Versions of Water Margin
There are many versions of Water Margin and they have been widely circulated. Some of them are only in existence but no longer in books. Here are some available versions for reference.
1. Traditional version
(1) Hundred-chapter version, there are about four kinds
1. "Water Margin of Loyalty", one hundred volumes, one hundred volumes Hui, published in the 17th edition of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, preceded by "Preface to the Foreign Ministers of Tiandu"
2. "Mr. Li Zhuowu's Criticism of Loyalty and Justice Water Margin", 100 volumes, 100 chapters, 30th edition of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty The edition of Rong Yu Tang published in the eighth year was preceded by "Preface to Li Zhi", written by Sun Pu in Hulin in the mid-summer period of Gengxu, followed by "The Advantages and Disadvantages of One Hundred and Eight People in Liangshan Bo", followed by "Criticisms of "Water Margin"", and again by "On the Text of "Water Margin"", and "The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Text of One Hundred Chapters of "Water Margin"".
3. "Mr. Zhong Jingbo's Commentary on Zhongyi Water Margin", one hundred volumes, one hundred chapters, published by the Sizhiguan in the late Ming Dynasty, and also published by Jiqingtang, preceded by Zhong Xing's preface and "Water Margin" 》Personality Evaluation”.
4. "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", 100 chapters, published in the late Ming Dynasty, preceded by "Preface by the Remaining Person of the Great Di". There is also a Mustard Seed Garden version with the same content.
(2) One Hundred and Twenty Chapters
"Chuxiang Pingdian Zhongyi Water Margin", one hundred and twenty chapters, published by Yuan Wuya during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, preceded by "Li Zhi's Preface" ", the next is "Yang Dingjian Xiaoyin", the next is ""Song Jian"", the next is ""The Legacy of Xuanhe"" (one section), the next is ""Fafan"", the next is "The birthplace and origin of one hundred and eight loyal people in "Water Margin". There are also Yuyutang version and Baohanlou version, which have the same content.
(3) Seventy-chapter version
"The Fifth Scholar's Book Shi Naian's Water Margin", seventy-five volumes, one chapter, seventy chapters, late Ming Dynasty The Guanhuatang publication has three "Prefaces by Jin Shengtan" in front of it, one "Preface by Shi Naian" forged by Jin Shengtan, and several articles about "Reading the Calligraphy of the Fifth Talent".
Most of the books published by various publishing houses today are based on the above editions. The ones titled "Water Margin" have seventy chapters; those titled "Water Margin" have one hundred chapters, and are called "Water Margin Complete" "Biography" must be one hundred and twenty chapters.
The seventy chapters of the gold version are revised based on the first seventy-one chapters of the hundred and twenty chapters. The original first chapter of Hong Taiwei releasing the demons was changed to wedges, and the following chapters were revised. Prerequisites in sequence.
In the 100-chapter version, there are chapters such as Zhao'an, Liao and Fangla after the ranking. The 120th chapter version adds the 20th chapter of Zhengtianhu and Zhengtianqing between Zhengliao and Zhengfangla.
The industry is still inconclusive on the issue of which came first, the 100-payback or the 120-back return. The 100-payback seems to have the upper hand.
2. Simplified version
(1) One hundred and fifteen chapters, four kinds
1. "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", Li Guangtang in Wanli Period of Ming Dynasty The publication is preceded by a preface by Zheng Dayu of Wenling and "Pictures of Liangshan Yuanmen". An image is embedded in each leaf of this article. The title at the end of the volume is "Compiled by the father of the state of Yao Zongzhen in Qingyuan".
2. "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", published in the Ming Dynasty in a box version, out of order, with "Liangshan Botu" at the beginning, and the text is very simple.
3. "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", published by Dejutang in Jinling, Qing Dynasty, ten volumes, titled "Zixing of Shulin Wenxingtang".
4. "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", Qing dynasty edition, 20 volumes, co-engraved with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", each leaf is divided into upper and lower sections, the upper section is "Water Margin", the lower section is "Water Margin" "Three Kingdoms". "Three Kingdoms" was reviewed by Mao Zonggang. The cover title is "Fantastic Books of the Han and Song Dynasties". The title "Hero Spectrum" is in the middle. In front of it is the preface of Xiong Fei (red jade). There are many versions of this style.
(2) One Hundred and Two Chapters
"The Jingben's Supplementary and Corrected Complete Image of Zhongyi Water Margin Chronicles Commentary on Lin", one hundred and two chapters, the 22nd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty Published by Yu's family of Shuangfengtang, Jianyang, Fujian during the Sino-Japanese War of 1994. Each page is divided into three sections: comments at the top, illustrations in the middle, and text at the bottom. The content is similar to the 15-chapter version. Collection of Jizhaotang, Koyama, Nikko, Japan.
(3) One hundred and ten chapters
"Water Margin of Loyalty", twenty volumes, one hundred and six chapters, one hundred and ten chapters, published in the late Chongzhen year of the Ming Dynasty, Co-engraved with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Each leaf is divided into two parts, the upper one is "Water Margin" and the lower one is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a 240-chapter version with "reviews by Wenling and Li Zaizhi". The general title is "The Complete Story of the Water Margin of the Three Kingdoms", also known as "The Genealogy of Heroes". It is preceded by prefaces by Xiong Fei and Jinjiang Yang Minglang (Mu Sheng), and is stored in the Japanese Cabinet Library.
(4) One hundred and twenty-four chapters
"The Fifth Book of Talents", twelve volumes, one hundred and twenty-four chapters, published in Maodaotang in the fifth year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty The publication is preceded by a preface by the Marquis of Bingchen (*) on ancient Hangzhou slips in the first year of Qianlong's reign, and is appended to Yandang Shanqiao's "Water Margin Later Biography". There is another kind of scarf box version, which does not contain "Water Margin".
(5) Thirty-volume version
"Water Margin", thirty volumes, not divided into chapters, with programs, no chapters, published in Jinlu Yingxue Thatched Cottage, with Five Lakes in front Preface by the old man, hidden in the Institute of Tokyo University, Japan.
There is also a fragmentary copy, the first volume of which is titled "Wen Xingtang's Commentary", published in Baohanlou, and contains all of Volumes 1 to 5 and half of Volume 6. Each volume begins and ends by itself, without any chapter or chapter. There is a single sentence program at the beginning of each volume, ranging from six to seven to thirty in each volume. The text is very simple and has no poetry. It is preceded by a preface by the Old Man of the Five Lakes and is in the collection of the National Library in Paris, France.
3. Fragmentary Editions
(1) "The Newly Engraved Beijing Edition Completely Inserted with Zengtian Hu Wangqing"
The Ming Dynasty Edition, the remaining 20 volumes The whole volume and half of volume 21. Each leaf is divided into upper and lower parts: the upper part contains illustrations, accounting for one-third of the whole leaf, and the lower part contains text, accounting for two-thirds of the whole leaf. Collection National Library, Paris, France.
(2) Water Margin of Loyalty
The Ming edition contains five remaining chapters of Volume 11, namely Chapters 51 to 55.
4. Lost copies
(1) "Water Margin", a copy published by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It is recorded in Zhou Hongzu's "Ancient and Modern Book Engravings", but has not been seen.
(2) "Water Margin", Guo Wu's edition, recorded in Chao (Wang Li)'s "Baowentang Bibliography" and Shen Defu's "Ye Huobian", but not yet seen. It is said that this book is designated as a rare book, and if it can be found, it will solve many questions.
(3) "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", one hundred volumes, titled "The edition of Shi Naian of Qiantang, edited by Luo Guanzhong". Seen recorded in Baichuan Shuzhi.
(4) "Water Margin of Loyalty", twenty volumes, recorded in "Shiyuan Bibliography".
Which of so many versions appeared first has always been a topic in the industry, and there is currently no conclusion.
After the Cultural Revolution, some people claimed that there were rarer versions. Some simply called it the ancient version of Water Margin, but these were later denied one by one.