Water Margin (1-5) - Fragrant Book

Author: (Ming) Shi Nai'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features:▼Complete Content▼Sandalwood Aroma▼Compact and Portable▼Original Illustrations▼Easy to Carry
Water Margin is a long heroic legend and one of the representative works of ancient Chinese long novels, created based on the story of Song Jiang's uprising. The Song Jiang uprising took place during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, and is recorded in various entries such as the "Annals of Emperor Huizong" and the biographies of Hou Meng and Zhang Shuni in the History of the Song Dynasty. From the Southern Song Dynasty onwards, the story of the Song Jiang uprising spread in folk traditions. The Record of Conversations at the Drunken Scholar's Pavilion documents some independent legends about the Water Margin heroes, while Remnants of the Great Song in the Xuanhe Era weaves together many Water Margin stories, bringing them close to the form of a long novel. During the Yuan Dynasty, numerous Water Margin plays emerged, with a group of heroes from Mount Liang appearing as stage characters. Water Margin is a product of the long-standing folk tradition of the Song Jiang uprising story, nourished by folk literature.
The author portrays the heroes of Mount Liang, who view the government as "thieves and bandits," as embodying social justice. They are given noble qualities such as suppressing the strong and helping the weak, and being generous with their wealth. However, among the one hundred and eight heroes, each is depicted with a unique personality and character, none of them repetitive or identical. This forms a successful and extraordinary group of heroic figures, each with distinct and vivid expressions.