Song Jiang is the most controversial character in "Water Margin" and has received mixed reviews so far. As we all know, each of the Liangshan heroes has one and only one nickname, but Song Jiang has many. For example, Wu Yong, nicknamed "Zhi Duoxing", alias: highlight and so on. So what nicknames does he have?
Hei Songjiang: Because it has a dark face and short body, it is called this.
Xiaoyi Heisaburo: Song Jiang was very filial to his parents at home and was known to the neighbors, so he got this name.
Timely Rain: Song Jiang got this name because he was always generous with money and treated people sincerely. He always helped others when they needed help most, just like timely rain.
Hu Baoyi: Because of Song Jiang's loyalty to the country, he was also called Hu Baoyi.
In Chapter 68, Song Jiang made a comparison between himself and Lu Junyi, and mentioned three points in which he was inferior to Lu Junyi: first, Song Jiang was dark and short, with a poor appearance and poor talent; , with a majestic body and the appearance of a noble man. Secondly, Song Jiang was born as a minor official and was on the run from a crime. Thanks to his brothers, he never gave up and temporarily occupied an honorable position. Song Jiang was born in Yuanwai, the son of a hero and had no reputation for evil. Although he was somewhat dangerous, he was blessed by God to avoid this disaster. Thirdly, Song and Jiang's literature cannot bring peace to the country, and their martial arts cannot unite the crowd. Their hands have no power to tie a chicken, and their body has no ability to shoot an arrow. With external force, they can defeat thousands of people, and they have knowledge of the past and the present. Who in the world will not surrender to the wind. It should be said that Song Jiang is still self-aware.
Song Jiang’s story can be divided into three stages.
Before going up the mountain, he could be said to be a chivalrous hero. This can be seen from two things.
First, put Chao Gai in Chapter 18. At that time, he was in a situation where he could report to his superiors, leave things to chance, and inform Chao Gai. What he chose was the third method: tipping off the news. This is his "righteousness". In the 36th chapter, on his way to assassinate Pei Jiangzhou, he was kidnapped and went up the mountain. The heroes of Liangshan persuaded him to go up the mountain, but he did not agree. Everyone wanted to open his shackles, but he said: "This is the law of the country." This is his "law". When "righteousness" and "law" conflicted, he chose loyalty. So in Chapter 21, Song Jiang killed Yan Poxi for his friends in Liangshan. He killed his wife for his friends, which showed his "righteous" side and showed that he was a hero.
After going up the mountain, he became the leader of a rebel army. Why did he become the leader of the rebels? First, his character of being generous and giving away wealth has appeal to all brothers. As long as he speaks something, others will listen to him. Second, he cares about his brothers and has the magnanimity of others, such as saving Chai Jin in the 54th chapter, Lu Zhishen and Shi Jin in the 59th chapter, Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu in the 66th chapter, etc. Third, there must be certain command and military abilities. For example, he attacked Zhujiazhuang three times, but failed to capture Zhujiazhuang the first two times. However, he was good at learning from experience and lessons, and finally used Wu Yong's strategy to capture Zhujiazhuang the third time. Later, many battles were commanded by him, until he was defeated by Tong Guan twice and Gao Qiu three times.
After the recruitment, Song Jiang should be a loyal minister of the imperial court. One of the words Song Jiang often talked about was "serve the country." When he took the first position in Liangshan, the first thing he did was The first thing is to change the "Juyi Hall" to "Zhongyi Hall" and the banner of "Practice for Heaven" to "Shun Tian to Protect the Country", and this is a key point.
After the recruitment, Liangshan Army had four major events: Ping Liao, Ping Sihu, Ping Wangqing, and conquered Fangla. It can also be said that Song Jiang was the executioner who suppressed the brothers' uprising. Because he lost troops and generals when he conquered Fangla, when he captured Fangla's generals, he no longer persuaded them to surrender as before. Instead, he beheaded the captives in public, or dug out their hearts and livers to commemorate the brothers who died in Liangshan. When they finally returned to Tokyo after conquering Fang La, only 27 of the 108 generals were left. The other 81 people either died in battle, died of illness, left, or became a monk. Even the common people were filled with emotion. Later, some were rewarded by the court based on their merits, some were demoted to common people, some returned to their original camps, some were killed by the government, and some... in the end it was a tragedy.
I use a short poem to talk about Song Jiang: a "filial piety and justice", saving the people is like "timely rain". He went to Liangshan to "call Baoyi" and was summoned to capture Fang La. Poisoned wine killed the "Black Songjiang", it was Songjiang in Liangshan.