| Yue He | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Iron Whistle" (鐵叫子) |
| Rank | 77th, Music Star (地樂星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Infantry scouting leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Prison warder from Dengzhou (in present-day Shandong) |
| Hometown | Maozhou (present-day Mouding County, Yunnan) |
| First appearance | Chapter 49 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 乐和 |
| Traditional Chinese | 樂和 |
| Pinyin | Yuè Hé |
| Wade-Giles | Yüeh He |
Yue He is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 77th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 41st of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Iron Whistle".
Contents |
The Water Margin describes Yue He as a handsome gentleman from Maozhou (present-day Mouding County, Yunnan). He has a talent for music and is able to play various types of musical instruments and sing very well, earning himself the nickname "Iron Whistle". Yue He is also highly intelligent and possesses an innate ability to foresee the outcome of events. He learnt martial arts from his distant relative Sun Li.
Yue He works as a prison warder in Dengzhou (in present-day Shandong). The Xie brothers (Xie Zhen and Xie Bao) are framed and imprisoned to await execution. Yue He sympathises with their plight and decides to help them. He goes to inform their cousin Gu Dasao and her husband Sun Xin (younger brother of Sun Li). Yue He works together with Sun Li, Sun Xin, Gu Dasao, Zou Run and Zou Yuan to raid the prison and rescue the Xie brothers. They travel to Liangshan Marsh to join the outlaw band after that. At that time, the outlaws are in the midst of a war with the Zhu Family Village. Yue He joins Sun Li and the new members of Liangshan to conduct an espionage mission in the village and help the outlaws defeat the Zhus.
Yue He becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry and a scout leader after the Grand Assembly. The outlaws defeat an imperial fleet led by Grand Marshal Gao Qiu and capture Gao. Gao Qiu agrees to help the outlaws obtain amnesty from the emperor and is released. Yue He and Xiao Rang follow Gao Qiu back to the capital as envoys to the emperor. Unfortunately, Gao Qiu breaks his promise and imprisons Yue He and Xiao Rang in his residence. They are rescued by Yan Qing and Dai Zong later.
The outlaws are granted amnesty eventually with the help of Li Shishi and other officials and the emperor allows them to go on military campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces, as a form of service to the nation. Yue He follows the heroes on these campaigns and contributes greatly to the victories. However, he does not participate in the last Fang La campaign as he is summoned back to the capital on the eve of the campaign. A prince consort has heard of Yue He's singing talent and he wants Yue to serve him as a minstrel. Yue He leads a happy life for the rest of his days in the prince consort's residence.
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