Shi Nai'An (1296–1372)

This is a translation from the Chinese made by a missionary, although the idea that a church man performed this translation may seem strange when you look at the plot and the several themes that occur and reoccur in along the novel. Calling the text a novel is also misleading, as this is more a collection of stories which all end up at the marsh. The marsh is an appropriate place for all of these bandits who are escaping from the law, a law which in some cases they were serving, but which, through bad luck and fate has made them turn into highwaymen. We don’t know exactly how many, but from the thousands that are mentioned, probably more than can comfortably find shelter in a desolate place in the countryside. The accommodation for all of these people are a mystery not easily solved; the intake is forever growing --it seems China is a very dangerous place to live.

The story has different variations: a man who works for the government falls out of grace through bad luck or fate, or drunkenness, and commits a crime that makes him leave his town, city, regiment, and start a life of banditry. Before he is accepted he has to fight some of the bandit heroes; after proving his worth and mettle, he becomes one of the leaders. This happens all the time, so I’m not spoiling the plot. After reading two chapters you can work it out for yourself. Ah, don’t go to an inn, or be very careful in them, as some of them make dumplings out of customers, in a never-ending cycle of guest-dumpling-dumpling eaten by a guest who becomes a dumpling and so forth. Luckily for our heroes, they are saved by the bell when someone recognizes them.

Women are very unlucky in this novel, as only one -with some female partners- appears in a fighting role. The others die because they have deprecated a hero, or because they have an extra-marital affair.

Also, if you are a servant in the house of someone who has a dispute with the hero, tough luck: you’ll be part of a massacre. Sometimes, if you are an innocent bystander you may also become involved -that is: killed violently.

Clothes play an important role in the text, I presume, but I don’t know which. Many passages are devoted to the way someone is dressed; I guess this was very meaningful to the readers at the time.

The heroes, after defeating the Emperor’s troops, would be very happy if the Emperor (who is not guilty of the corruption of the court, no sir), pardoned them, and made them soldiers. This is not such a bad idea, because they always defeat the Imperial armies, and their strategy and morale is better.

There are some issues with the translation: cash is treated as a countable noun, as in one cash. Some verbs have been forgotten by the proofreader and have no -d at the end when one is expecting a past tense. Commas are used loosely in the text.… (mehr)

The Water Margin is a novel attributed to Shi Nai’an and is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature. I started this book early in February and been reading a chapter or two a day since. This is an epic story about rebels, resistance, war, friendship and revenge. It concerns the gathering together of 108 people who, for various reasons, defy local authorities and join a bandit force hiding out on a march-surrounded mountain. While it is an absolute door-stopper of a book at over 2,100 pages, it is not a difficult read and is full of adventure, humor and traditions of 14th century China.

The book lends itself well to reading in chapters, each one contained a story and each ended with phrasing to the effect that if you wanted to find out what or why something happened then read the next chapter. I was charmed by the story and it took me back to the 1990s when I played a series of RPGs called Sukoden which was loosely based on this book, and in many ways my game playing helped me understand what was happening in this book. The challenge to this read was keeping all the characters straight, and understanding the various military campaigns. There is a lot o information included that concerns tactics, strategy, and military maneuvers on a large scale.

The characters were fascinating and many had very colourful names such as The Jade Unicorn, Du Xing the Demon Face, “Cut Your Heart Out” Wang, and Oily Mudfish which certainly helped to identify them. One of my personal favourites was the drunken monk, Sagacious Lu. Although the book is mostly about action and features battles, kidnappings, assassinations, torture and single combat, one character does do a fair amount of reflection. This is Song Jiang, who emerges as the leader. Also called The Timely Rain, it is he who handles the organization and strategy and has the most empathy of all the characters.

The Water Margin is truly a grand adventure story and is a work of stunning achievement. I enjoyed my read of this book and feel it was well worth the time invested.… (mehr)

"The Water Margin" is the first of the 'great Chinese novels' that I've read and I generally enjoyed it. The story is an action filled romp with a band of loosely associated outlaws who take the countryside by storm in a variety of ways that generally end with a sword fight, sling of arrows or other violent means of dying.

The book started to drag a bit for me in the middle -- the stories about the outlaws started feeling a bit to similar. It picked up again by the end though and made the long months of reading worth it.… (mehr)

I have long wanted to reread this established classic. The most complete edition I could find in print was the Chinese Classics 4-volume Edition from Foreign Language Press, weighing in at a slim 2,149 pages. Nonetheless, I would call this an un-put-downable page-turner. One of the original Proto-Wuxia novels from Ancient China, which was rich in both history and literary mystique.

Far superior, in my opinion to the other lengthy "Great Works" of Classical Chinese, namely The Story of the Stone (Dream of the Red Chamber), Golden Lotus, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and The Journey to the West, although everyone seems to have their personal favorite. The mixture of historical narratives with myths and legends is a phenomenon seen the world over, but hardly ever do we find a personal and epic masterpiece to rival this one. Sure, you can find any number of recountings of legends and mysteries, ghost stories and battles throughout Asian and European literature, but not until you fast forward to Lord of the Rings, will you find such a magical, and intimate journey of struggles, and tales within tales, and influential themes, seamlessly woven throughout the breathless adventure.

I imagine listening to these tales in their original language on a street corner, in the fourteenth century, as people once might have listened to Homer and Virgil recite their own vast creations, and the long-lost world comes more alive. Within a modest 100 chapters, averaging 20 pages in length, with constant cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, you follow the story of heroes and villains, conquerors and families, and brothers-in-arms and murderers, for lack of a better term. The violence and torture is often cruel and brutal, but I assume, perfectly accurate for the time it depicted (12th century). The purported author Shi Nai'an (with a credit to the master Luo Guanzhong) was telling these tales at a remove of a few centuries, while at the same time clearly passing comment on his own corrupt and traditional society mores.

The richness of invention and superb and often humorous character detail is priceless beyond words, and I was enraptured throughout the entire book, which took me only 2 weeks to read. Granted, the print is not as small as some paperbacks and the pages almost turn themselves during many of the riveting chapters. The fact that I am seriously considering rereading it after a few years, and remember many of the events it describes (except for the impossible-to-remember-for-a-Westerner names) is an indication of its staying power. Not to mention that the approach and conflicts have been reworked into literature, Chinese and otherwise, countless times. We got a Christianized translation from Peal S. Buck, at least one manga/ anime based on it, and arguably, several scenes/ themes from the films of Akira Kurosawa.

Also translated as Water Margin, with some translations available online, I would recommend buying this 4-volume edition before it disappears completely. You cannot seriously read Chinese literature without running into references to this epic. It would be like diving into Italian literature and trying to avoid Dante and Boccaccio.

Put down Game of Thrones and pick up this book which has endured for 7 centuries.… (mehr)