Water Margin

Water Margin
An illustration of the novel
Author	Shi Nai'an
Original title	水滸傳
Country	China
Language	Chinese
Media type	Print

Water Margin (simplified Chinese: 水浒传; traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn) (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Attributed to Shi Naian, the novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the Song Dynasty period of Chinese history.

Historical context and development

Water Margin is a novel based on the outlaw Song Jiang and his 36 companions. The group was active in the Huai River region and surrendered to the government in 1121. They were recorded in History of the Song Dynasty of the Twenty-Four Histories. The name of "Song Jiang" appeared in the chapter of Emperor Huizong of Song while the activities of the outlaw group were mentioned in the chapter for Zhang Shuye.

Folk stories of Song Jiang circulated during the Southern Song Dynasty period. The first text to name Song Jiang's 36 companions was Miscellaneous observations from the year of Guixin (癸辛雜識) by Zhou Mi, written in the 13th century. Among the 36 were Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Ruan Xiaoer, 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.

A direct precursor of Water Margin was the Old incidents in the Xuanhe period of the great Song Dynasty (大宋宣和遺事), which appeared around the mid-13th century. The text is a written version of storytellers' tales, based on supposed 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 36 companions, and their eventual defeat by Zhang Shuye. Some of the more well-known stories and characters of the Water Margin are clearly visible, including "Yang Zhi sells his precious saber", "Robbing the convoy of birthday gifts", "Song Jiang kills Yan Poxi", "Fighting Fang La" etc. Song Jiang and his outlaws were said to operate in the Taihang Mountains.

Stories about the outlaws of Mount Liang became a popular subject for Yuan Dynasty drama. During this time, the material on which the Water Margin was based evolved into what it is today. The number of outlaws increased to 108. Even though they came from different backgrounds (including scholars, fishermen, imperial drill instructors etc) all of them eventually came to occupy Mount Liang. There is a theory that Water Margin became popular during the Yuan Dynasty as the common people (predominantly Han Chinese) resented the Mongol rulers. The outlaws' rebellion was deemed "safe" to promote as it was supposedly a negative reflection of the fallen Song Dynasty. Concurrently, the rebellion was also a call for the common people to rise up against corruption in the government. The Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, acting on the advice of his ministers, banned the book to suppress rebellions.^[1]

Authorship and early editions

There is some considerable debate on the authorship of Water Margin. Most believe that the first 70 chapters were written by Shi Nai'an, while the last 30 chapters were written by Luo Guanzhong (the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Luo may have been a student of Shi. It has also been suggested that Shi did not exist but was merely a pseudonym for Luo himself.

Evidence 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. At a 2006 conference, some leading Water Margin scholars agreed that Shi and Luo were the same person. When the name "Shi Nai'an" is written reversely, it reads "An Nai Shi", which is colloquially translated as "It is I again."

It is not clear how close Luo's edition was to those that are known today. The earliest extant edition of Water Margin is a 100-chapter printed text dating from the mid-16th century. Another edition, with 120 chapters by Yang Dingjian (楊定見), has been preserved from the Wanli era (1573–1620). Yet other editions were published since this era to the early Qing Dynasty, including a 70-chapter edition by Jin Shengtan.

Outline of chapters

The opening episode is the release of the 108 spirits, imprisoned under an ancient stele-bearing tortoise.^[2] The next chapter describes the rise of Gao Qiu, the main antagonist of the 108 heroes. 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 40 after Song Jiang becomes the leader of the outlaw band at Mount Liang (Liangshan Marsh).

The plot further develops by illustrating the conflicts between the outlaws and the Song government after the Grand Assembly. Song Jiang strongly advocates making peace with the government and seeking redress for the outlaws. After defeating the imperial armies, the outlaws are eventually granted amnesty by the emperor. The emperor recruits them to form a military contingent and allows them to embark on campaigns against invaders from the Liao Dynasty and suppress the rebel forces of Tian Hu, Wang Qing and Fang La within the Song Dynasty's domain.

The following outline of chapters is based on a 100-chapter edition. Yang's 120-chapter edition includes other campaigns of the outlaws on behalf of Song Dynasty, while Jin's 70-chapter edition omits the chapters on the outlaws' acceptance of amnesty and subsequent campaigns.

The extended version includes the Liangshan heroes' expeditions against other notable rebel leaders, Tian Hu in Hebei and Wang Qing in Sichuan, prior to the campaign against Fang La.

Japanese version

Kinhyōshi yōrin (Yang Lin), hero of the Suikoden. From Utagawa Kuniyoshi's series of woodblock prints illustrating the 108 Suikoden.

Japanese translations of the Water Margin date back to at least 1757, when the first volume of an early Suikoden (Water Margin rendered in Japanese) was printed.^[3] Other early adaptations include Takebe Ayakari's 1773 Japanese Water Margin (Honcho suikoden),^[4] the 1783 Women's Water Margin (Onna suikoden),^[5] and Santō Kyōden's 1801 Chushingura Water Margin (Chushingura suikoden).^[6]

In 1805, Kyokutei Bakin released a Japanese translation of the Water Margin illustrated by Hokusai.^[7] The book, called the New Illustrated Edition of the Suikoden (Shinpen Suikogaden), was a success during the Edo period and spurred a Japanese "Suikoden" craze.^[7]

In 1827, publisher Kagaya Kichibei commissioned Utagawa Kuniyoshi to produce a series of woodblock prints illustrating the 108 heroes of the Water Margin.^[7] The 1827-1830 series, called 108 Heroes of the Water Margin or Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori, catapulted Kuniyoshi to fame.^[7][8] It also brought about a craze for multicolored pictorial tattoos that covered the entire body from neck to mid-thigh.^[8]

Following the great commercial success of the Kuniyoshi series, other ukiyo-e artists were commissioned to produce prints of the Water Margin heroes, which began to be shown as Japanese heroes rather than the original Chinese personages.^[7]

Among these later series was Yoshitoshi's 1866-1867 series of 50 designs in Chuban size, which are darker than Kuniyoshi's and feature strange ghosts and monsters.^[7]

Translations

The Water Margin has been translated into many languages. Pearl S. Buck was one of the first English translators of the 70-chapter version. Titled All Men are Brothers and published in 1933, the book was well-received by the American public. However, it was also heavily criticized for its errors and inaccuracies; an often cited example from this edition is Buck's mistranslation of Lu Zhishen's nickname "Flowery Monk" as "Priest Hua".

Of the later editions, Chinese-naturalized Jewish American scholar Sidney Shapiro's Outlaws of the Marsh (1980) is considered to be one of the best. However, as it was published during the Cultural Revolution, this edition received little attention then. Shapiro's translation is published by the Beijing Foreign Languages Press as a four-volume set later. It is a translation of a combination of both the 70-chapter and 100-chapter versions. The most recent translation, titled The Marshes Of Mount Liang, by Alex and John Dent-Young, is a five-volume translation of the 120-chapter version.

Modern transformations and adaptations

Films

• The Water Margin (1972) - produced by Shaw Brothers. It was directed by Chang Cheh, Wu Ma and Pao Hsueh-li, and starred David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan-tai.^[9][10]

• All Men Are Brothers (1975) - a sequel to the 1972 film

• All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard, a.k.a. Water Margin: True Colors of Heroes (1992) - starred Tony Leung Ka-fai. It centered on the stories of Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen and Gao Qiu.^[11]

• Troublesome Night 16 (2002) - a Hong Kong horror-comedy film. Two men are transported back in time to the Song Dynasty and they encounter Wu Song, Song Jiang, Yan Qing and Lu Zhishen. The film parodies the story of Wu Song avenging his brother, and the two men play important roles in affecting how the story unfolds.

Television

• The Water Margin (1977) - produced by Nippon Television. It was filmed in mainland China in 1973. It starred Atsuo Nakamura and Kei Sato in the lead roles. It was broadcast on TV in other countries.

• Giant Robo: The Animation (1992) - some locations and characters from the novel appeared in Mitsuteru Yokoyama's anime. Yokoyama had previously published a manga adaptation of the novel.

• The Water Margin (1997) - a production by CCTV with Zhang Jizhong as executive producer and Yuen Woo-ping as action choreographer. The iconic theme song Haohan Ge (好汉歌) was performed by Liu Huan.

• Outlaw Star (1998) - an anime series that has several references to the novel. The show's title itself is a reference to the novel. "Gene Starwind", who starting out as a small time bounty hunter/repairman and quickly works his way up to a spaceship captain, is similar to the character "Gao Qiu" from the novel. The series also features similar themes, such as a number of individuals that are seemingly bound by fate and toward the end become a group of people with the same goals. Also, the Kei Pirate group that is seen in the show is known as the 108 Stars. (Though the roles are reversed in a way, because the 108 Stars are the antagonists of the series, while Gene is the protagonist).

• Shades of Truth (2004) - produced by TVB. It is mostly unrelated to the novel and is featured in a present-day setting, with some characters as reincarnations of the Liangshan heroes.

• Hero: 108 (2008) - a flash animated series produced by Mike Young Productions, Gamania Digital Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Telegael and Hong Ying. The series was released around the world on Cartoon Network in 2010.

• The Water Margin (upcoming) - directed by Kuk Kwok-leung

Literature

• Qing Dynasty writer Qian Cai intertwined the life stories of Yue Fei and the outlaws Lin Chong and Lu Junyi in The Story of Yue Fei (1684). He stated that the latter were former students of the general's martial arts tutor, Zhou Tong.^[12] However, literary critic C. T. Hsia commented that the connection was a fictional one created by the author.^[13] The republican era folktale Swordplay Under the Moon, by Wang Shaotang, further intertwines Yue Fei's history with the outlaws by adding Wu Song to the list of Zhou's former students.^[14] The tale is set in the background of Wu Song's mission to Kaifeng, prior to the murder of his brother. Zhou tutors Wu in the "rolling dragon" style of swordplay during his one month stay in the capital city. It also said that Zhou is a sworn brother of Lu Zhishen and shares the same nickname with the executioner-turned-outlaw Cai Fu.^[15]

• Frank Chin's novel, Donald Duk, contains many references to the Water Margin. Song Jiang and Li Kui make several appearances in the protagonist's dreams.

• Two characters in the Japanese novel series The Story of Saiunkoku, Shi Seiran and Rou Ensei, have histories vaguely resembling those of Chai Jin and Yan Qing. They are nicknamed "Small Whirlwind" and "King of the Staff".

• A Hong Kong comic series was also created by the manhua artist Lee Chi Ching.

• Eiji Yoshikawa wrote (Shin Suikoden (新水滸伝), which roughly translates to "New Tales from the Water Margin".

Comics

The Water Margin is referred to in numerous Japanese manga, such as Tetsuo Hara and Buronson's Fist of the North Star, and Masami Kurumada's Fūma no Kojirō, Otokozaka and Saint Seiya. In both works of fiction, characters bearing the same stars of the Water Margin characters as personal emblems of destiny are featured prominently. Recently, a Japanese manga called Akaboshi: Ibun Suikoden, based on the story of Water Margin, has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Between 1978 and 1988, the Italian artist Magnus published four acts of his work, I Briganti, which places the Water Margin story in a science fiction setting. Before his death in 1996, the four completed "acts" were published in volume by Granata Press; two following "acts" were planned but never completed.

Video games

• The novel inspired the Japanese console RPG series Suikoden by Konami.

• A character named "Black Whirlwhind" in the RPG Jade Empire is inspired by Li Kui.

• A strategy game by Koei, called Bandit Kings of Ancient China is one of the oldest video game adaptations of the novel.

• Data East released a fighting game that was known under three different titles. Suiko Enbu in Japan, Outlaws Of The Lost Dynasty in the United States, and Dark Legend on the American Sega Saturn. The game's characters are inspired by the Water Margin.

• The MMORPG 9Dragons has characters based on those in Water Margin.

Music

• Water Marginized (水浒后传) (2007) - a folk reggae narrative by Chan Xuan. It tells the story of a modern-day jailbird who travels to Liangshan Marsh in hope of joining the outlaw band, only to find that Song Jiang and his men have all taken bureaucratic jobs in the ruling party.

References

• 水滸伝 (Water Margin). Yoshikawa Kojiro and Shimizu Shigeru (translators). Iwanami Shoten. 1998-10-16. 
• Haruo Shirane and James Brandon. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900. Columbia University Press (2002). ISBN 0231109903.

External links

• Outlaws of the Marsh: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary
• (French) Chinese paper-cuts of the novel and its characters
• (Chinese) Full text archive
• (Chinese) Article about the three major editions
• (Japanese) Nicknames of the 108 heroes
• (Japanese) Stylized illustrations of the 108 heroes