What martial arts storytelling owes to The Water Margin, wuxia novel from 14th century adapted for Japanese TV and by Chang Cheh for cinema, and how its themes and style still resonate
- The Water Margin tells the stories of 108 outlaws who rebel against corrupt officials during China’s Song dynasty and has been adapted for film and television
- Its theme of the righteous fighting for justice, the way it sketches characters and their mannerisms have served as prototypes for writers and directors
The classic 14th-century novel The Water Margin, attributed to Shi Nai’an and Luo Guanzhong, wasn’t the first book to talk about heroic martial artists, but it has proved the most influential.
Its 120 chapters tell of 108 outlaws who inhabit the marshes of Mount Liang in Shandong province, eastern China, where they fight for justice against the corrupt officials of the waning Song dynasty.
“The Water Margin establishes the literary formula whereby righteous men choose to become outlaws rather than serve under corrupt administrations …” wrote one film critic.
“The episodic sketching of each individual character and their adventures are prototypical, and in their episodes, we see the seeds of the fighting styles and mannerisms of the later wuxia characters.”