Li Gun
| Li Gun | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Sky Soaring Great Sage" 飛天大聖 |
| Rank | 65th, Walking Star (地走星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Infantry leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Bandit leader from Mount Mangdang |
| Hometown | Pei County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu |
| First appearance | Chapter 59 |
| Weapon | Sword, javelins, shield |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 李衮 |
| Traditional Chinese | 李袞 |
| Pinyin | Lǐ Gǔn |
| Wade–Giles | Li Kun |
Li Gun is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 65th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 29th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Sky Soaring Great Sage".
Background
Li Gun wears a steel helmet and carries a shield with a beast's head engraved on it. He wields an sword and carries 24 javelins for hurling at enemies. He excels in martial arts and can hit a target a hundred steps away accurately with his javelins. He is nicknamed "Sky Soaring Great Sage".
Joining Liangshan
Li Gun is from Pei County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu. He is a close friend of Fan Rui and Xiang Chong. 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 to attack Mount Mangdang but is defeated by Li Gun and Xiang Chong in the first battle.
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 Liangshan troops 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 persuade Fan Rui to join Liangshan as well.
Campaigns and death
Li Gun 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, Li Gun is assigned to attack the enemy city of Muzhou. He pursues the enemy general Zheng Biao in an attempt to avenge Xiang Chong but falls into a stream accidentally and dies under dozens of enemy arrows.
References
- (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 131. 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.
- Shibusawa, Kou. Bandit Kings of Ancient China, page 98. KOEI, 1989.
- (Japanese) Ichisada, Miyazaki. Suikoden: Kyoko no naka no Shijitsu. Chuo Koronsha, 1993. ISBN 978-4122020559.
- Miyamotois, Yoko. Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits.
- Keffer, David. Outlaws of the Marsh.