Song Jiang
| Song Jiang | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | Protector of Justice 呼保義 |
| Also known as |
|
| Rank | 1st, Leader Star (天魁星) of 36 Heavenly Spirits |
| Leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Magistrate's clerk |
| Ancestral home / Place of origin | Yuncheng County, Heze, Shandong |
| First appearance | Chapter 18 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 宋江 |
| Traditional Chinese | 宋江 |
| Pinyin | Sòng Jiāng |
| Wade–Giles | Sung Chiang |
Song Jiang was the leader of a group of Chinese outlaws who lived in the Song dynasty. The outlaws were active in the present-day provinces of Shandong and Henan before their eventual surrender to the Song government. Song Jiang is also featured as a character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 1st of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Protector of Justice".
Song Jiang is mentioned in historical texts dating from the end of the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song. His place of birth and where he had been active are in dispute. One account from Pi Ling Ji says that Song Jiang rallied some fugitives to form a bandit army and they attacked travellers on the roads of Shandong. Another account from an unknown source says Song Jiang and his bandits originated from the north of the Yellow River and moved south towards the Huai River Valley. They invaded some ten commanderies and were evidently regarded as more than just nuisance by the Song imperial court in Kaifeng.
A palace memorial by Hou Meng survives in the historical text History of Song, which states: "Song Jiang and 36 others cross Qi and Wei (the central belt of the North China Plain) at will. Government troops number tens of thousands but none dared to oppose him. His abilities must be extraordinary. In view of the ravages by Fang La and his outlaws from Qingxi, why not grant Song Jiang and his men amnesty and allow them to lead a campaign against Fang La to redeem themselves?"
Song Jiang and his bandits were active in the prefectures of Chuzhou and Haizhou (in present-day central Jiangsu) in early 1121. Their activities and subsequent defeat by government forces were recorded in the official biography of Zhang Shuye, the Prefect of Haizhou. It states: "Zhang Shuye asked his scouts where they had gone. They said that the bandits had made their way to the coast and seized control of ten huge vessels. He recruited 1,000 men and planted an ambush in a nearby city. Next, he sent skirmishers to lure the bandits into battle. The best foot soldiers were stationed by the coast. When the armies clashed, the bandits' ships were then burnt. When the bandits heard that, they lost their will to fight. The army lying in ambush then attacked and captured many of the bandits. Then Song Jiang surrendered". The eventual fate of the historical Song Jiang is unknown after surrendered to the government.
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Wikipedia