Water Margin (Upper and Lower)

Author: Ming Shi Nai'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: 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 occurred during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, and is recorded in various chapters such as the Annals of Emperor Huizong and the biographies of Hou Meng and Zhang Shuni in the History of the Song Dynasty. Starting from the Southern Song Dynasty, the story of Song Jiang's uprising spread among the people, as evidenced by records in The Collected Conversations of the Drunken Old Man. The Reminiscences of the Great Song Xuanhe Era linked many Water Margin stories together, 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 Liangshan appearing as stage characters. Water Margin was born from the long-standing folk tradition of the story of Song Jiang's uprising, absorbing the nourishment of folk literature.