Water Margin

Water Margin
An illustration of the novel
Author	Shi Nai'an
Original title	水滸傳
Country	China
Language	Chinese
Media type	Print

Water Margin (simplified Chinese: 水浒传; traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn) (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers or The Marshes of Mount Liang) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Attributed to Shi Naian, whom some believe to be Luo Guanzhong, the novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the mid Song Dynasty.

Historical context and development

Water Margin is vaguely based on the historical outlaw Song Jiang and his 36 companions. The group was active in the Huai River region and surrendered to the government in 1121. They were recorded in the The History of the Song Dynasty. The name of "Song Jiang" appeared in the chapter of Emperor Huizong of Song while the activities of the outlaw group were mentioned in the chapter for Zhang Shuye.

Folk stories of Song Jiang circulated during the Southern Song Dynasty. The first text to name Song Jiang's thirty-six companions was the 13th century Miscellaneous Observations from the Year Guixin (癸辛雜識) by Zhou Mi (周密). Among the thirty-six were Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Ruan Xiaoer, Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, Liu Tang, Hua Rong and Wu Yong. Some of the characters who later became associated with Song Jiang also appeared around this time. They include Sun Li, Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song.

A direct precursor of Water Margin was the Old incidents in Xuanhe period of the great Song Dynasty (大宋宣和遺事), which appeared around the mid-13th century. The text was basically a written version of storytellers' tales, based loosely on historical events. It is divided into ten chapters, roughly covering the history of the Song Dynasty from the early 11th century to the establishment of the Southern Song regime in 1127. The fourth chapter covers the adventures of Song Jiang and his 36 companions, and their eventual defeat by Zhang Shuye. Some of the more well-known stories and characters of the Water Margin are clearly visible, including "Yang Zhi sells the precious saber", "Robbing the convoy of birthday gifts", "Song Jiang kills Yan Poxi", "Fighting Fang La" etc. Song Jiang and his outlaws were said to operate in the Taihang Mountains. The band ran the gamut from fishermen to ex imperial drill instructors to inn-keepers and so on.

Stories about the outlaws of Mount Liang became a popular subject for Yuan Dynasty drama. During this time the material on which the Water Margin was based evolved into what it is today. The number of outlaws increased to 108. Even though they came from different backgrounds, all of them eventually came to occupy Mount Liang. There is a theory that Water Margin became popular during the Yuan Dynasty as the common people (predominantly Han Chinese) resented the Mongolian rulers. The outlaws' rebellion was deemed "safe" to promote as it was supposedly a negative reflection of the fallen Song Dynasty. Concurrently, the rebellion was also a call for the common people to rise up against corruption in the government. Chongzhen Emperor banned the book to suppress rebels as per his official's advice but his rule was too short.^[1]

Authorship and early editions

There is some considerable debate on who the author of Water Margin was. Most believe that the first 70 chapters were written by Shi Nai'an, while the last 30 chapters were written by Luo Guanzhong (the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Luo may have been a student of Shi Nai'an. It has also been suggested that Shi Nai'an did not exist but was merely a pseudonym for Luo Guanzhong himself.

Evidence from the text itself strongly suggest that the author was a native of Zhejiang province (as both Luo and Shi were) who had little knowledge of northern China. At a 2006 conference, some leading Water Margin scholars agreed that Shi and Luo were the same person. When the name "Shi Nai'an" is written reversely, it reads "An Nai Shi", which is colloquially translated as "It is I again."^{[citation needed]}

It is not clear how close Luo's edition was to those that are known today. The earliest extant edition of Water Margin is a 100-chapter printed text dating from the mid-16th century. Another edition, with 120 chapters by Yang Dingjian (楊定見), has been preserved from the Wanli era (1573–1620). Yet other editions were published since this era to the early Qing Dynasty, including a 70-chapter edition by Jin Shengtan.

Outline of chapters

The opening episode is the release of the 108 spirits. The next chapter describes the rise of Gao Qiu, the main antagonist of the 108 heroes. Stories of the 108 outlaws are told in separate sections in the following chapters. Connections between characters are vague, but the individual stories are eventually pieced together by chapter 40 after Song Jiang becomes the leader of the outlaw band at Liangshan Marsh.

The plot further develops by illustrating the conflicts between the outlaws and the Song government after the Grand Assembly. Song Jiang strongly advocates making peace with the government and seeking redress for the outlaws. After defeating the imperial armies, the outlaws are eventually granted amnesty by the emperor. The emperor recruits the outlaws to form an imperial military contingent and allows them to go on campaigns. The heroes eliminate foreign invaders of the Liao Dynasty and quell the uprisings by rebel forces around the nation.

The following outline of chapters is based on a 100-chapter edition. Yang's 120-chapter edition includes other campaigns of the outlaws on behalf of Song dynasty, while Jin's 70-chapter edition omits the chapters on the outlaws' acceptance of amnesty and subsequent campaigns.

The extended version includes the Liangshan heroes' expeditions against other notable rebel leaders, Tian Hu in Hebei and Wang Qing in Szechuan, prior to the campaign against Fang La.

Japanese version

Kinhyōshi yōrin (Yang Lin), hero of the Suikoden. From Utagawa Kuniyoshi's series of woodblock prints illustrating the 108 Suikoden.

Japanese translations of the Water Margin date to at least 1757, when the first volume of an early Suikoden (Water Margin rendered in Japanese) was printed.^[2] Other early adaptations include Takebe Ayakari's 1773 Japanese Water Margin (Honcho suikoden),^[3] the 1783 Women's Water Margin (Onna suikoden),^[4] and Santō Kyōden's 1801 Chushingura Water Margin (Chushingura suikoden).^[5]

In 1805, Takizawa Bakin released a Japanese translation of the Water Margin illustrated by Hokusai Katsushika.^[6] The book, called the New Illustrated Edition of the Suikoden (Shinpen Suikogaden), was a huge success in urban Edo and spurred a Japanese "Suikoden" craze.^[6]

In 1827, publisher Kagaya Kichibei commissioned Utagawa Kuniyoshi to produce a series of woodblock prints illustrating the 108 heroes of the Water Margin.^[6] The 1827-1830 series, called 108 Heroes of the Water Margin or Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori, catapulted Kuniyoshi to fame.^[6][7] It also brought about a craze for multicolored pictoral tattoos that covered the entire body from neck to mid-thigh.^[7]

Following the great commercial success of the Kuniyoshi series, other ukiyo-e artists were commissioned to produce prints of the Water Margin heroes, which began to be shown as Japanese heroes rather than the original Chinese personages.^[6]

Among these later series was Yoshitoshi's 1866-1867 series of 50 designs in Chuban size, which are darker than Kuniyoshi's and feature strange ghosts and monsters.^[6]

Translations

The Water Margin has been translated into many languages. Pearl S. Buck did one of the earliest English translations of the 70-chapter version. Entitled All Men are Brothers and published in 1933, the book was well-received by the American public. However, it was also heavily criticized for its many errors and inaccuracies, including many mispronunciations. An often cited example in this edition is Buck's mistranslation of Lu Zhishen's nickname "Flowery Monk" as "Priest Hua".

Of the later editions, Chinese-naturalized Jewish-American scholar Sidney Shapiro's Outlaws of the Marsh (1980) is considered to be one of the best. However, as it was published during the Cultural Revolution, this edition received little attention then. Shapiro's translation is published by the Beijing Foreign Languages Press as a four-volume set later. It is a translation of a combination of both the 70-chapter and 100-chapter versions. The most recent translation, entitled The Marshes Of Mount Liang, by Alex Dent-Young and John Dent-Young, is a five-volume translation of the 120-chapter version.

Modern transformations

TV series and film adaptations

• A film adaptation of the novel was produced by Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) in 1972. It was directed by Chang Cheh and starred David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan Tai.^[8][9] It was followed by a 1975 sequel.

• The Water Margin (水滸伝) (1973) - a Japanese TV series adaptation of the novel produced by Nippon Television. It was filmed in mainland China in 1973. It starred Atsuo Nakamura and Kei Sato in the lead roles. It was broadcast on TV in other countries.

• A 1980s TV serial was also produced in Hong Kong by TVB.

• All Men Are Brothers - Blood Of The Leopard) (1990s) - a Hong Kong film starring Tony Leung. It centered on the stories of Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen and Gao Qiu.

• Giant Robo: The Animation (1992) - some locations and characters from the novel appeared in Mitsuteru Yokoyama's anime. Yokoyama had previously published a Manga adaptation of the novel.

• The Water Margin (Chinese: 水滸全傳) (1997) - a production by CCTV. The popular theme song "Hao Han Ge" (好汉歌) of the series was performed by Liu Huan.

• Hero:108 (2008/2009) - a 26 episodes half-hour flash animated series produced by Mike Young Productions, Gamania Digital Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Telegael and Hong Ying. The series is expected to be released around the world on Cartoon Network in 2009.

Literature

• Qing Dynasty author Qian Cai intertwined the life stories of Yue Fei and the outlaws Lin Chong and Lu Junyi in The Story of Yue Fei (1684). He stated that the latter were former students of the general's martial arts tutor, Zhou Tong.^[10] However, literary critic C.T. Hsia commented that the connection was a fictional one created by the author.^[11] The republican era folktale Swordplay Under the Moon, by Wang Shaotang, further intertwines Yue Fei's history with the outlaws by adding Wu Song to the list of Zhou's former students.^[12] The tale is set in the background of Wu Song's mission to Kaifeng, prior to the murder of his brother. Zhou tutors Wu in the "rolling dragon" style of swordplay during his one month stay in the capital city. It also said that Zhou is a sworn brother of Lu Zhishen and shares the same nickname with the executioner-turned-outlaw Cai Fu.^[13]

• Frank Chin's novel, Donald Duk, contains many references to the Water Margin. Song Jiang and Li Kui make several appearances in the protagonist's dreams.

• Two characters in the popular Japanese novel series Saiunkoku Monogatari, Shi Seiran and Rou Ensei, have histories vaguely resembling those of Chai Jin and Yan Qing. They are nicknamed "Small Whirlwind" and "King of the Staff".

• A Hong Kong comic series was also created by the Manhua artist Li Zhiqing.

• Eiji Yoshikawa wrote (Shin Suikoden (新水滸伝), which roughly translates to "New Tales from the Water Margin".

Comics

The Water Margin is referred to in numerous Japanese Manga, such as Tetsuo Hara and Buronson's Hokuto no Ken, and Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya. In both works of fiction, characters bearing the same stars of the Water Margin characters as personal emblems of destiny are featured prominently. Recently, a Japanese manga called Akaboshi-Ibun Suikoden has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump based on the story of Water Margin.

Video games

• The novel inspired the Japanese console role-playing game series Gensou Suikoden by Konami.

• A character named "The Black Whirlwhind" in the RPG Jade Empire is inspired by Li Kui.

• A military strategy game by Koei, called Bandit Kings of Ancient China is one of the oldest video game adaptations of the novel.

• Data East released a fighting game which was known under three different titles. Suiko Enbu in Japan, Outlaws Of The Lost Dynasty in the U.S. and Dark Legend on the American Sega Saturn. The game's characters are inspired by the Water Margin.

• The popular MMORPG 9Dragons has characters based on those in Water Margin

Organizations

• The nonprofit organization Watermargin was founded in 1947.

• In 1948, Watermargin house (now Watermargin Cooperative) at Cornell University was the first Ivy League college-supported interracial, interreligious housing on campus. The house has an Education Program in which notable speakers are invited to discuss important issues to the Cornell and local community. This program has a strong history and continues to be an important part of the organization's mission today. Early visitors include Eleanor Roosevelt, Langston Hughes, and Malcolm X.

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)

• 水滸伝 (Water Margin). Yoshikawa Kojiro and Shimizu Shigeru (translators). Iwanami Shoten. 1998-10-16. 

Works cited

• Haruo Shirane and James Brandon. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900. Columbia University Press (2002). ISBN 0231109903.

External links

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: 水滸傳

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Water Margin

• (Japanese)(Chinese) Nicknames of the 108 heroes.
• Outlaws of the Marsh: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary.

Chinese

• A full text archive.
• About the three major editions.

Japanese

• Stylized illustrations of the 108 outlaws.