Water Margin
by Nai'an Shi, J. H. Jackson, Edwin Lowe, Luo Guanzhong, Shi Naian · first published 1963
25% recommend75% neutral
Based upon the historical bandit Song Jiang and his companions, this Chinese equivalent of the English classic Robin Hood and His Merry Men is an epic tale of rebellion against tyranny and has been thrilling and inspiring readers for hundreds of years. This edition of the classic J. H. Jackson translation features a new preface and introduction by Edwin Lowe, which gives the history of the book and puts the story into perspective for modern readers. First translated into English by Pearl S. Buck in 1933 as All Men Are Brothers, the original edition of the J.H. Jackson translation appeared u
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…you please recommend an introductory Jin Yong book or two? I'm a Western Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest fan and this sounds right up my alley. (Thanks SBS Cult Movie nights). I've read and enjoyed The Water Margin fwiw.
on “Jin Yong, the 'Tolkien of Chinese literature', has died” ↗Seconded. They are excellent. I must re-read them. Water Margin[0] came to UK on TV in the early 80s from Japanese TV. Gained quite a following. Journey to the West came to the UK as Monkey[1] (again a Japanese adaptation) around the same time. It was the most ridiculous,…
on “Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?” ↗I'm currently reading Water Margin which was translated to English by the Foreign Language Press[0]. Although very simplified in tone and diction, the translation is still amazing and it comes in four volumes as well so it's around 2000…
on “Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?” ↗…Qian - The Book of Han - The Book of Later Han - Nie Yinniang - The Kunlun Slave - Thirteenth Madam Jing - Red String - The Bearded Warrior - Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong - Water Margin by Shi Na’an - Justice Bao stories from Sanxia Wuyi and Xiaowuyi - Gong’an Qiwen - Ernii Yingxiong Zhuan Works by Jin Yong - The Book and the Sword - The Condor trilogy - The Smiling, Proud Wanderer…
on “Scientists discover an ancient forest inside a giant sinkhole in China” ↗In most of the best-known classic Chinese novels, like "Journey to the West", "Water Margin" and "Dream of the Red Chamber", there is usually a character that feels very important in the first few chapters, then nowhere to be found in the rest of the book. When people reading these novels,…
on “Chekhov's Gun” ↗the oldest 'haha' in chinese word is from a book called Water Margin,written 600 years ago. that's really old. english version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin chinese version: http://baike.baidu.com/view/11282.htm
on “If you use 'haha', you're probably old” ↗…revolution didn't mean that written Chinese was exclusively Classical Chinese previously. All the famous novels of China (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin, etc) are all written in the vernacular of their time. It is nonetheless true that the overwhelming majority of writing that was not literature was written in Classical Chinese. As a side note, I would…
on “Translating and Interpreting Chinese Philosophy” ↗…the Stone, an epic about two families and the decline of their fortunes; The Scholars, another 18th century long book of linked stories that's basically political satire; and Outlaws of the Marsh/The Water Margin, a long series of linked tales about bandits that's a little bit Robin-Hoodish as it's really about their political rebellion.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗…parody of the Odyssey. That only works if the audience knows the story of Odysseus. Which of course, they do. Most westerners know it, implicitly, in much the same way the average Chinese person knows Water Margin even if they've never read it.
on “I taught the Iliad to Chinese teenagers (2021)” ↗…the Khitan's territory and who were related to the Jurchen/Manchu. And the Mongols who conquered the Khitan, the Jin, and Song. This turbulent era was the backdrop to one of China's classical novels "Water Margin" aka "All Men are Brothers" and tells the fictional tale of Song patriots fighting against their own government in an effort to repel the steppe "barbarians". A more modern novel based on this setting…
on “Chinese civilization's longevity? Exams and bureaucracy” ↗…with the real world. (And, to strengthen Greer's point, often contained noble Saracens and other villains.) Same goes for Asia, by the way. The great legends of Asia -- from the Three Kingdoms, to the Water Margin, to the Tale of Heike -- were at least nominally "real." Not concerned with imaginary worlds. The myths we create today are qualitatively different in straightforward and obvious ways.
on “'Fandom has toxified the world': Watchmen author Alan Moore” ↗It's not as farfetched as you seem to believe. I've been reading a translation of Water Margin; here's a bit from the story of Wu Song: Actually, first, here's Wu Song's dictionary entry in the Hanyu Da Cidian: > 《水浒传》中人物。勇猛刚烈，曾在景阳冈徒手打死猛虎。后参加梁山农民起义军，到处诛除强暴，是人民群众所喜爱的英雄形象之一。 [A character in Water…
on “Former University of Iowa hospital employee used fake identity for 35 years” ↗