Water Margin (Annotated Edition)

Author: Shi Nai'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The Water Margin is one of China's four great classical novels. With exquisite brushwork, it tells the thrilling story of 108 heroes from Liangshan, led by Song Jiang, who are forced to rebel against the corrupt officials Gao Qi and Cai Jing, embark on a path of "rectifying the heavens," and ultimately face failure. The book portrays many vivid and well-known characters such as Song Jiang, Wu Song, and Lin Chong, making them household names. The Water Margin has had a profound influence on later fiction, drama, and the thoughts of the Chinese people. It is a renowned classic, with its 108 heroes and other diverse characters deeply ingrained in the collective memory. The novel successfully brings to life characters like Song Jiang, Wu Song, Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, and Li Kui. The author skillfully places characters in real historical settings, highlighting their personalities through their identities and experiences. The author also excels at depicting characters in life-or-death struggles, using comparative and contrastive methods to further emphasize their traits. This edition is based on the 120-capter edition by Yuan Wuya, with references to the Rong Yu Tang edition and other printed versions by People's Literature Press and Yue Lu Book Company. Besides converting traditional characters and variant characters to simplified forms, homophones and archaic characters are retained as in the original.