Wu Song
Encyclopedia
Wu Song, nicknamed "Pilgrim", is a fictional character in the Water Margin
, one of the Four Great Classical Novels
of Chinese literature
. He ranks 14th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes. Wu Song also appears in the novel Jin Ping Mei
, a spin-off of Water Margin. He is best known for killing a tiger with his bare hands and avenging his murdered older brother. According to legend, he is a student of the martial artist Zhou Tong.
, Tai'an
, Shandong
). He is good-looking, with eyes that shone like stars, thick eyebrows, a wide chest and a muscular body. He stands at eight chi
and gives people an impressive bearing. Once, he knocked out a person in a drunken fit. Misunderstanding that he had killed that person, he flees to Chai Jin
's residence for security and meets Song Jiang
there. The two later become sworn brothers.
, where a large sign reads "Three Bowls Do Not Cross Ridge" (三碗不過崗). This arouses his interest and he stops there for a break. The waiter explains to Wu Song that the wine sold at the tavern is so strong that customers would become drunk after having three bowls and be unable to cross the ridge ahead, hence the sign. Wu Song manages to remain sober after drinking three bowls and he demands that the waiter continue serving him wine even though the latter is reluctant. By the end of his meal, Wu Song had consumed 18 bowls of wine in total and appears tipsy. He is about to leave when the waiter stops him, warning him about the presence of a fierce man-eating tiger at Jingyang Ridge. Wu Song suspects that the waiter is lying to him because he wants him to spend the night there so as to earn extra money, so he ignores the waiter and proceeds with his journey.
While crossing Jingyang Ridge, Wu Song sees a warning sign bearing an official endorsement and is now convinced that there is really a tiger at the ridge. However, he refuses to turn back because he knows he would be scorned and laughed at by the waiter if he did. He moves on and does really encounter a ferocious tiger while trying to take a nap to get over the effect of alcohol. While trying to fend off the beast, Wu Song accidentally breaks his staff, rending himself weaponless. Under the stimulation of alcohol, he ends up slaying the beast by pinning it to the ground and bashing its head repeatedly with his bare fists. Wu Song makes his name for the heroic deed and he is offered the post of a chief constable in Yanggu County
. By coincidence, he meets his older brother Wu Dalang (武大郎), who has moved into the town recently.
According to The Oral Traditions of Yangzhou Storytelling, several popular folktales about Wu Song, from the "Wang School" of Yangzhou storytelling, state that he killed the tiger "in the middle of the tenth month" of the "Xuanhe year [1119]" (the emphasis belongs to the original author). Thus, he killed the tiger in the middle of the tenth lunar month
of 1119. This date, however, is a fictional one.
Pan Jinlian is attracted to Wu Song and attempts to seduce him. Wu Song rejects her firmly and warns her, "My eyes recognize you as my sister-in-law, but my fists will not recognize you". He accepts an assignment from the magistrate to transport gold to Dongjing (present-day Kaifeng
) to avoid Pan Jinlian's adulterous advances. Two months later when he returns home, he is shocked to see that his brother died and had been cremated, reportedly from illness.
Wu Song does not believe the story and secretly conducts a thorough investigation. He discovers that Pan Jinlian had an adulterous affair with an influential man named Ximen Qing. Wu Dalang was injured by Ximen Qing when he caught the latter in bed with his wife, and the adulterous pair murdered him later to silence him. Wu Song goes to the county court to present his case, with a blackened bone (suggesting that Wu Dalang was poisoned) from his brother's cremated body as evidence and two other witnesses (including the coroner who examined the body). However, the magistrate has been bribed by Ximen Qing and he dismisses the case with an excuse of "lack of evidence".
Denied of proper legal options, Wu Song is forced to take matters into his own hands. He invites the neighbors for a belated wake, including the teahouse owner Granny Wang, who pimped for Ximen Qing and abetted the murder of Wu Dalang. He confronts Pan Jinlian and forces a full confession out of her at knifepoint, before decapitating and disemboweling her in a ritual to avenge his brother. He then coerces Granny Wang to make a statement about the murder in front of the neighbors, before going to Lion Restaurant (獅子樓) to confront and kill Ximen Qing in a fight. After avenging his brother, Wu Song goes to the county office to surrender himself, bringing Granny Wang with him to face justice.
. Wu Song passes by Cross Slope along the way and meets Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang and befriends them. In the Mengzhou prison, the chief warden's son Shi En
helps him get an easy life and they become friends. Shi En owns a restaurant called the "Delightful Forest" (快活林) but has been forcefully taken by a hooligan called Jiang Zhong, who is nicknamed "Jiang the Door God" for his fighting skills. To repay Shi En's kindness, Wu Song defeats Jiang Zhong in a fight and helps Shi En take back the restaurant.
Jiang Zhong collaborates with his boss Instructor Zhang and a local official Inspector Zhang to frame Wu Song for theft. Wu Song is arrested and sentenced to exile to Enzhou. The guards escorting him have been bribed by Jiang Zhong to kill him along the way at Flying Cloud Pool, along with two other assassins. However, Wu Song manages to overpower and kill all the assailants before returning to Mengzhou to settle the score. He tracks down Jiang Zhong, Instructor Zhang and Inspector Zhang at Mandarin Ducks Tower (鴛鴦樓) and kills them, along with Inspector Zhang's entire family. After leaving a note written in blood acknowledging his role in the killings, Wu Song flees from Mengzhou and reaches Cross Slope. Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang help to disguise him as a wandering Buddhist pilgrim to aid his escape. As such, Wu Song is nicknamed "Pilgrim" and becomes an outlaw.
Wu Song goes to Mount Twin Dragons and joins the outlaw band there. He joins Liangshan after the battle at Qingzhou (in present-day Shandong
) and becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the invading Liao
army and rebel forces after they are granted amnesty by the emperor. During the Fang La
campaign, Wu Song's left arm was sliced off by Bao Daoyi
during the battle of Muzhou. Luckily, he is saved by Lu Zhishen
in time. Wu Song is one of the few survivors of Liangshan after the campaigns but he refuses to take up any official posts despite his contributions. Instead, he goes to Liuhe Pagoda
in Hangzhou
to practise Buddhism and dies peacefully at the age of 80.
While Jin Ping Mei is famous in its sexually explicit content, there is nothing sexual about Wu Song in the novel.
storytelling. It acts as a shuwai shu , meaning it takes place in the same setting Water Margin, but is independent of the main story line. The tale takes place after Wu Song kills the man-eating tiger, resists the charms of his sister-in-law and accepts a mission from the magistrate to transport money to Kaifeng
, but before he becomes a bandit. It explains how he came to learn swordplay from Zhou Tong:
Wu Song was given orders to travel on assignment to Kaifeng after becoming a constable in Yanggu District. When he arrived in Kaifeng, Wu Song took his introduction letter to the office
of the local administration building and retired to an inn to await his summons. The following day, he left his inn to explore the bustling city.
Kaifeng was one of the largest in the world at this time and it was full of various kinds of shops and heavy traffic from people coming in and leaving the city. As Wu Song walked along enjoying the organized chaos, the sky changed color and it became a torrential downpour. It rained so much that waves flowed across the ground and mist rose around the houses. The rain hurt the top of Wu's head so he huddled under the roof of a small shop along with several other people vying for safety. However, as soon as it started, the rain suddenly stopped.
Wu Song continued on his way when he came to the Tianhan Bridge. It was arched, so people had to use steps to ascend to the top. When he stepped onto the bridge, Wu Song lifted up his clothing and looked down at his feet so he could avoid the huge puddles of water left from the freak rain shower. Unbeknownst to him, he was walking directly towards an elderly man who was descending the stairs right above him. Wu Song continued to walk up the bridge without looking in front of him. This old man was Zhou Tong and he was in a hurry. When Zhou Tong saw Wu Song approaching him on the bridge without watching in front of him, he took Wu to be another martial arts master who wished to tarnish his reputation by throwing him off the bridge with a shoulder strike
. Zhou Tong prepared for a counter-attack and began to swallow air with a subtle "Hm!" and directed his energy
to his right shoulder, which turned red then purple and became as hard as rock underneath his clothing. When the two men brushed shoulders, despite being a master of Iron Shirt
and Drunken Eight Immortals
boxing, Wu Song was nearly knocked off the bridge and the pain caused saliva to pour from his mouth. The attack left him weak in the knees and one side of his body was completely numb. He thought after all of his years of martial arts practice his body was nearly invincible, but he had met his superior in Zhou Tong. Instead of cursing and reprimanding the old man, Wu Song held his tongue, which greatly impressed Zhou Tong. In lieu of a kind word, Zhou Tong simply bowed in apology and went on his way since he was in a rush.
After Zhou Tong disappeared into the bustling crowd, Wu Song rubbed his shoulder and returned to his inn. He ate his lunch and supper in turn, but felt it was too early to go to bed. He went outside into a quiet courtyard behind the inn to do a little shadowboxing
underneath the starry night sky. He untied his belt and wrenched it to the left and right until it was very tight and tied it into a knot. He then focused his energy and began to practice his Drunken Eight Immortals boxing. Before he was even half way done with his routine, the loud screams of another person's martial arts practice interrupted his concentration. He grabbed a bench to steady himself on and looked over the top of a brick wall that opened into the hall of a large mansion to the east of the inn.
In the middle of the hall sat three tables laden with all the myriad kinds of food. However, the stately-looking people attending this sumptuous feast were underneath the eaves of the hall watching a person practice his swordplay in the manor's courtyard. This person was Zhou Tong and he had his beard tied into a knot so he would not accidentally cut it off with his double swords. Zhou wielded his swords to and fro and did it so fast that the flashes of light cast from the blades made it look like his entire body was wrapped in snow. Even if a person threw a bowlful of ink at him, not a single drop of it would tarnish his clothing. Wu Song became mesmerized by Zhou Tong's display of superior swordsmanship. When he twirled around and ended up facing in his direction, Wu Song recognized Zhou Tong as the old man he had bumped into on the bridge earlier in the day. He realized that Zhou Tong must be a great master adapt in the art of the "deep breath
" technique.
During his practice, Zhou Tong let out a mountain-crumbling scream and fell onto his back while kicking one leg into the air. Wu Song felt sorry for Zhou Tong because he thought maybe the man was too old to practice the martial arts and had lost his balance. However, Zhou Tong screamed once more and this time he shot high into the sky with his swords pointed upward towards the moon. After watching him land and perform a few punches and kicks, it finally dawned on Wu Song that Zhou Tong was indeed practicing the boxing routines of the immortals Iron-Crutch Li and Han Xiang
from the Drunken Eight Immortals style. Zhou Tong was so good at this style that his performance once caused a fellow warrior to become intoxicated. Puzzled, Wu Song remembered back to his own martial arts master who had told him there were only two people in the world (including Wu Song and his master) who could perform such boxing. Zhou Tong also knew the style too. Because Zhou Tong's performance was so great, Wu Song went against the rules of etiquette and shouted praise from the top of the wall.
This shouting interrupted Zhou Tong before he could finish the forms for the rest of the Eight Immortals
. He spun around and asked his aristocratic audience who it was that was shouting praise of his performance. They were unable to answer because their snobbery prevented them from noticing anything outside of their own amusement. However, one of their level-headed servants heard the noise and pointed towards the brick wall. Zhou Tong used his magical X-ray
eyes to peer through the brick wall and into Wu Song's bone structure to see he was a special person indeed. When Wu Song praised Zhou Tong's performance, he formed an instant friendship with the old man. Zhou Tong invited Wu Song over the wall to partake in the festivities.
When Zhou Tong asked for his name, he was delighted to learn Wu Song was the same fellow who became famous for killing a man-eating tiger with his bare hands on Jingyang Ridge in Shandong
in the previous year. When Wu Song learned who Zhou Tong was, he immediately dropped to his knees, kowtow
ed and pleaded to become his student. Wu Song was thrilled to meet this "master of the older generation". who was famous throughout the jianghu
for his skill in military and civilian martial arts. Zhou Tong helped Wu Song up and began to teach him swordplay under the moon.
Water Margin
Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...
, one of the Four Great Classical Novels
Four Great Classical Novels
The Four Great Classical Novels, or the Four Major Classical Novels of Chinese literature, are the four novels commonly regarded by scholars to be the greatest and most influential of pre-modern Chinese fiction. Dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties, they are well known to most Chinese readers...
of Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
. He ranks 14th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes. Wu Song also appears in the novel Jin Ping Mei
Jin Ping Mei
Jin Ping Mei, or The Plum in the Golden Vase is a Chinese naturalistic novel composed in the vernacular during the late Ming Dynasty. The author was Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng , "The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling", a clear pseudonym, and his identity is otherwise unknown...
, a spin-off of Water Margin. He is best known for killing a tiger with his bare hands and avenging his murdered older brother. According to legend, he is a student of the martial artist Zhou Tong.
Water Margin
Wu Song is from Qinghe County (present-day Dongping CountyDongping County
Dongping County is a county in the Southwestern part of Taian Prefecture of Shandong Province, China.In 2007 a remarkable series of well-preserved frescoes dating to the Western Han Period was discovered in a tomb as construction workers were excavating for a planned shopping mall...
, Tai'an
Tai'an
Tai'an is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, People's Republic of China.Centered around Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Laiwu to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to the extreme west and Jining to the south...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
). He is good-looking, with eyes that shone like stars, thick eyebrows, a wide chest and a muscular body. He stands at eight chi
Chi (unit)
The chi is a traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately equal to one foot. Its length is derived from the length of human forearm and has first appeared during the Shang Dynasty approximately 3000 years ago. Since then it has spread to and adopted by other East Asian cultures, such as...
and gives people an impressive bearing. Once, he knocked out a person in a drunken fit. Misunderstanding that he had killed that person, he flees to Chai Jin
Chai Jin
Chai Jin is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 10th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Little Whirlwind"...
's residence for security and meets Song Jiang
Song Jiang
Song Jiang was the leader of a group of outlaws who lived during the Song Dynasty. The outlaws were active in the present-day provinces of Shandong and Henan before their eventual surrender to the government. Song Jiang is also featured as a character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great...
there. The two later become sworn brothers.
Slaying the tiger
On his way home, Wu Song passes by a tavern near Jingyang RidgeJingyang Ridge
Jingyang Ridge is a place in Yanggu County , Shandong Province, China, that is referred to in the classic novel Water Margin as the place where one of the novel's heroes, Wu Song, killed a man-eating tiger with his bare hands. Jingyang Ridge is locate a few kilometers northwest of Zhangqiu village...
, where a large sign reads "Three Bowls Do Not Cross Ridge" (三碗不過崗). This arouses his interest and he stops there for a break. The waiter explains to Wu Song that the wine sold at the tavern is so strong that customers would become drunk after having three bowls and be unable to cross the ridge ahead, hence the sign. Wu Song manages to remain sober after drinking three bowls and he demands that the waiter continue serving him wine even though the latter is reluctant. By the end of his meal, Wu Song had consumed 18 bowls of wine in total and appears tipsy. He is about to leave when the waiter stops him, warning him about the presence of a fierce man-eating tiger at Jingyang Ridge. Wu Song suspects that the waiter is lying to him because he wants him to spend the night there so as to earn extra money, so he ignores the waiter and proceeds with his journey.
While crossing Jingyang Ridge, Wu Song sees a warning sign bearing an official endorsement and is now convinced that there is really a tiger at the ridge. However, he refuses to turn back because he knows he would be scorned and laughed at by the waiter if he did. He moves on and does really encounter a ferocious tiger while trying to take a nap to get over the effect of alcohol. While trying to fend off the beast, Wu Song accidentally breaks his staff, rending himself weaponless. Under the stimulation of alcohol, he ends up slaying the beast by pinning it to the ground and bashing its head repeatedly with his bare fists. Wu Song makes his name for the heroic deed and he is offered the post of a chief constable in Yanggu County
Yanggu County, Shandong
Yanggu County is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering the narrow strip of Henan province to the south. It is administered by Liaocheng City.The population was in 1999.-Explosion:...
. By coincidence, he meets his older brother Wu Dalang (武大郎), who has moved into the town recently.
According to The Oral Traditions of Yangzhou Storytelling, several popular folktales about Wu Song, from the "Wang School" of Yangzhou storytelling, state that he killed the tiger "in the middle of the tenth month" of the "Xuanhe year [1119]" (the emphasis belongs to the original author). Thus, he killed the tiger in the middle of the tenth lunar month
Lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two identical syzygies . There are many variations. In Middle-Eastern and European traditions, the month starts when the young crescent moon becomes first visible at evening after conjunction with the Sun one or two days before that evening...
of 1119. This date, however, is a fictional one.
Avenging his brother
Wu Dalang brings his brother home and introduces him to his wife Pan Jinlian. Wu Song learns that his older brother and sister-in-law had moved to Yanggu to avoid gossip and harrassment. Wu Dalang is a short, ugly and physically inferior man previously teased as the "Three-Inch Tree Bark" (三寸丁谷樹皮), while Pan Jinlian is an attractive woman. In the previous town they lived, the neighbors would often call out "a rose placed on a pile of cow dung" (一朵鮮花插在牛糞上) to describe Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian's marriage.Pan Jinlian is attracted to Wu Song and attempts to seduce him. Wu Song rejects her firmly and warns her, "My eyes recognize you as my sister-in-law, but my fists will not recognize you". He accepts an assignment from the magistrate to transport gold to Dongjing (present-day Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
) to avoid Pan Jinlian's adulterous advances. Two months later when he returns home, he is shocked to see that his brother died and had been cremated, reportedly from illness.
Wu Song does not believe the story and secretly conducts a thorough investigation. He discovers that Pan Jinlian had an adulterous affair with an influential man named Ximen Qing. Wu Dalang was injured by Ximen Qing when he caught the latter in bed with his wife, and the adulterous pair murdered him later to silence him. Wu Song goes to the county court to present his case, with a blackened bone (suggesting that Wu Dalang was poisoned) from his brother's cremated body as evidence and two other witnesses (including the coroner who examined the body). However, the magistrate has been bribed by Ximen Qing and he dismisses the case with an excuse of "lack of evidence".
Denied of proper legal options, Wu Song is forced to take matters into his own hands. He invites the neighbors for a belated wake, including the teahouse owner Granny Wang, who pimped for Ximen Qing and abetted the murder of Wu Dalang. He confronts Pan Jinlian and forces a full confession out of her at knifepoint, before decapitating and disemboweling her in a ritual to avenge his brother. He then coerces Granny Wang to make a statement about the murder in front of the neighbors, before going to Lion Restaurant (獅子樓) to confront and kill Ximen Qing in a fight. After avenging his brother, Wu Song goes to the county office to surrender himself, bringing Granny Wang with him to face justice.
Becoming an outlaw
Because the locals all sympathize with Wu Song, the court ends up sentencing him to face-tattooing and exiled him to a prison in MengzhouMengzhou
Mengzhou is a County-level city in Henan province, People's Republic of China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city Jiaozuo. Its population in 1999 stood at 341,190.-Economy:...
. Wu Song passes by Cross Slope along the way and meets Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang and befriends them. In the Mengzhou prison, the chief warden's son Shi En
Shi En
Shi En is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 85th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 49th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub".-Background:...
helps him get an easy life and they become friends. Shi En owns a restaurant called the "Delightful Forest" (快活林) but has been forcefully taken by a hooligan called Jiang Zhong, who is nicknamed "Jiang the Door God" for his fighting skills. To repay Shi En's kindness, Wu Song defeats Jiang Zhong in a fight and helps Shi En take back the restaurant.
Jiang Zhong collaborates with his boss Instructor Zhang and a local official Inspector Zhang to frame Wu Song for theft. Wu Song is arrested and sentenced to exile to Enzhou. The guards escorting him have been bribed by Jiang Zhong to kill him along the way at Flying Cloud Pool, along with two other assassins. However, Wu Song manages to overpower and kill all the assailants before returning to Mengzhou to settle the score. He tracks down Jiang Zhong, Instructor Zhang and Inspector Zhang at Mandarin Ducks Tower (鴛鴦樓) and kills them, along with Inspector Zhang's entire family. After leaving a note written in blood acknowledging his role in the killings, Wu Song flees from Mengzhou and reaches Cross Slope. Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang help to disguise him as a wandering Buddhist pilgrim to aid his escape. As such, Wu Song is nicknamed "Pilgrim" and becomes an outlaw.
Wu Song goes to Mount Twin Dragons and joins the outlaw band there. He joins Liangshan after the battle at Qingzhou (in present-day Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
) and becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the invading Liao
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...
army and rebel forces after they are granted amnesty by the emperor. During the Fang La
Fang La
Fang La was a rebel leader who lived during the Song Dynasty. He is also featured as one of the antagonists and nemesis of the 108 Liangshan heroes in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.-Biography:...
campaign, Wu Song's left arm was sliced off by Bao Daoyi
Bao Daoyi
Bao Daoyi is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Bao Daoyi is the imperial sorcerer of the rebel leader, Fang La, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan outlaws....
during the battle of Muzhou. Luckily, he is saved by Lu Zhishen
Lu Zhishen
Lu Zhishen, nicknamed "Flowery Monk", or Sagacious Lu , is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He is the lead character in the first major story cycle of the novel, in which he comes to epitomize loyalty, strength, justice but...
in time. Wu Song is one of the few survivors of Liangshan after the campaigns but he refuses to take up any official posts despite his contributions. Instead, he goes to Liuhe Pagoda
Liuhe Pagoda
Liuhe Pagoda , literally Six Harmonies Pagoda or Six Harmonies Tower, is a multi-story Chinese pagoda in southern Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. It is located at the foot of Yuelun Hill, facing the Qiantang River...
in Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
to practise Buddhism and dies peacefully at the age of 80.
In Jin Ping Mei
The beginning is roughly the same as Water Margin. After his sister-in-law murdered his brother, he wanted to take revenge. At first, he tried to kill Ximen Qing, the lover of his sister-in-law, but he killed the wrong person instead. He was exiled to Mengzhou. He came back later, but Ximen Qing had already died of sickness. He then killed his sister-in-law, and fled to Mount Twin Dragons.While Jin Ping Mei is famous in its sexually explicit content, there is nothing sexual about Wu Song in the novel.
Wu Song becomes Zhou Tong's student
The following tale alternatively known as "Meeting Zhou Tong By Chance" and "Swordplay under the Moon" belongs to the "Wang School Shuihu" of YangzhouYangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
storytelling. It acts as a shuwai shu , meaning it takes place in the same setting Water Margin, but is independent of the main story line. The tale takes place after Wu Song kills the man-eating tiger, resists the charms of his sister-in-law and accepts a mission from the magistrate to transport money to Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
, but before he becomes a bandit. It explains how he came to learn swordplay from Zhou Tong:
Wu Song was given orders to travel on assignment to Kaifeng after becoming a constable in Yanggu District. When he arrived in Kaifeng, Wu Song took his introduction letter to the office
Yamen
A yamen is any local bureaucrat's, or mandarin's, office and residence of the Chinese Empire. The term has been widely used in China for centuries, but appeared in English during the Qing Dynasty....
of the local administration building and retired to an inn to await his summons. The following day, he left his inn to explore the bustling city.
Kaifeng was one of the largest in the world at this time and it was full of various kinds of shops and heavy traffic from people coming in and leaving the city. As Wu Song walked along enjoying the organized chaos, the sky changed color and it became a torrential downpour. It rained so much that waves flowed across the ground and mist rose around the houses. The rain hurt the top of Wu's head so he huddled under the roof of a small shop along with several other people vying for safety. However, as soon as it started, the rain suddenly stopped.
Wu Song continued on his way when he came to the Tianhan Bridge. It was arched, so people had to use steps to ascend to the top. When he stepped onto the bridge, Wu Song lifted up his clothing and looked down at his feet so he could avoid the huge puddles of water left from the freak rain shower. Unbeknownst to him, he was walking directly towards an elderly man who was descending the stairs right above him. Wu Song continued to walk up the bridge without looking in front of him. This old man was Zhou Tong and he was in a hurry. When Zhou Tong saw Wu Song approaching him on the bridge without watching in front of him, he took Wu to be another martial arts master who wished to tarnish his reputation by throwing him off the bridge with a shoulder strike
Shoulder strike
A shoulder strike is a strike with the anterior part of the shoulder. The shoulder strike can be used against the head of the opponent in close positions such as in a clinch or ground fighting, but is generally not considered to have knockout power.-External links:* . Section 3.2 discusses how...
. Zhou Tong prepared for a counter-attack and began to swallow air with a subtle "Hm!" and directed his energy
Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
to his right shoulder, which turned red then purple and became as hard as rock underneath his clothing. When the two men brushed shoulders, despite being a master of Iron Shirt
Iron Shirt
Iron Shirt is a form of hard style martial art exercise for protecting the human body from impacts in a fight. This is one of the 72 arts of the Shaolin Temple. Some martial arts are based on the idea that a correctly trained body can withstand more damage than one that is untrained...
and Drunken Eight Immortals
Zui Quan
Zui Quan is literally Drunken Fist, also known as Drunken Boxing or Drunkard's Boxing) is a concept in traditional Chinese martial arts, as well as a classification of modern Wushu forms...
boxing, Wu Song was nearly knocked off the bridge and the pain caused saliva to pour from his mouth. The attack left him weak in the knees and one side of his body was completely numb. He thought after all of his years of martial arts practice his body was nearly invincible, but he had met his superior in Zhou Tong. Instead of cursing and reprimanding the old man, Wu Song held his tongue, which greatly impressed Zhou Tong. In lieu of a kind word, Zhou Tong simply bowed in apology and went on his way since he was in a rush.
After Zhou Tong disappeared into the bustling crowd, Wu Song rubbed his shoulder and returned to his inn. He ate his lunch and supper in turn, but felt it was too early to go to bed. He went outside into a quiet courtyard behind the inn to do a little shadowboxing
Shadowboxing
Shadowboxing is an exercise used in the training for combat sports, especially, as its name implies, in boxing. It is used mainly to prepare the muscles before the person training engages in stronger physical activity. In shadowboxing, only one person is required to participate; the participant...
underneath the starry night sky. He untied his belt and wrenched it to the left and right until it was very tight and tied it into a knot. He then focused his energy and began to practice his Drunken Eight Immortals boxing. Before he was even half way done with his routine, the loud screams of another person's martial arts practice interrupted his concentration. He grabbed a bench to steady himself on and looked over the top of a brick wall that opened into the hall of a large mansion to the east of the inn.
In the middle of the hall sat three tables laden with all the myriad kinds of food. However, the stately-looking people attending this sumptuous feast were underneath the eaves of the hall watching a person practice his swordplay in the manor's courtyard. This person was Zhou Tong and he had his beard tied into a knot so he would not accidentally cut it off with his double swords. Zhou wielded his swords to and fro and did it so fast that the flashes of light cast from the blades made it look like his entire body was wrapped in snow. Even if a person threw a bowlful of ink at him, not a single drop of it would tarnish his clothing. Wu Song became mesmerized by Zhou Tong's display of superior swordsmanship. When he twirled around and ended up facing in his direction, Wu Song recognized Zhou Tong as the old man he had bumped into on the bridge earlier in the day. He realized that Zhou Tong must be a great master adapt in the art of the "deep breath
Qigong
Qigong or chi kung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation...
" technique.
Han Xiang
One of the Eight Immortals, Philosopher Han Xiang or Han Xiang Zi, in Wade-Giles as Han Hsiang Tzu, was born Han Xiang during the Tang Dynasty, and his courtesy name is Qingfu . He is said to be the nephew or grandnephew of Han Yu, a prominent statesman of Tang Court. Han Xiang studied Daoism...
from the Drunken Eight Immortals style. Zhou Tong was so good at this style that his performance once caused a fellow warrior to become intoxicated. Puzzled, Wu Song remembered back to his own martial arts master who had told him there were only two people in the world (including Wu Song and his master) who could perform such boxing. Zhou Tong also knew the style too. Because Zhou Tong's performance was so great, Wu Song went against the rules of etiquette and shouted praise from the top of the wall.
This shouting interrupted Zhou Tong before he could finish the forms for the rest of the Eight Immortals
Eight Immortals
The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary xian in Chinese mythology. Each Immortal's power can be transferred to a power tool that can give life or destroy evil. Together, these eight tools are called "Covert Eight Immortals" . Most of them are said to have been born in the Tang Dynasty or...
. He spun around and asked his aristocratic audience who it was that was shouting praise of his performance. They were unable to answer because their snobbery prevented them from noticing anything outside of their own amusement. However, one of their level-headed servants heard the noise and pointed towards the brick wall. Zhou Tong used his magical X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
eyes to peer through the brick wall and into Wu Song's bone structure to see he was a special person indeed. When Wu Song praised Zhou Tong's performance, he formed an instant friendship with the old man. Zhou Tong invited Wu Song over the wall to partake in the festivities.
When Zhou Tong asked for his name, he was delighted to learn Wu Song was the same fellow who became famous for killing a man-eating tiger with his bare hands on Jingyang Ridge in Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
in the previous year. When Wu Song learned who Zhou Tong was, he immediately dropped to his knees, kowtow
Kowtow
Kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is ketou, however the meaning is somewhat altered: kòu originally meant "knock with reverence", whereas kē has the general meaning of "touch upon ".In Han...
ed and pleaded to become his student. Wu Song was thrilled to meet this "master of the older generation". who was famous throughout the jianghu
Jianghu
The jianghu is the milieu, environment, or sub-community, often fictional, in which many Chinese wuxia stories are set.In modern Chinese culture, jianghu is commonly accepted as an alternative universe coexisting with the actual historical one in which the context of the wuxia genre was set...
for his skill in military and civilian martial arts. Zhou Tong helped Wu Song up and began to teach him swordplay under the moon.
Trivia
- The Wu Song story is probably the only one that has been remade many times in Chinese media, due to the fact that adultery in China was a serious offence (and a huge dishonour to the family). There are various parodies and remakes of this chapter, which is also known as the "Lion's Bar".
- Additionally, the Hong Kong comic Old Master QOld Master QOld Master Q is a popular Chinese manhua created by Alfonso Wong. The cartoon first appeared in the newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong in 1962, and later serialized in 1964...
has also done a special edition animated cartoon with Water Margin characters, with the primary focus being on Wu Song. However, this version is extensively modified and presents a skewed version of Wu and the original story.
See also
- List of Water Margin minor characters#Wu Song's story for a list of supporting minor characters from Wu Song's story.