Since the publication of "Water Margin", many people have begun to study and expand it from various angles and using various methods.
Of course, there are also some more unique studies. For example, the excavation of the nicknames and names of Water Margin. This Water Margin article is based on this point. One: Changing the names of Liangshan heroes
First of all, you must know that "Water Margin" was born out of the storybook "The Legacy of Xuanhe of the Song Dynasty". This book records the stories of thirty-six heroes including Song Jiang. There are also rankings for the 36 heroes! But the second in command is not Lu Junyi, but Wu Jialiang!
In addition, Lu Junyi is called Lu Jinyi in "The Legacy of Xuanhe of the Song Dynasty", and there is another name called "Li Jinyi". Wu Yong is called "Wu Jialiang". In other words, Shi Naian not only changed the rankings of these two people, but also changed their names!
As for Gongsun Sheng, it was made up! Therefore, the Four Liangshan Giants that people are familiar with today were actually the Three Liangshan Giants in the early days: Song Jiang, Wu Jialiang and Lu Jinyi.
As for the 72 Disha, most of them are fictional characters. It can be seen that Shi Naian continuously revised and added names, and spent a lot of effort to finally form the 108 Liangshan generals with 36 Tiangang and 72 Disha.
So why does Shi Naian care so much about the names of heroes? The reason is simple. People have attached great importance to names since ancient times. There are almost no random names. Every name contains rich meanings and some kind of sustenance from the parents (author).
Just like the name Wu Yong, why did Shi Naian insist on changing the good name "Wu Jialiang" to the somewhat inexplicable "Wu Yong" at first glance? Doesn't this obviously have a profound meaning?
Also, there is Lu Junyi, whose original name is "Jinyi". He is very enterprising and full of energy, which is considered a good name. But Shi Naian was not changed to "Jun Yi", that is, Junjie Yishi. Although this change was a lot more perfect, it lost the blank space of "Jin Yi". So the name change doesn’t mean much, but why does it have to be changed? Second: Naming the heroes of Liangshan
In addition to changing the names of 36 Tiangang, Shi Naian's most impressive thing is to name 72 Disha. Among them, the most recognized ones are: Zhu Wu, Chen Da, and Yang Chun.
Nowadays, the common interpretation of these three names is that they allude to Zhu Yuanzhang (the reign title after he became emperor was Hongwu), Xu Da and Chang Yuchun! As for why these three people respect Shi Jin as the boss, it is because the name Shi Jin means "historical progress". No matter how awesome a person is, he cannot escape the historical progress.
Just from the names of these three heroes, we can see the profound meaning of Shi Naian’s naming of the heroes of the Water Margin. Of course, in addition to these three, there are two heroes in the 72 Disha of Liangshan, and their names are also meaningful, namely Shi Qian and Duan Jingzhu!
As the saying goes, time passes and a situation stops. Combined with Shi Qian and Duan Jingzhu, they are the last two of the 108 generals in Liangshan. What is the profound meaning?
Third: Connect the names of the five Liangshan heroes
Now, we know that among the 108 Liangshan generals, the top three heroes except Song Jiang, Wu Yonghe Lu Junyi's name has been changed. The names of the two heroes ranked last, Shi Qian and Duan Jingzhu, also have profound meanings. So what would happen if these five names were read together? It will become the following description:
The Song Dynasty had a picturesque country (Song Jiang), and there were countless heroes and righteous men (Lu Junyi). The word "Lu" was explained as a rice utensil in "Shuowen Jiezi" , extended to storage), but it has no effect at all (Wu Yong). In the end, it can only become a passer-by in time (Shi Qian), staying in people's memories forever.
Is there a huge sense of desolation coming towards you? This is Shi Naian's hint. "Water Margin" is not so much about writing stories about heroes, but rather about "writing history". It is a "history book"!
At the same time, this also answers a Water Margin question: Was it because almost all the 108 generals in Liangshan were killed that led to the rapid demise of the Song Dynasty? Answer: When Song Jiang, Lu Junyi, and Wu Yong moved to Duan Jing? The heroes and martyrs of the Song Dynasty were ignored, making the Song Dynasty a historical memory. Therefore, future generations need to stop and think about it to avoid repeating the same mistakes.