The book describes the story of 108 hero headed by Song Jiang in Liangshan Uprising at the end of Northern Song Dynasty, who accepted the enlistment and marched around after Juyi.
The Water Margin is one of the earliest Zhang Hui vernacular novels in the history of China, which is widely circulated and well known. At the same time, it is also one of the epic works in China's language and literature, which has a far-reaching influence on narrative literature in China and even East Asia.
Origin of ownership
"Water Margin" comes from the sentence "Ancient Fu, riding a horse to the DPRK, leading to the water margin in the west, as for Qi Xia" in the Book of Songs. However, there has always been disagreement about the exact meaning of this title.
There is a saying that Shi Naian, the author, hated treacherous officialdom. After only two years in office, he resigned and returned to his hometown to teach and write The Biography of Jianghu Vendors. The book was finally published, and Shi Naian was satisfied with the plot, except for the bad title.
At that time, Luo Guanzhong, a student in Shi Naian, suggested that the title should be Water Margin. Hearing this, Shi Naian said happily again and again, "Good, good! This title is great! Water Margin', meaning the edge of the water, means' in the wild', which is in line with the allusion in the Book of Songs that' the old duke Tan Fu came to the DPRK to lead the horse and led the west to the water margin, but as for ambiguity'. Wonderful! " Thus, The Legend of the Jianghu Vendors was officially renamed The Water Margin.