Lin Chong
| Lin Chong | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
Lin Chong in an 1886 block print by Yoshitoshi
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| Nickname | "Panther Head" 豹子頭 |
| Also known as |
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| Rank | 6th, Majestic Star (天雄星) of the 36 Heavenly Spirits |
| Right General of the Five Tiger Generals of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Lance instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards |
| Ancestral home / Place of origin | Dongjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) |
| First appearance | Chapter 7 |
| Weapon | 8-foot-long (2.4 m) Snake Spear (丈八蛇矛); Pudao (朴刀) |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 林冲 |
| Traditional Chinese | 林沖 |
| Pinyin | Lín Chōng |
| Wade–Giles | Lin Ch'ung |
Lin Chong is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 6th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Panther Head". In the world of published fiction, he is a former student of Zhou Tong.
Lin Chong resembles Zhang Fei in appearance. He stands just over six chi, with glaring eyes and a head like a panther's. He is thus nicknamed "Panther Head". Before becoming an outlaw, Lin Chong served as a martial arts instructor of the Imperial Guards in the capital, Dongjing (東京; present-day Kaifeng, Henan).
Once, Lin Chong meets Lu Zhishen while accompanying his wife to the temple and becomes sworn brothers with Lu. His wife catches the eye of Gao Yanei, the lecherous foster son of Grand Marshal Gao Qiu. Gao Yanei tries to molest Lin Chong's wife but Lin appears in the nick of time and stops him. Since then, Gao Yanei becomes obsessed with Lin Chong's wife and wants to have her for himself. He enlists the help of Lin Chong's friend Lu Qian, asking Lu Qian to distract Lin Chong by asking him out for drinks. Gao Yanei then tricks Lin Chong's wife to a house and tries to rape her there. Lin Chong's servant alerts him in time and Lin rushes there and saves his wife from Gao Yanei's sexual advances. Gao Yanei escapes in a frenzy.
Gao Yanei is adamant that he gets Lin Chong's wife so he asks his foster father for help. Knowing that Lin Chong likes weapons, Gao Qiu employs a weapon seller to trick Lin Chong into buying a precious saber and then requests for Lin's presence in his residence under the pretext of seeing the saber. Lin Chong is tricked into entering the White Tiger Hall (白虎節堂) while carrying the weapon. Important meetings are held in the hall and weapons are not permitted inside. Unfortunately, Lin Chong is caught having a weapon in his possession while inside the hall and is arrested for attempting to assassinate Gao Qiu.
Lin Chong is framed for attempting to assassinate a grand marshal and is sentenced to face-tattooing and exiled to Cangzhou. Gao Qiu bribes the guards, Dong Chao and Xue Ba, who are escorting Lin Chong there to kill him along the way. To make Lin Chong defenceless, the guards trick him into washing his feet in boiling water and cause his feet to become sore and blistered. Lu Zhishen secretly follows Lin Chong and saves him from death in Wild Boar Forest when the guards try to kill him. Lin Chong manages to persuade Lu Zhishen not to kill the guards, saying that they had no choice but to follow orders. After giving the guards a display of his strength by knocking down a tree, Lu Zhishen bids farewell to Lin Chong and returns to Dongjing. Fearful for their lives, the guards escort Lin Chong to Cangzhou without causing further problems. While in Cangzhou, Lin Chong meets and befriends Chai Jin, who provides him with silver to bribe the jailers in the Cangzhou prison to make Lin's stay there more comfortable. However, Gao Qiu is dissatisfied with Lin Chong's fate and sends Lu Qian to Cangzhou to kill Lin.
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