The Birth of Water Margin

Name: The Birth of Water Margin
ISBN: 9787505752467

孙述宇China Friendship Publishing Company · ChinaDec 2021

4.3

Word count: 197K words
Chapters: 34
ISBN: 9787505752467

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Summary

This book places Water Margin against the backdrop of the Song-Jin wars. Skillfully combining historical source criticism with literary study, it overturns the impression, long held by readers, that the Water Margin stories were modeled on the Huainan bandit of the late Northern Song, and reveals the origins of Water Margin in the history of Southern Song resistance to the Jin—above all its countless ties to Yue Fei and to the loyal and righteous men of the popular armed resistance in the early Southern Song. Yue Fei's devoted service to the nation and his unjust imprisonment may well have been the greatest driving force behind the creation of Water Margin.

The book is divided into three parts—"The Origins of Water Margin," "People and Events Inside and Outside Water Margin," and "Mindset and Art"—and devotes extensive space to examining the relationships between the novel's characters, places, and events and real history and geography, to recounting the heroic deeds of the novel's prototype figures, and to analyzing the artistic features of Water Margin, further demonstrating that real historical people and events cast a great many shadows across the novel.

Editor's review

Mr. Sun Shuyu's The Birth of Water Margin is not a conventional work of literary criticism or textual scholarship, but a major study that draws on deep historical learning and keen literary insight to explore how the classic text of Water Margin moved from history into literature. Taking an original approach, the author situates Water Margin within the broad social and historical context of the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and in particular starts from the historical record of the "Loyal and Righteous Army," the anti-Jin armed forces of the early Southern Song, to trace in detail the complex evolution of the Water Margin stories from historical prototypes and oral folk legend through drama and storytellers' scripts to their final integration by men of letters into a full-length novel. The book's core value lies in transcending mere analysis of plot and character to reveal the close ties between the novel's creation and the social psychology, political aspirations (such as the call for "loyalty and righteousness"), and spiritual world of the literati of the time, enabling readers to understand why Water Margin became a literary vessel carrying the collective memory and national spirit of a particular era. For readers who wish to understand more deeply the mechanisms by which classical Chinese novels came into being, and who want to see through the surface of the text to the historical forces and cultural codes behind it, this book offers a highly professional and illuminating interpretive path. Its argument is solid, its citations rich, and its views novel without being flashy, displaying a fine balance between scholarly rigor and literary imagination.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Deep literature lovers with a strong interest in the genesis and evolution of classical Chinese novels
Readers who wish to go beyond plot and understand Water Margin from the perspectives of social and intellectual history
Students and scholars engaged in the study of premodern literature, history, or folk literature
Readers who enjoy exploring the historical prototypes and construction of collective memory behind classic texts

Not a good fit for

Entry-level readers seeking only a plot summary or simple character introductions to Water Margin
Readers expecting a light, entertaining, and highly narrative interpretation of Water Margin

Reading tips

It is advisable to have some grounding in the original Water Margin before reading this book, so as to better understand the author's arguments and analysis.
While reading, combine it with knowledge of the history of the Song, Yuan, and Ming periods, especially the social and military conditions of the early Southern Song, to deepen your understanding.
The book is fairly academic and some chapters involve textual research; there is no need to finish it in one sitting. Read it patiently chapter by chapter and reflect on its arguments.

About the publisher

China Friendship Publishing Company China · Founded in 1983

China Friendship Publishing Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literary titles, covering classical Chinese literature, foreign literature, folk literature and cultural appreciation. According to the books in the database, its classical list includes celebrated dramas and novels such as The Peony Pavilion, The Romance of the Western Chamber and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, as well as note-style classics like Hong Mai's Rongzhai Suibi. In foreign literature it offers translations of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country and Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, involving translators such as Zeng Siyi. It also publishes The Complete Literary Works of Lu Xun and titles associated with the "Xue'er Shuguan" editorial group, balancing the collation and popularization of classic texts. Public information on its publishing features and plans is limited; the above is summarized only from the books in the database.

版权信息
新版自序
导言
第一部《水浒传》的来历
第一章《水浒传》：强人说给强人听的故事?
第二章南宋民众抗敌与梁山英雄报国
第三章梁山好汉归顺朝廷的意义
第四章曾头市与晁天王
第五章忠义堂为什么建在梁山上?
第六章《水浒传》与道教
第七章三十六人故事的演进
第二部《水浒传》内外的人与事
第一章岳飞
第二章宋江
第三章燕青与卢俊义
第四章关胜与林冲
第五章生辰纲、大名府、李天王、闻大刀
第六章鲁智深与五台僧
第七章呼延灼与杨志
第八章一丈青扈三娘
第九章玄女娘娘
第三部心态与艺术
第一章江湖上的义气
第二章红颜祸水
第三章家室之累
第四章大碗酒、大块肉
第五章黄金若粪土?
第六章有仇不报非丈夫
附录
附录一龚开《宋江三十六赞》
附录二《大宋宣和遗事》中的水浒故事片段
附录三元代水浒杂剧摘要
本书所引书籍论文举要
出版后记

FAQ

How does this book differ from ordinary interpretations of Water Margin?

The greatest difference is its historical perspective. It does not focus on analyzing characters or literary technique; instead it traces in depth the evolution of the Water Margin stories from the historical prototypes of the "Loyal and Righteous Army" of the Southern Song to the novel's final form in the Yuan and Ming periods, focusing on how historical facts, folk legend, and social psychology jointly gave rise to this literary classic. It belongs to the study of literary history and the genesis of the novel.

What is author Sun Shuyu's academic background?

Mr. Sun Shuyu is a well-known literary scholar, especially noted for his research on classical Chinese novels, particularly Water Margin and The Plum in the Golden Vase. His research often combines historical scholarship with close reading of texts and emphasizes uncovering the historical threads and social consciousness behind literary works; his scholarly style is solid and original.

Does the book have a high barrier to entry? Does it require a lot of historical knowledge?

The book is somewhat academic and specialized and is not a popular read. The author cites considerable historical material and previous scholarship. Although he tries to keep the exposition clear, readers wholly unfamiliar with the historical background of the Song and Yuan may find parts demanding. Still, anyone familiar with the Water Margin stories and curious to probe further can gain a great deal from it.

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About the author

孙述宇 Author

Sun Shuyu: publicly available information is limited, and all that is currently known is that one work by this author, The Birth of Water Margin, is listed among books in the category of literary appreciation. Judging by its subject, the author is concerned not with the plot or character criticism of Water Margin but with how this classical novel came into being and took its present form, an approach that involves textual criticism and study of the work's compositional history. Writing of this kind generally requires close reading, comparison of different editions, and careful judgment among existing views, so the prose tends to emphasize argument rather than general appreciation. On the basis of the available information, it is difficult to establish the author's background or other writings, yet even this single work shows a willingness to return to the original text and the sources and to ask where a famous novel came from. For general readers such writing can serve as supplementary material for understanding how Water Margin was formed; for researchers it offers a point of entry into specific questions.