Hao Siwen
| Hao Siwen | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Wood Dog of Well" 井木犴 |
| Rank | 41st, Magnificent Star (地雄星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Tiger Cub Scouting General of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Imperial general |
| First appearance | Chapter 63 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 郝思文 |
| Traditional Chinese | 郝思文 |
| Pinyin | Hǎo Sīwén |
| Wade–Giles | Hao Szu-wen |
Hao Siwen is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 41st of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 5th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Wood Dog of Well".
Background
Hao Siwen's mother dreamt that the celestial "Wood Dog of Well"1 is going to be reincarnated into the human world. She became pregnant shortly after that and gave birth to Hao Siwen. Hao Siwen is nicknamed after the celestial creature because he is believed to be its human incarnation. He excels in martial arts and serves the imperial court later as a general. He is also the sworn brother of Guan Sheng.
1Well is one of the Twenty-eight mansions in Chinese astronomy and is represented by a dog, which follows Wood of the Five Elements.
Becoming an outlaw
When the outlaws from Liangshan Marsh besiege Daming Prefecture (in present-day Handan, Hebei) to rescue Lu Junyi, Grand Secretary Liang Shijie calls for reinforcements from the imperial court. Xuan Zan recommends Guan Sheng to the Imperial Tutor Cai Jing. Guan Sheng is appointed as commander of the imperial army with Xuan Zan and Hao Siwen serving as his deputies and leaders of the vanguard army.
Guan Sheng gains the advantage in the battle against the outlaws initially, but he is lured into a trap by Huyan Zhuo and captured. Xuan Zan fights with Liangshan's Qin Ming and is defeated and captured as well. Hao Siwen fights with Lin Chong and Hua Rong joins in. Hao Siwen is unable to take on two opponents at the same time and he retreats. He is captured by Hu Sanniang later. Song Jiang treats the captives with respect and succeeds in persuading them to join the Liangshan cause of "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf".
Cai Jing assigns Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo to lead the imperial army after Guan Sheng's defection. Guan Sheng volunteers to lead the attack on the imperial forces with Xuan Zan and Hao Siwen as his deputies. Shan Tinggui lures Hao Siwen into the enemy formation, where he is captured. Hao Siwen is escorted as a prisoner-of-war back to Daming Prefecture. Along the way, the bandits from Mount Deadwood led by Bao Xu and Li Kui attack the convoy and rescue Hao Siwen and Xuan Zan.
Campaigns and death
Hao Siwen becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry 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, Hao Siwen and Xu Ning are part of the scouting team assigned to watch the northern gate of Hangzhou. The gate unexpected opens and a large enemy force rushes out. Hao Siwen is captured and Xu Ning attempts to save him but is hit by a poisoned arrow. Hao Siwen meets with a gruesome death at the hands of the enemy general Fang Tianding, who beheads and dismembers him.
References
- (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 83. 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 97. KOEI, 1989.