It profoundly revealed the social roots of the uprising, enthusiastically praised the uprising heroes' resistance struggle and their social ideals, and specifically revealed the internal historical reasons for the failure of the uprising.
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The book Water Margin is based on the story of Sung River Uprising in the late Northern Song Dynasty. According to the biography of Hou Meng, "Thirty-six people in the river run amok, and tens of thousands of JD.COM government troops dare not resist."
According to the Chronicle of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, "Song Jiang, a thief from Huainan, committed the Huai Yang Army, and sent his generals to beg for arrest, commit crimes, and enter the border between Chu and Haizhou, so that the satrap Zhang Shuye surrendered." Zhang Shuye Biography of the History of the Song Dynasty: "Sung River started from the river and turned to ten counties, so the loyalist dare not treasure its front. When the word came, the uncle sent an envoy to the sea at night, and the thief approached the sea, robbed more than ten giant boats and carried them.
So he resurrected thousands of dead people, ambushed near the city and fought a battle to lure light soldiers from the sea. He hid by the sea, waited for the soldiers to meet, and then set fire to his boat. Hearing this, the thief lost his will to fight, so he ambushed him and caught his assistant thief. Jiang Nai surrendered. In addition, Li Kun's Outline of Ten Dynasties, Chen Jun's Chronology of Nine Dynasties in Song Dynasty and Xu's Compilation of Three Dynasties to the North also have similar records. There are also records that Song Jiang took part in the battle of Fang La after he surrendered.
From these records, we can know that the number of this rebel army is small (but never more than 36), but it has strong combat effectiveness and great influence among the masses, which once posed a certain threat to the Song Dynasty. Sung Jiang and other uprisings took place in the first year of Xuanhe (119) to the third year of Xuanhe (1 12 1), more than three years before and after.
Storytelling flourished in the Song Dynasty, and the stories of 36 people, including Song Jiang, which were circulated among the people were quickly adopted by storytellers as the material for writing stories. The titles of the novels recorded in the Southern Song Dynasty are Green Beast, Flower Monk and Warrior, which should be the stories of Yang Zhi, Lu and Lu. In addition, Shi Sunli may also be the Water Margin.
This is the earliest record of the script of Water Margin. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was Gong Kai's "Thirty-six people praised Song Jiangxu": "The story of Song Jiang can be seen in the street." He also said that before Gong Kai, there was an art academy to write to Song Li, and he painted portraits of Song Jiang and others. But Gong Kai's praise didn't tell a story.
Now, the earliest work to write the story of the Water Margin is the Legacy of Xuanhe in the Great Song Dynasty (see the Legacy of Xuanhe), which is either from the Yuan Dynasty or the old books of the Song Dynasty, but it has gained something. Some researchers think it is a basic book for storytellers.
The synopsis of the story of the Water Margin recorded in it, from Yang Zhi selling knives to killing people, through outwitting the birth outline, Song Jiang killing Yan Poxi, and nine days of Xuan Nv canonizing the gobbledygook, until he surrendered to the imperial court to suppress the Fang La uprising, is basically consistent with the order of the later Water Margin. At this time, the water margin story has developed from many scattered and independent single articles into a systematic and coherent whole.
Yuan Zaju was popular, and a large number of Water Margin plays appeared. The Water Margin recorded in Yuan Zaju is roughly the same as the characters' names in Xuan He's posthumous works in Da Song Dynasty, but the location of gathering righteousness is different. Zaju is about Liang Shanbo, and the heritage is about Taihang Mountain.
There are already "108 leaders" in the zaju, and the "legacy" only mentions the names of 36 generals posthumous title; Among the heritages, Li Kui jy ranked 14, Yan Qing ranked 28th, Li Kui jy ranked 13, and Yan Qing ranked 15 in zaju.
All these can be seen that before the publication of Water Margin, the content and details of Water Margin stories were quite similar. This may also be related to the spread in different regions. It is these stories that spread in different regions that were collected by Shi Naian, selected, processed and recreated, and this excellent classic "Water Margin" was written.
The story of Water Margin originated in Xuanhe period of the Northern Song Dynasty, and has become the main theme of folk oral literature since the Southern Song Dynasty. Among the scripts compiled by storytellers handed down are The Green-faced Beast, The Flower Monk and The Warrior.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Water Margin
People's Daily Online-Comment: The Water Margin is a book of loyalty and patriotism.