"Phrases of Water Margin: The Gangster Years of Liangshan and the Rules of the Jianghu

Author: Wuzhai Master
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Water Margin is a novel about the underworld, and Liangshan is an underworld organization. The rose-colored "carrying out the will of heaven" is merely a cover-up for the atrocities of the heroes. The just actions of individual heroes cannot negate the fundamentally predatory and violent nature of the Liangshan organization as a whole. This is the starting point and main theme of the book "Black Words of Water Margin. The author reinterprets the characters and stories of Water Margin from the unique perspective of the underworld, deconstructing it into 10 major characters and 4 significant events.
The 10 representative characters are:
- Song Jiang represents the underworld boss;
- Wu Yong represents the underworld strategist;
- Lu Junyi represents the second-in-command of the underworld and a large category of people forced into Liangshan by the organization itself;
- Li Kui represents the boss's loyal dog and a bad underworld follower;
- Yan Qing is a loyal subordinate and a good underworld follower;
- Lin Chong is a typical good underworld character and represents a large category of people forced into Liangshan by the dark society (in fact, they are rare in Liangshan);
- Wu Song reflects the underworld path of a kind, innocent young man with fundamentally good intentions;
- Chai Jin represents the underworld path of a spoiled heir and former member of the imperial party;
- Guan Sheng is the representative of a former high-ranking government official entering the underworld;
- Shi Xiu represents the lower-class laborers who turned to the underworld to escape their fate. These 10 people basically encompass the most representative figures in the underworld organization.
The 4 major events are: capturing the birthday gift in a clever way, attacking Zhu's Village three times, the incident at Zeng Tou City, and Shi Jie under the celestial chart. These events basically summarize the entire process of the Liangshan underworld organization—from its development and growth to the transformation of its leadership and direction, and reaching its peak.