Water Margin

Water Margin

A page from a block-printed version of the novel Water Margin, brought to Copenhagen, Denmark in the early part of the 17th-century
Author	Shi Nai'an (subject to academic debate)
Original title	水滸傳
Translator	J. H. Jackson, Fang Lo-Tien (editor), Sidney Shapiro, Alex and John Dent-Young
Language	Written vernacular Chinese
Genre	Historical fiction
Set in	Mount Liang, c. 1120
Publication date	Uncertain, perhaps mid-14th century; definitely before 1524
Publication place	China
Published in English	1937, 1980, and 1994–2002
Dewey Decimal	895.1346
Followed by	Jin Ping Mei
Original text	水滸傳 at Chinese Wikisource

Water Margin
"Water Margin" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	水滸傳
Simplified Chinese	水浒传
Literal meaning	"Water Margin Story"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shuǐhǔ zhuàn Gwoyeu Romatzyh Shoeihuu juann Wade–Giles Shui3-hu3 chuan4 IPA [ʂwèɪ.xù ʈʂwân] Wu Romanization Sy去 vhu平 tsuae平 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Séui-wú jyuhn Jyutping Seoi2-wu2 zyun6 IPA [sɵɥ˧˥.wu˧˥ tsyn˨] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Suí hóo tuān

Water Margin is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin. It is one of the Four Classic Chinese Novels and is attributed to Shi Nai'an.^[1] It is also translated as Outlaws of the Marsh and All Men Are Brothers.^{[note 1]}

The story, which is set in the Northern Song dynasty (around 1120), tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to rebel against the government. Later they are granted amnesty and enlisted by the government to resist the nomadic conquest of the Liao dynasty and other rebels. While the book's authorship is traditionally attributed to Shi Nai'an (1296–1372), the first external reference to the novel only appeared in 1524 during the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, sparking a long-lasting academic debate on when it was actually written and which historical events the author had witnessed that inspired him to write the book.^[1]

The novel is considered one of the masterpieces of early vernacular fiction and Chinese literature.^[2] It has introduced readers to many of the best-known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong, Pan Jinlian, Song Jiang and Lu Zhishen. Water Margin also exerted a significant influence on the development of fiction elsewhere in East Asia, such as on Japanese literature.^[3][4]

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