Water Margin reading notes

Story background:

The story background of "Water Margin" is the era of Song Huizong. At that time, the political style was corrupt, there were too many officials, and the court imposed excessive taxes and expropriations, which made it difficult for the people to make a living. This book is China's first full-length novel that reveals the principle of government oppression and people's rebellion, and reflects the people-centered thinking. It not only exposes the snares of the old society and praises the green forest heroes who robbed the rich and helped the poor, but also truly describes the entire process of the peasant uprising, making it clear to people the reality that accepting recruitment will only lead to death.

Shi Naian, the author of "Water Margin", exerted great creativity and changed the image of heroes from emperors, generals and ministers to the lower class people. This book is very specific and vivid in shaping the characters or developing the storyline. In addition to the profound theme and the proficiency in the use of vernacular, this book is definitely an immortal masterpiece unprecedented in our country and unprecedented in its future.

Story introduction

This is a story about one hundred and eight heroes gathering in Liangshanbo. The story tells that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the emperor was fatuous and treacherous ministers were in power, which led to political corruption. Corrupt officials harmed the loyal and the people. The loyal people were angry and resentful. They rushed to Liangshanbo one after another, led by Song Jiang, to fight against the corrupt government at that time. Later, the heroes from Liangshanbo were recruited by the imperial court and conquered the Liao Kingdom, Fang La, etc. for the imperial court. Liangshan heroes died one after another in the southern expedition to Fangla. Even if they survived, they might not escape the persecution of the powerful traitors of the current dynasty. All the heroes of Liangshan were loyal and righteous people. Some were persecuted by treacherous ministers or forced by local tyrants, and they were unable to go to Liangshan. "Water Margin" is the first novel to describe a peasant uprising. The plot of the book revolves around the clue of "officials forcing the people to rebel", showing a group of "heroes" who could not bear the oppression of tyranny, rising up and gathering in the Liangshan Mountains until they were righteous. Accepting the whole process of recruiting peace and leading to the failure of the uprising. The most brilliant idea of ??this novel is that it fully affirms the revolting peasants who were regarded by feudal rulers as "thieves and bandits", and profoundly reveals the social roots of peasant uprisings: from the emperor and ministers like Gao Qiu to the The tyranny, incompetence and incompetence of large and small officials have made the people miserable and sharp class conflicts gradually deepened.

Characters (nicknames) Related stories Characteristics

Lu Zhishen (Flower Monk) beat down Guanxi with punches, uprooted weeping willows, wreaked havoc in the wild boar forest, hated evil as much as he hated evil, was chivalrous and courageous, and had fine qualities in his roughness. , Brave and resourceful, open-minded and sensible

Wu Song (Walker) Blood-blade Pan Jinlian, fighting and killing Ximen Qing, drunkenly beating Jiang Menshen, making a fuss in Feiyunpu, blood splattered in Yuanyang Tower, eliminating evil in Centipede Ridge. Loyal, brave and resourceful, repaying vengeance and repaying kindness (shortcomings: killing innocent people indiscriminately), he is the most bloody and legendary figure among the lower-class heroes.

Wu Yong (Zhi Duo Xing) outsmarted the birth chart with resourcefulness and clever calculations

Lin Chong (Leopard Head) accidentally broke into the White Tiger Hall, Fengxue Mountain Temple, Burning Forage Farm, and Liangshan Martial Arts on a Snowy Night He is strong, brave and resourceful, but he keeps to himself, follows the rules, and is forced to go to Liangshan.

Li Kui (Black Tornado) True and false Li Kui, Zhongzhou Tribulation Field, hates evil as much as hatred, chivalrous and courageous, hot-tempered, simple-minded, straightforward and straightforward

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Song Jiang (Timely Rain) released Chao Gai privately, killed Yan Poxi angrily, and beat him three times. Zhujiazhuang was a man of justice and good at employing people, but he always wanted to recruit people.

Yang Zhi (green-faced beast) Yang Zhi sells knives and outsmarts the birthday card. He is smart and capable, but rough and arrogant

Chao Gai (the king of towers) outsmarts the birth card and robs Jiangzhou. In the execution field, he is open-minded, upright and sincere; he attaches great importance to love and righteousness, and he is upright

In the fourth episode, Zhao Yuanwai rebuilt Wenshu Monastery and Lu Zhishen made a fuss in Mount Wutai

Lu Da beat Zhen Guanxi to death with three punches and fled. When they arrived in Yanmen County, Daizhou, they happened to meet the Jin family father and daughter who were rescued, and now they are married to the local rich man Zhao Yuanwai. Due to the official wanted order, Ruda had to take temporary refuge at Zhao Yuanwai's manor.

However, the government has many eyes and ears, and arrests are becoming more and more strict. In order to avoid accidents, Zhao Yuanwai urges Ruda to become a monk. Because of the laws of the Song Dynasty, if you become a monk, your worldly ties will be cut off, and your past grudges will be wiped out. Ruda had no choice but to agree.

Zhao Yuanwai was a generous benefactor of Wenshu Monastery in Mount Wutai, so Ruda's becoming a monk was very smooth. In addition, Elder Zhizhen is a high-level monk who has attained enlightenment. He knows that Luda is the boundary of the stars in the sky, so he personally received the ordination and gave him the Dharma name: "Zhishen."

Although Lu Zhishen entered the Zen sect, his old habits are hard to change. A good drinker and a greedy drinker. First, he robbed the waiter of a load of wine on the mountainside, got drunk, beat people and caused trouble.

Later, he went down the mountain to sell knives and Zen sticks, ate dog meat and drank soju in a liquor store, and got very drunk. The pavilion halfway up the mountain was beaten and trampled, the gate of the mountain gate was torn down, and all the monks were beaten to the point where they wanted to pack up their bags and leave.

Elder Zhizhen had no choice but to introduce Lu Zhishen to Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo, where he met his junior brother, monk Zhiqing.

Chapter 7: Monk Hua uprooted a weeping willow, and the leopard head strayed into the White Tiger Hall.

Monk Hua tried his best to convince Popi, bought wine from Popi, and led a pig to invite Lu Zhishen. Zhi Shen uprooted the vertical willows, and everyone was shocked. Zhishen returned to the banquet and used the Zen staff for the crowd. Lin Chong saw the applause and the two became brothers.

Gao Yanei, the son of Captain Gao, molested Lin Chong's wife. Lin Chong saw that it was Gao Yanei. Although he was angry, he tolerated it. Zhishen came to help, but Lin Chong gave in.

Gao Yanei missed Lin Chong's wife. Fu'an and Lin Chong's good friend Lu Yuhou and Lu Qian betrayed their friends and invited Lin Chong to have a drink. However, Gao Yanei coaxed Lin's wife to go to Lu Yuhou's house to tease her. Lin Chong arrived after hearing the news, and Yanei escaped through the window.

The old governor led Lu Qian and Fu An to meet Captain Gao and made a plan to frame Lin Chong. Lin Chong fell into the trap and was captured.

The Thirteenth Chapter: Pioneer Dongguo Strives for Merit and the Green-faced Beast Fights in Beijing

It is said that Yang Zhi killed Niu Er and was asked to see an official. Liang Zhongshu valued his loyalty. He and his talents, saved him and kept him in the mansion, and intended to let him find a job in the army. In order to avoid people's criticism, he announced an open competition for recruitment. First, the second-ranking army Zhou Jin and Yang Zhi competed, and the first competition was In terms of spear skills, in order to avoid hurting people, he wrapped the spear head with white cloth and plastered it with lime. As a result, after 30 rounds, Yang Zhi only had one white spot on his shoulder, while Zhou Jin had it all over his body. In the second round of riding arrows, Zhou Jin shot first. Yang Zhi dodged the first arrow sideways, blocked the second arrow with his bow, and caught the third arrow with his hand. When it was Yang Zhi's turn, the first arrow pulled the empty string, but the second arrow was merciless and shot Zhou Jin in the left shoulder. Master Zhou Jin, Suo Chao, was unconvinced and asked for a fight. As a result, the two fought hard for 50 rounds without a winner...Liang Zhongshu was overjoyed and promoted both of them to military governors. After the celebration, after drinking, Liang Zhongshu returned, Suo Chao and Yang Zhi each rode their horses on the left and right, and the people on the road cheered. Liang Zhongshu asked: I have never heard you cheer in the past? The people replied: I have never seen two such brave soldiers competing. At the moment, Liang Zhongshu was very happy and thought I was right to use Yang Zhi.

Chapter 30: Shi En was put on death row for the third time and Wu Song made a fuss in Feiyunpu

Chiang Menshen returned his old owner Shi En to the Happy Forest Hotel . Shi En respects Wu Song, and he dominates Happy Forest.

Zhang Dujian invited Wu Song to his home and treated him with wine and meat. Drunk Wu Song, planned his capture, and ordered the prefect to send Wu Song to death row.

He gave Kang Jieji and Ye Kongmu one hundred taels of silver each to protect Wu Song's life. Wu Song was stabbed twenty times with a cane and sent to the prison city of Enzhou. On the way, he gave him clothes and food, preparing to talk about Chiang Kai-shek's recapture of Happy Forest. In Feiyunpu, Wu Song killed four men and rushed to Mengzhou City.

Chapter 23 Chai Jin of Henghai County stayed as a guest in Jingyanggang and Wu Song fought the tiger

It is said that after Wu Song left "three bowls but not the hill", he went straight to Jingyanggang . After walking for more than a mile, Wu Song felt tired and thirsty. He lay down on a big rock and closed his eyes to sleep. Suddenly, a big white-fronted tiger with an eye-catching look jumped out from the bushes. When Wu Song saw it, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He was more than half awake from the wine. He jumped off the bluestone, picked up the whistle and dodged beside him. The tiger pressed its two front paws on the ground briefly and jumped. Wu Song hurriedly dodged aside. Seeing that the tiger couldn't catch Wu Song, it simply lifted and scissored it, but the clever Wu Song dodged it. The tiger was about to attack again. Wu Song quickly raised his whistle stick and slashed it from the air. Unexpectedly, it only hit a tree and the whistle stick broke into two pieces. This time, the tiger was so excited that it rushed towards Wu Song. Wu Song jumped back and the tiger landed just in front of him. Wu Song dropped the whistle stick in his hand, grabbed the tiger's skin with both hands and kicked it hard, and then hit it with his fists. , and after a while, the tiger had only one breath left, and his facial features were all covered with blood. Wu Song went to the tree and picked up half of the whistle stick, and came back and hit him one or two hundred times, until the tiger had no breath left, and then he stopped. Wu Song returned to the bluestone and rested for a long time before walking down the hill.

Chapter 43: Li Kui pretends to cut the path and rob the black whirlwind Yiling alone to kill four tigers

Soon after going up the mountain, Song Jiang picked up his old father, and Li Kui also went home to pick up his mother and went up the mountain. On the way, he encountered a man named Li Kui who was robbing him. After he was caught, he found out that his name was Li Gui. He said that he had a 90-year-old mother with no one to support him. Li Kui gave him 10 taels of silver and persuaded him to change his ways and do good. Later, Li Kui found out that he had been deceived and killed Li Gui, but Li Gui's wife escaped. When he returned home, his mother was already blind. Li Kui coaxed his mother and said: I will become an official and take my mother to enjoy the blessings. Carrying my mother on my back, I set off on the road. One day, while traveling to Yiling, Li Kui fetched water for his mother. When he returned, he found that his mother had been eaten by a tiger. Li Kui was so angry that he killed four tigers in a row and was welcomed into Cao Taigong's manor by the hunters. At this time, Li Gui's wife who had fled here recognized Li Kui, and Cao Taigong and others were preparing to plot against Li Kui. Fortunately, Liang Shanbo sent Zhu Gui and others to help, and Li Kui escaped and returned to the village.