Guo Sheng
| Guo Sheng | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Comparable to Rengui" 賽仁貴 |
| Rank | 55th, Help Star (地佑星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Central Camp Defendant General of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Bandit |
| Hometown | Jialing, Sichuan |
| First appearance | Chapter 35 |
| Weapon | "Sky Piercer" (方天畫戟) |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 郭盛 |
| Traditional Chinese | 郭盛 |
| Pinyin | Guō Shèng |
| Wade–Giles | Kuo Sheng |
Guo Sheng is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 55th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 19th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Comparable to Rengui".
Background
Guo Sheng is from Jialing, Sichuan. He dons a suit of silvery white armour over a white robe, along with a silver belt and a headdress. He rides on a snow white steed and wields a halberd similar to Lü Fang's "Sky Piercer" (方天畫戟).
Guo Sheng used to be a trader but he lost his goods in the river during a storm. He was stranded and had no money to make his journey home. He learnt martial arts and the use of the halberd from a military officer in Jialing before and becomes an expert after years of training. He is nicknamed "Comparable to Rengui" as his skills are comparable to those of the Tang Dynasty general Xue Rengui.
Joining Liangshan
Guo Sheng hears of Lü Fang's reputation as a mighty warrior and challenges Lü to a fight. Both of them duel for more than ten days but neither emerges as the victor. Song Jiang and Hua Rong pass by and see the warriors engaged in a duel with their weapons locked together. Hua Rong fires an arrow to separate the weapons and draws cheers from the crowd. Guo Sheng and Lü Fang stop duelling and greet Song Jiang, who succeeds in persuading them to join the outlaw band at Liangshan.
Campaigns and death
Guo Sheng becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry and one of the Central Camp Defendant Generals. Together with Lü Fang, he is in charge of the commander-in-chief's safety during battle. They protect Song Jiang from danger several times during the battles with Liangshan's enemies.
Guo Sheng 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, Guo Sheng is assigned to attack the enemy territory of Black Dragon Ridge. He takes the lead in charging up the slope towards the enemy and is killed by boulders rolled down by the enemy.
Other appearances
In Louis Cha's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Guo Sheng is said to be the ancestor of the protagonist Guo Jing.[1]
Notes
- ↑ (Chinese) Cha, Louis. The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Chapter 1. Hong Kong Commercial Daily, 1957.
References
- (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 111. EPB Publishers Pte Ltd, 1992. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
- Buck, Pearl. All Men are Brothers. Moyer Bell Ltd, 2006. ISBN 9781559213035.
- Zhang, Lin Ching. Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House, 2009. ISBN 978-7506344784.
- Keffer, David. Outlaws of the Marsh.
- Miyamotois, Yoko. Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits.
- (Japanese) Ichisada, Miyazaki. Suikoden: Kyoko no naka no Shijitsu. Chuo Koronsha, 1993. ISBN 978-4122020559.
- Shibusawa, Kou. Bandit Kings of Ancient China, page 91. KOEI, 1989.