Water Margin
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| Pages | 848 pages | |
| Specs | 5 x 8 x 1.2 in | |
| Weight | 1.62# | |
| ISBN-10 | 0804840954 | |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0804840958 | |
- Water Margin 水浒传
- What is it?
The earliest of China’s four great classic novels, Water Margin is the story of 108 outlaws and vagabonds enlisted by the government to fight foreign invaders, later sent to attack the southern emperor Fang La. Based loosely on real-life rebel Song Jiang, who led an uprising in the early twelfth century, the novel is set around Mount Liang in Shandong, which was largely a lawless Wild West region, controlled by local warlords.
- Why is it important?
China’s answer to Robin Hood is ripe with folklore and cultural history and still inspires many contemporary influences. It has been adapted into vast arrays of rewrites, films, TV dramas, music, and operas. Surprisingly popular in Japanese manga, the novel has even inspired video games, a 1610 erotic novel, and a theme park. It is a fascinating glimpse into a bygone China of worthy bandits, corrupt court officials, filial piety, concubines, goddesses, and emperors.
- What else?
There is some uncertainty over the authorship of Water Margin. Most attribute the novel to Shi Nai’an, but dissenters argue either part or all of the novel was actually written by others – possibly Luo Guanzhong, who wrote Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Some have suggested that Shi Nai’an was a pseudonym for Luo himself.
- Google Review
Based upon the historical bandit Song Jiang and his companions, this Chinese equivalent of the English classic Robin Hood and His Merry Men is an epic tale of rebellion against tyranny and has been thrilling and inspiring readers for hundreds of years.
This edition of the classic J. H. Jackson translation features a new preface and introduction by Edwin Lowe, which gives the history of the book and puts the story into perspective for modern readers. First translated into English by Pearl S. Buck in 1933 as All Men Are Brothers, the original edition of the J.H. Jackson translation appeared under the title The Water Margin in 1937.
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