At the age of 35, he was a scholar, and then he abandoned his official position and returned to Li. He worked behind closed doors with disciple Luo Guanzhong to study the creation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Three Magical Biographies of Suiping, collected and sorted out the stories of heroes such as Liang Shanbo and Song Jiang, and finally wrote Water Margin, one of the "Four Great Classical Novels".
During the Hongwu period in the early Ming Dynasty, Shi Naian was hired as a private school teacher by Xu Qi, and Shi Naian lived in the beautiful JOE compound in Zhutang Town, teaching how to write the Water Margin.
Because Liu Bowen and Shi Naian were admitted to Jinshi in the same year, they had the friendship of classmates. Before Emperor Hongwu, they said, "Shi Naian is ten times more talented than a minister. If he is allowed to be an official, he must have good political achievements. " Emperor Hongwu allowed him to play, and the imperial edict called him into Beijing. After several times, Shi Naian hated the sinister officialdom, politely asked for sick leave, declined the imperial edict, and never set foot in the officialdom again.
When Shi Naian was in the White Pony Farm, he got to know many local farmers and salt people. Many stories in their lives became the material of his creation. After processing and creation, he vividly portrayed the heroic image of Liangshan people with amazing artistic talent.
When Shi Naian wrote Water Margin, there was a buddhist nun nearby. There is an old monk in buddhist nun. He is sincere in chanting and worshiping Buddha. Inspired by the monk, Shi Naian named his residence "Naian", and people called him "Guan Gong", hence the name of Shi Naian.
Shi Naian can stand loneliness and devote herself to writing. He strives for perfection in his manuscript. Every time he writes a chapter, he must study it with Luo Guanzhong, a student, to get rid of its dross, keep its essence and revise its draft several times, so as to make the novel perfect.
After years of hard work, Shi Naian has completed most chapters of this book. He died of illness before he finished writing all the books. After Shi Naian's death, Luo Guanzhong continued to write thirty times, editing the manuscript left by the teacher, and officially named it "Water Margin", with the name of the teacher Shi Naian on it, which made this magnificent work spread all over the world, showing the noble character of Luo Guanzhong.