Erniang and her husband became in charge of hearing news from customers in a tavern which they ran near Liangshan and played important roles in receiving imperial envoys and other important figures to Liangshan. After the heroes had been granted amnesty by the emperor, Sun Erniang followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels, making great contributions to the imperial court. However, during the Fang La campaign, she was killed in the battle of Qingxi Prefecture by Du Wei, who threw his flying daggers at her.
[edit] Films and TV adaptations
In the 1997 TV serial from Mainland China based on the novel, Sun Er Niang was played by Liang Li. In the serial, she was killed by a falling wooden plate covered with metal spikes in battle and not by Du Wei's flying daggers.
[edit] See also
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