Who is the author of Water Margin is controversial. At present, the most widely accepted view is that the author is Shi Naian. There are several other viewpoints in history, including Luo Guanzhong's theory, Shi Hui's theory, Guo Xun's theory of using another name, and Song Dynasty's theory.
The story of the Water Margin originated in the Xuanhe period of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the story of thirty-six people, such as Song Jiang, Wu Jialiang (Wu Yong) and Chao Gai, rebelled and became the blueprint of Water Margin.
The extended information "Water Margin" takes the occurrence and development of peasant uprising as the main line, and describes the whole process from individual awakening to small-scale joint resistance and then to developing into a grand peasant uprising team through the different experiences of each protagonist being caught up with Liangshan.
It shows the inevitable law of "officials forcing the people to rebel" in the peasant uprising in feudal times, shapes the group image of the peasant uprising leaders, and profoundly reflects the political situation and social contradictions in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
On the side of the oppressed, the author praised the just actions of the leaders of the peasant uprising to rob the rich and help the poor, eliminate violence and quell chaos, and affirmed their revolutionary spirit of daring to resist and struggle. Song Jiangyuan is a brave man who used his quick wits to help the poor. When he was driven to Liangshan, he strengthened the prestige of the rebels and won a series of victories.
However, due to the duality of his personality and the limitations of his thoughts, he chose to compromise and win over when the uprising reached its peak, and finally ruined the uprising. Through the failure of Sung River uprising, the novel objectively summarizes the experience and lessons of the failure of peasant uprising in feudal times.
The story begins with the rise of Gao Qiu, which is intended to show that Gao Qiu is the representative of the feudal ruling group. The author also wrote a large number of corrupt officials and local bullies. It is they who collude with each other and fish the people, forcing the kind and upright people to take risks and rise up.
At the same time, the novel also describes the peasant rebels in tian hu, Wangqing, Fang La and other areas to a certain extent, and deeply digs into various social phenomena and problems in feudal times from the breadth and depth, as well as the deep-seated reasons of peasant uprisings.
The reason why Water Margin has become an influential work in the history of China literature lies not only in its rich ideological content, but also in its artistic maturity. The Water Margin inherits and develops the excellent traditions of realism and romanticism, and integrates them.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Water Margin