| Xiang Chong | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Eight-armed Nezha" (八臂哪吒) |
| Rank | 64th, Flying Star (地飛星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Infantry leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Bandit leader from Mount Mangdang |
| Hometown | Pei County, Xuzhou |
| First appearance | Chapter 59 |
| Weapon | Spear, flying daggers |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 项充 |
| Traditional Chinese | 項充 |
| Pinyin | Xiàng Chōng |
| Wade-Giles | Hsiang Ch'ung |
Xiang Chong is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 64th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 28th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Eight-armed Nezha".
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Xiang Chong wears a steel helmet and carries a shield with a beast's head engraved on it. He wields an iron spear and 24 flying daggers for hurling at enemies. He excels in martial arts and can hit a target a hundred steps away accurately with his daggers. He also walks at a lightning speed. He is nicknamed "Eight-armed Nezha" after the warrior deity.
Xiang Chong is from Pei County, Xuzhou. He is a close friend of Fan Rui and Li Gun. The three of them form an army of 3,000 bandits under their command on the nearby Mount Mangdang. They proclaim that they will conquer Liangshan Marsh one day, provoking the outlaws from Liangshan to attack them. Shi Jin volunteers to lead the vanguard army and he faces Xiang Chong in combat but is defeated by Xiang.
The next day, Gongsun Sheng deploys the Liangshan troops in the Eight Trigrams Formation to counter Fan Rui. Fan Rui uses magic to darken the sky and conjure a sandstorm to throw the enemy into confusion. Meanwhile, Xiang Chong and Li Gun lead their men to attack and break the enemy formation. Gongsun Sheng defeats Fan Rui in a battle of magic and both Xiang Chong and Li Gun are lost in the formation and captured. Song Jiang treats the captives with respect and succeed in persuading them to join the Liangshan cause of "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf". Xiang Chong and Li Gun are touched and they return to Mount Mangdang and succeed in persuading Fan Rui to join Liangshan as well.
Xiang Chong becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry after the Grand Assembly. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces after they have been granted amnesty by the emperor. During the Fang La campaign, Xiang Chong is assigned to attack the enemy city of Muzhou. He faces the enemy general Zheng Biao in battle. Zheng Biao uses his lasso to trip Xiang Chong and Xiang is killed by enemy soldiers after he is down.
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