Ruan Xiaoqi, nicknamed "Living Yama", is one of the many working people at the bottom of society who are deeply oppressed in "Water Margin", and is also one of the 108 generals of Shuibo Liangshan. , together with his brothers Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaowu, are known as the "Three Heroes of the Ruan Family".
Ruan Xiaoqi was born in a poor family and lived in Shijie Village, Bobian, Liangshan, Jeju, where he made a living by fishing. Life is already difficult, and the bullying and abuse by corrupt officials seems to make it even worse. As revealed in the novel: "Nowadays, the lawsuit is everywhere and harms the people; but when he comes to the countryside, he first eats all the pigs, sheep, chickens, and geese raised by the good people, and then sends him away with a lot of money." "Ruan Xiaoqi hated this deeply, so even though a group of strongmen in the lake hindered his fishing, the presence of those people prevented the government officials from easily going to the countryside to exploit the villagers, so Ruan Xiaoqi It still feels like a happy thing. Not only that, he was also very envious of the happy life of the strong men who "divided gold and silver according to scales, wore silks and brocades in different ways; ate wine in jars and ate meat in large chunks". This was precisely based on their dissatisfaction with reality and their yearning for a better life. , when Wu Yao invited him to seize the "illegal wealth" birthday card, Ruan Xiaoqi and his brothers naturally readily agreed.
If the robbery of the birthday card was just for "making a happy life", which is not enough to be called a conscious act of resistance to the feudal ruling class, then when the birthday card incident was forced to go to Liangshan, Ruan Xiaoqi understood The land and the rulers launched an irreconcilable struggle. The severe living environment in his early life cultivated his fighting character of "not afraid of lawsuits and not afraid of the sky". Just like what he sang, "The master grew up in Shijie Village and was born to kill people." He hated the government and despised the king's law. In every struggle against the enemy, he was bold and courageous, showing a strong spirit of resistance. In the 19th episode, the Ruan brothers fought against the enemy on the water, showed off their skills, and wiped out all the officers and soldiers who came to pursue them. Ruan Xiaoqi captured He Tao, the leader of the army, and cut off his ears to relieve his hatred. In the seventy-fifth chapter, Ruan Xiaoqi paid no attention to the court officials who came to recruit him. He tricked them and shared the ten bottles of wine given by the emperor with everyone. In the end, Chen Taiwei and others fled before the trick of recruiting people was over.
In the artistic image of Ruan Xiaoqi, in addition to the strong spirit of resistance, there is also a distinctive color of personality. Ruan Xiaoqi's brave and fearless resistance is closely related to his inner character of hating evil and being cheerful. The predecessors once pointed out brilliantly: "Ruan Xiaoqi is a top-notch person, and he has the same characteristics in writing. Among the 108 people, he can really be regarded as the most quick-witted person. He has a quick heart and a quick mouth, which makes people react to him and sells him dirty." "Exhausted" (Jin Shengtan's "Reading the Calligraphy of the Fifth Talented Scholar"). Indeed, Ruan Xiaoqi is a very prominent "fast man" among the heroes in Shuibo Liangshan.
When Ruan Xiaoqi first appeared, the novel once described him: "The jaundiced face is covered with strange flesh. The eyes are exquisite and protruding. The cheeks have a long and short yellow beard, and the body is dotted with black spots. It is like pig iron. It is beaten, and it is suspected to be made of stubborn copper." Its shape and appearance reveal the rough, heroic and martial spirit of the man. Wu came to Shijie Village to find the three brothers of the Ruan family to discuss matters. At the table in the hotel, Ruan Xiaoer asked Wu Yong to sit at the head table. Wu Yong was humbly giving in, but Ruan Xiaoqi, the younger brother, said: "Brother only wants to sit at the head table and invites the professor." Sitting at the guest table, my two brothers sat down first. "It's really a quick talk. During the wine stall, Wu Yong offered to thank the Ruan brothers, but Ruan Xiaoer refused to allow them to break the banknotes. Ruan Xiaoqi said, "It's better to eat as you please, and then take care of it." Later, when Wu Yong said that he was discussing the birthday plan, Ruan Xiaoqi jumped up happily and immediately asked anxiously: "When are we going?" This highlighted Ruan Xiaoqi's outspoken character.
Ruan Xiaoqi's straightforward and cheerful character is not only reflected in his hatred of enemies but also his deep affection for his friends who do not care about life and death and are anxious to save others. Guan Sheng led his troops to attack Liangshanbo, and Sanruan and other Liangshan generals led their troops to meet the enemy. One day, Zhang Shun reported: Zhang Heng went to rob Guan Shengying Village, but was captured unexpectedly. After Ruan Xiaoqi heard this, he "called the generals to get up" and blamed Zhang Shun for not risking his life to save him, so he went to the rescue himself. Although things did not go as planned, and he was even captured by the enemy, his zeal and willingness to go through fire and water and serve others left a deep impression on people.
Ruan Xiaoqi’s straightforwardness sometimes contains some connotations of simplicity and innocence. When the Liangshan army was conquering Fangla, Ruan Xiaoqi entered the deep palace of the inner garden, found Fangla's suitcase, put on the Gun dragon robe, tied on the jasper belt, put on the worry-free shoes, put on the flat crown, and inserted the white jade quill Put it in your arms, jump on the horse, whip in hand, and run out of the palace. He only regarded these as fun and interesting, and rode his horse around. It's so childish.
Later, Ruan Xiaoqi was awarded the command of the Gaitian Army for his merits, but within a few months, he was framed by Wang Zhen and other treacherous ministers. Moreover, if the army in the sky is remote and the people are barbaric, it will definitely lead to rebellion." As a result, he was deprived of his official title and returned to the common people. Obviously, Ruan Xiaoqi's innocence was taken advantage of by the cunning and vicious ruler. Ruan Xiaoqi started fishing in Shijie Village and finally returned to Shijie Village to fish. It seems like a simple reincarnation, but Ruan's experience contains profound and broad social content. After a lot of excitement, Ruan Xiaoqi was framed for no reason and suffered misfortune, which once again reflected the XX and darkness of the reality at that time.
Ruan Xiaoqi, like many heroes who were forced to go to jail, embarked on the path of becoming an enemy of the rulers based on his strong dissatisfaction with the dark reality of official corruption and abuse and his passionate yearning for a happy life. This situation itself determined that his resistance was incomplete. Once the situation improves, he will not only fight against corruption and one official but not the emperor, he will even follow others to conquer other uprising teams. Strong thoughts of loyalty to the emperor (such as "Behead He Tao's inspection leader first, and the capital is dedicated to King Zhao" sung in Chapter 19) and superficial understanding of Juyi's affairs, all of which expose the naive and naive nature of heroes like Ruan Xiaoqi. Shortcomings. Although the simplicity of the fishermen in the water town has its lovely side, it is inevitable that it will be exploited by others, which will largely determine its inevitable tragic ending in front of the cruel and cunning ruler. Ruan Xiaoqi's experience just proves this point.