| Xue Yong | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Sick Tiger" (病大蟲) |
| Rank | 84th, Tranquil Star (地幽星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Infantry leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Medicine peddler |
| Hometown | Luoyang, Henan |
| First appearance | Chapter 36 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 薛永 |
| Traditional Chinese | 薛永 |
| Pinyin | Xuē Yǒng |
| Wade-Giles | Hsüeh Yung |
Xue Yong is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 84th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 48th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Sick Tiger[1]".
Contents |
Xue Yong is from Luoyang, Henan. He excels in martial arts, in particular, staff and spear movements. He earns a living as a medicine peddler by performing martial arts and physical feats on the streets to promote the drugs he sells. He is nicknamed "Sick Tiger".
Xue Yong travels to Jieyang to sell medicine and he offends the Mu brothers (Mu Hong and Mu Chun), the most influential men in town, by failing to acknowledge their presence. The Mu brothers order the townsfolk watching Xue Yong's performance not to pay him or buy his drugs. At the same time, Song Jiang passes by Jieyang on his way to exile in Jiangzhou (present-day Jiangxi). He was watching the performance and he pays Xue Yong five silver taels, completely ignoring the Mu brothers' words. Mu Chun is furious and he wants to hit Song Jiang but Xue Yong intervenes and defeats Mu in a fight.
Xue Yong befriends Song Jiang and intends to join him on the trip to Jiangzhou. He returns to the inn and packs his belongings. Unexpectedly, Mu Chun arrives with his brother and a group of lackeys. They capture Xue Yong and beat him up severely before locking him up. They go on to pursue Song Jiang.
Song Jiang boards the pirate Zhang Heng's boat by mistake and he is almost robbed and killed by Zhang. Luckily, Li Jun arrives in the nick of time and he saves Song Jiang. Li Jun introduces Song Jiang to Zhang Heng and the Mu brothers. They are shocked to recognise him as the famous philanthropist and apologise to him. They become friends after that and Xue Yong is released as well.
Song Jiang runs into trouble later in Jiangzhou after writing a poem advocating rebellion against the government when he was drunk. He is framed for treason and sentenced to death. The outlaws from Liangshan Marsh storm the execution ground and rescue him and fight their way out of Jiangzhou. They are besieged by pursuing soldiers at White Dragon Temple on the riverbank. Just then, Li Jun, Xue Yong and others arrive on boats and they ferry the outlaws back to Liangshan Marsh safely. Xue Yong joins the Liangshan band. Song Jiang seeks vengeance on Huang Wenbing, the man who framed him for treason earlier. Xue Yong's student, Hou Jian, works as a tailor in Huang Wenbing's house so Xue enlists Hou's help. Hou Jian works together with the outlaws and they kill Huang Wenbing and his family for revenge.
Xue Yong 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, Xue Yong is assigned to attack the enemy territory of Yuling Pass. He is killed by dozens of enemy arrows in the battle along with another four heroes.
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