Xiao Rang
| Xiao Rang | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| First appearance | Chapter 39 |
| Nickname | "Sacred Handed Scholar" 聖手書生 |
| Rank | 46th, Literature Star (地文星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Chief secretary of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Scholar and calligrapher |
| Ancestral home / Place of origin | Jizhou (around present-day Jining and Heze, Shandong) |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 萧让 |
| Traditional Chinese | 蕭讓 |
| Pinyin | Xiāo Ràng |
| Wade–Giles | Hsiao Jang |
Xiao Rang is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 46th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 10th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Sacred Handed Scholar".
Xiao Rang is a scholar from Jizhou (濟州; around present-day Jining and Heze, Shandong). He excels in calligraphy and has a reputation for his ability to imitate the handwriting of the four most famous calligraphers in his time – Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Jing. He is thus nicknamed "Sacred Handed Scholar". Besides achieving success in the field of scholastic and literary arts, Xiao Rang is also skilled in martial arts. He is a close friend of the Liangshan outlaws' chief strategist, Wu Yong.
Song Jiang is arrested and imprisoned in Jiangzhou (江州; east of present-day Chongzuo, Guangxi) after writing a seditious poem while he was drunk. Dai Zong follows Wu Yong's instructions and travels to Jizhou to seek help from Xiao Rang and bring him to Liangshan. Jin Dajian is also invited to join Liangshan as well. Xiao Rang helps the outlaws forge a letter in the handwriting of Cai Jing, while Jin Dajian carves an official seal from Cai Jing to be stamped on the letter. In the letter, Cai Jing asks his son, Cai Jiu (the governor of Jiangzhou), to have Song Jiang escorted to the capital to await further action. The outlaws will then ambush the convoy and rescue Song Jiang along the way.
Initially, everything goes as planned and even Cai Jiu is unable to tell the difference between his father's and Xiao Rang's handwriting. He believes that the letter is genuine until Huang Wenbing spots a mistake with the seal and exposes the fraud. Cai Jiu is furious and he orders Song Jiang and Dai Zong to be executed immediately. Wu Yong detected the mistake after the letter was sent out, and had alerted the outlaws to prepare to rescue Song Jiang and Dai Zong. The outlaws storm the execution ground and succeed in saving the two men in time.
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