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Map of Song Jiang's uprising.

Song Jiang (fl. 12th century) was the leader of a group of outlaws who lived during the Song dynasty of China. The group was active in the present-day provinces of Shandong and Henan before they surrendered to the Song government. The historical Song Jiang is fictionalised in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature, as one of the 108 Stars of Destiny and the chief of the outlaw band at Liangshan Marsh.

Life

Song Jiang is mentioned in the History of Song, the authoritative source for the history of the Song dynasty. The biography of Emperor Huizong (r. 1100–1126) states:

"[In the second month of the third year of the Xuanhe era, ...]^[a] Song Jiang, a bandit from Huainan, led an attack on government forces in Huaiyang. The Emperor sent troops to deal with the uprising and capture the bandit leader. Song Jiang then attacked the east of the capital^[b] and Hebei before moving to the borders of Chu^[c] and Haizhou.^[d] The Emperor ordered Zhang Shuye, the Prefect of Haizhou, to offer them amnesty."^[1]

Another account, from Zhang Shuye's biography in the History of Song, records the following:

"Song Jiang started a rebellion in Heshuo^[e] and conquered some ten commanderies. Government forces did not dare to directly confront him. When Zhang Shuye received news of Song Jiang's approach, he asked his scouts where the rebels were heading to. They told him that the rebels had made their way to the coast and seized more than ten large vessels to transport their loot. Zhang Shuye recruited about 1,000 warriors, set up an ambush in a nearby city, and sent lightly-armed troops to lure the rebels to attack them. He also ordered his best soldiers to station themselves along the coast. When the rebels showed up, the soldiers set fire to the rebels' vessels and dealt a heavy blow to their morale. The warriors waiting in ambush seized the opportunity to attack the rebels and capture their leaders. Song Jiang surrendered."^[2]

The History of Song also recorded a memorial written by the official Hou Meng to Emperor Huizong. It says:

"Song Jiang and 36 others cross Qi and Wei^[f] at will. Government forces, numbering tens of thousands, do not dare to stand up to him. Therefore, there must be something extraordinary about him. Since the rebels from Qingxi County also pose a threat to us, we could grant amnesty to Song Jiang and let him attack Fang La to redeem himself."^[3]

In Water Margin

The fictionalised persona of Song Jiang in Water Margin draws inspiration from historical sources, as well as local legends and folktales in the Shandong region. One legend, for example, speaks of "36 huge banners and 72 smaller banners of local bandits", which possibly gave rise to the idea of the 108 Stars of Destiny in Water Margin.

Background

In Water Margin, Song Jiang is described as a diminutive, dark-complexioned man with eyes like those of a fenghuang and a big squarish mouth. He lives in Yuncheng County and serves as a clerk under the county magistrate. His filial piety, chivalry and generosity earn him the nickname "Timely Rain". His dark complexion also earns him two other nicknames: "Filial and Righteous Dark Third Son" and "Dark Song Jiang". After the Grand Assembly of the 108 Stars of Destiny, however, his "official" nickname becomes "Protector of Justice". He is trained in both scholarly and martial arts.

Song Jiang is a close friend of the chief constables Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, and Chao Gai, the headman of Dongxi Village in Yuncheng County. After Chao Gai and his six friends rob a convoy of birthday gifts for the Imperial Tutor Cai Jing, the magistrate orders the constable He Tao to conduct an investigation and arrest the robbers. After hearing from He Tao that he has identified Chao Gai as one of the robbers, Song Jiang secretly leaves the county office and goes to Dongxi Village to warn Chao Gai. Chao Gai and his friends manage to evade arrest and escape to the outlaw stronghold at Liangshan Marsh; Chao Gai later becomes the chief of the outlaw band.

Killing Yan Poxi

Song Jiang takes Yan Poxi as his mistress at her mother's insistence after he generously paid for a funeral for her deceased father. Although Yan Poxi has no feelings for Song Jiang, they get along without problems initially. Over time, however, Yan Poxi increasingly loathes Song Jiang because he tries to distance himself from her all the time. She then gets attracted to Zhang Wenyuan, Song Jiang's assistant, and has a secret affair with him.

In the meantime, Chao Gai sends Liu Tang to deliver a letter and some gold pieces to Song Jiang to express his gratitude. Yan Poxi discovers the letter by chance and learns of Song Jiang's dealings with the outlaws. She threatens to report him to the authorities unless he fulfils three conditions: divorce her and allow her to marry Zhang Wenyuan; let her keep all everything he has given her; and hand over the gold pieces. Song Jiang agrees to the first two conditions but cannot fulfil the third because he only accepted one of the gold pieces. After Yan Poxi refuses to believe him and repeatedly threatens to report him, Song Jiang turns furious and kills her in anger. With Zhu Tong and Lei Heng's help, he escapes from Yuncheng County and becomes a fugitive.

Battle of Qingfeng Fort

Song Jiang initially takes shelter in Chai Jin's residence but later moves to Qingfeng Fort (清風寨; in present-day Qingzhou, Shandong) at the invitation of his friend Hua Rong. Along the way, he befriends the chiefs of a bandit gang based on the nearby Mount Qingfeng (清風山). He also stops Wang Ying, one of the bandit chiefs, from raping a woman he abducted, and gets Wang Ying to release her. The woman turns out to be the wife of Liu Gao, the official in charge of Qingfeng Fort.

One evening, while Song Jiang is touring the fort, Liu Gao's wife recognises him and lies to her husband that Song Jiang was the bandit who abducted and tried to rape her. Liu Gao believes his wife and arrests Song Jiang. After a series of confrontations and a battle between government forces and the bandits from Mount Qingfeng, Song Jiang gets out of captivity and takes his revenge against Liu Gao and his wife. Song Jiang then directs Hua Rong and the others to join the outlaw band at Liangshan Marsh, but does not go there with them.

Exile to Jiangzhou

Song Jiang returns to Yuncheng County after receiving news that his father had died. It turns out later that his father faked his death to lure him back lest he falls into bad company. The local authorities arrest Song Jiang and put him on trial for murdering Yan Poxi. However, the magistrate considers Song Jiang's past service and shows leniency by sparing him from execution; Song Jiang is sentenced to face-tattooing and exiled to a prison camp in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi).

During his journey to Jiangzhou, Song Jiang passes by Jieyang Ridge, Jieyang Town and Xunyang River, where he meets and befriends many jianghu figures. After reaching Jiangzhou, he leads a carefree life because Dai Zong, the chief warden, has received instruction from his friend Wu Yong, Liangshan's chief strategist, to treat Song Jiang well. One day, Song Jiang visits a restaurant beside the Xunyang River, feels overwhelmed by grief that he has been branded as a criminal, and starts drinking to drown his sorrows. While he is intoxicated, he writes a seditious poem on the wall and loses memory of it when he becomes sober later.

Huang Wenbing, a petty official, discovers the poem and reports it to Cai Jiu, the governor of Jiangzhou. Cai Jiu arrests Song Jiang and sends Dai Zong to the imperial capital Dongjing to seek counsel on how to deal with Song Jiang's case. However, Dai Zong goes to Liangshan instead to inform the outlaws about Song Jiang's arrest. The outlaws recruit Xiao Rang and Jin Dajian to forge an official document ordering Cai Jiu to transfer Song Jiang to Dongjing for further action; they would then ambush the escorts along the way and rescue Song Jiang. Cai Jiu nearly falls for the ruse until Huang Wenbing points out a mistake in the document. Cai Jiu turns furious and sentences both Song Jiang and Dai Zong to death. However, the outlaws have also realised the mistake and made their way to Jiangzhou just in time to storm the execution ground and save Song Jiang and Dai Zong. With help from the friends Song Jiang made during his journey to Jiangzhou, the outlaws manage to escape from Jiangzhou and return safely to Liangshan Marsh. Song Jiang then joins the outlaw band and becomes Chao Gai's second-in-command.

As chief of Liangshan

Song Jiang leads the Liangshan forces into battle against their enemies such as government forces and other hostile militias. After Chao Gai dies in battle against the Zeng Family Fortress, Song Jiang becomes Liangshan's acting chief while the outlaws keep in mind Chao Gai's dying wish that whoever captures Shi Wengong (his killer) succeeds him as Liangshan's chief. Although Lu Junyi turns out to be the one who defeats and captures Shi Wengong, Song Jiang ultimately becomes Liangshan's chief as the insistence of Lu Junyi and the other chieftains.

Despite being an outlaw, Song Jiang has held on to his dream of dedicating his life to serving the Song Empire. He creates a manifesto for Liangshan, "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf" (替天行道), to show everyone that Liangshan fights for a righteous cause. After going through many trials and tribulations, Song Jiang succeeds in securing amnesty for himself and the Liangshan outlaws from Emperor Huizong, the ruler of the Song Empire. The emperor allows the former outlaws to prove their loyalty by going on military campaigns against invaders from the Liao Empire and rebel forces within the Song Empire. However, these campaigns come at a heavy price; at least two-thirds of the 108 Stars of Destiny perish in the final campaign against Fang La and his rebel forces.

Death

After the campaigns, Emperor Huizong rewards Song Jiang and the surviving Liangshan heroes for their contributions by awarding them official appointments and titles. Song Jiang receives the appointment of governor of Chuzhou (楚州; present-day Huai'an, Jiangsu). However, the corrupt officials are unhappy with Song Jiang's fate and they seek to harm him. They send him a jar of poisoned wine in the emperor's name and order him to finish it. When Song Jiang realises he has been poisoned, he feels worried that the hot-tempered Li Kui will try to avenge him by rebelling against the Song Empire, and hence tarnish the good name of the Liangshan heroes. To prevent that from happening, he invites Li Kui to Chuzhou and gets him to drink the poisoned wine as well. Both of them die later.

In the last chapter of Water Margin, the ghosts of Song Jiang and Li Kui appear in Emperor Huizong's dream and tell him about their wrongful deaths. Although the emperor orders an inquiry into their deaths, the investigation comes to nothing because the key witness – the emissary who delivered the poisoned wine to Song Jiang – died under mysterious circumstances on the way back to the imperial palace. The emperor then confers posthumous titles on Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes to honour them for their loyalty.

Song Jiang's seditious poem

This is the seditious poem written by Song Jiang when he was drunk at Xunyang Tower in Jiangzhou.

Song Jiang then read what he wrote, laughing hysterically. He consumed more drinks and started behaving wildly, clapping his hands and dancing with joy. He picked up the ink brush and wrote another four lines as follows:

He then signed off at the end: "The work of Song Jiang from Yuncheng" (鄆城宋江作).

The poem is deemed seditious mainly because of the last two lines. Huang Chao started a rebellion during the late Tang dynasty and caused the dynasty's rule to weaken and eventually crumble. Huang Wenbing interprets the last two lines as: "If Song Jiang ever gets an opportunity to start a rebellion (against the Song dynasty), he will do something worse than Huang Chao."

See also

Yan Poxi and Song Jiang, from a 2015 Peking opera performance in Tianchan Theatre, Shanghai, China.

• 
  List of Water Margin minor characters#Song Jiang's story for a list of supporting minor characters from Song Jiang's story.

Notes

References

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  Li, Mengxia (1992). 108 Heroes from the Water Margin (in Chinese). EPB Publishers. p. 3. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
  


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