Outlaws of the Marsh (Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn)
Woodcut illustration from Outlaws of the Marsh, ca. 15th century
Pearl Buck called her translation of the Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn “All Men are Brothers,” which one might amend to read, “All Men are Brothers, Except Petty Officials Who Frame You in Order to Steal Your Hot Wife (or Job or Land or All of the Above).”
The brothers are a band of outlaws who gathered in the marshes on Mount Liangshan in Shangdong province until the day they could prove their loyalty to the emperor.
There was Sagacious Lu, the tattooed monk who fought well when he was sober, and even better when he wasn’t. There was Wu Song, strangler of tigers, and the Ruan brothers, master of disguise. And there was the lady general they called Ten Feet of Steel. Read more
