What do you think?
Rate this book
The Marshes of Mount Liang
Iron Ox: Part Four of the Marshes of Mount Liang
?Iron Ox contains chapters 63-90 of the original and can be divided into four main sections. The first of these is very much concerned with the question of the leadership on Mount Liang. Iron Ox is prominent in the second section, probably the most varied and entertaining part of this volume. The third section is concerned with the count's various attempts to subdue Mount Liang by force or win them over with an amnesty. The fourth section begins with the granting of the amnesty and the first campaign in the Emperor's service against the Liao Tartars. This part ends with an encounter which foreshadows the campaign against Tian Hu in Volume 5, The Scattered Flock.
- GenresChinaFictionLiterature
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2003
About the author
Shi Nai'an
334 books47 followersShi Nai'an (Chinese: 施耐庵; pinyin: Shī Nài'ān, ca. 1296–1372), was a Chinese writer from Suzhou. He was attributed as the first compiler of the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
Library of Congress Authorities: Shi, Nai’an, approximately 1290-approximately 1365
Not much biographical information is known about him. Traditionally it was believed that he was a teacher of Luo Guanzhong, who was attributed as a main compiler of Romance of Three Kingdoms, another of the Four Great Classical Novels. Some modern scholars doubt that Shi actually existed, but was merely a pseudonym for Luo himself.
Library of Congress Authorities: Shi, Nai’an, approximately 1290-approximately 1365
Not much biographical information is known about him. Traditionally it was believed that he was a teacher of Luo Guanzhong, who was attributed as a main compiler of Romance of Three Kingdoms, another of the Four Great Classical Novels. Some modern scholars doubt that Shi actually existed, but was merely a pseudonym for Luo himself.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2018
This is the fourth book of the five-volume Dent-Young translation of the Chinese classic usually known as "Water Margin," and includes a helpful introduction. The translation reads easily and is nicely augmented by Ming dynasty illustrations. This volume includes several milestones (spoilers ahead....) The full quorum of 108 heroes are all assembled together for the first time; a heaven-sent fireball signals the location of a stone tablet with the names and order of the heroes written on it; the Emperor grants the heroes amnesty and sends them to fight invading Liao Tartars; they defeat the Tartars.
The inclusion of poetry and fantastical elements continues to interest me, as do the details both military and civilian. Courtesies abound, even between enemies, with umpteen instances of people prostrating themselves. There are lavish, drunken banquets; large quantities of silk, gold, jewels are won or presented as bribes; the colors, armor, weapons, formations, and leaders of the armies are described at length; women warriors are repeatedly mentioned, though in a relatively minor role, including a Liao contingent of 5,000 women warriors.
This book has comparatively few instances of detestable behavior on the part of the heroes, but sufficient to reinforce that they are not nice people. Consequently, I didn't care when the Emperor granted them amnesty, nor when they defeated the Tartars, nor when individual heroes were wounded. I found the book of interest, but I didn't enjoy it.
The inclusion of poetry and fantastical elements continues to interest me, as do the details both military and civilian. Courtesies abound, even between enemies, with umpteen instances of people prostrating themselves. There are lavish, drunken banquets; large quantities of silk, gold, jewels are won or presented as bribes; the colors, armor, weapons, formations, and leaders of the armies are described at length; women warriors are repeatedly mentioned, though in a relatively minor role, including a Liao contingent of 5,000 women warriors.
This book has comparatively few instances of detestable behavior on the part of the heroes, but sufficient to reinforce that they are not nice people. Consequently, I didn't care when the Emperor granted them amnesty, nor when they defeated the Tartars, nor when individual heroes were wounded. I found the book of interest, but I didn't enjoy it.
July 24, 2018
There's a bit more variety to the storytelling in this fourth volume of Water Margin, but the translators have also cut out a lot of the repetitive description and the lengthy lists of names that come up in the major battle scenes. With all 108 of the fated heroes assembled on Mount Liang, those name lists of who did what can get quite tedious.
This volume covers the final assembly of all 108 baleful and celestial stars, as the heroes are said to be; their efforts toward amnesty; Song Jiang's illness and recovery; the eventual string of failed amnesty offers, and the one that takes; and the campaigns against the Tartars. A running thread is the contrast between Song Jiang's restraint and honor, and Iron Ox's impulsiveness and irresponsibility.
In the previous volumes the "bad guys" have been the Imperial Administration as a general thing, with Marshall Gao the Ball as the chief malefactor. The Grand Preceptor also seemed to align with corruption, but was less noted. In this volume we are given a Gang of Four to see as the specific villains: Gao, the Preceptor, and two other court officials: Tong Guan and Cai Jing. Clearly they are going to be the specific foils for Song Jiang in the remaining 30 chapters of the extended version of Water Margin.
Some of the battle scenes actually read like battles, but all too often we have the formula duels between hero generals, and supposedly entire formations fleeing after one guy is killed or captured. I suspect that this was all an anachronistic holdover from Bronze Age stories. Sun Tzu never seems to discuss that kind of warfare...
Again, I'm reading these for historical interest rather than primary enjoyment. The novel is interesting, but the conventions are too artificial for modern tastes. The behavior of the heroes is an interesting study in cultural contrasts with the chivalric ideals of Europe (where they were largely phony, too).
This volume covers the final assembly of all 108 baleful and celestial stars, as the heroes are said to be; their efforts toward amnesty; Song Jiang's illness and recovery; the eventual string of failed amnesty offers, and the one that takes; and the campaigns against the Tartars. A running thread is the contrast between Song Jiang's restraint and honor, and Iron Ox's impulsiveness and irresponsibility.
In the previous volumes the "bad guys" have been the Imperial Administration as a general thing, with Marshall Gao the Ball as the chief malefactor. The Grand Preceptor also seemed to align with corruption, but was less noted. In this volume we are given a Gang of Four to see as the specific villains: Gao, the Preceptor, and two other court officials: Tong Guan and Cai Jing. Clearly they are going to be the specific foils for Song Jiang in the remaining 30 chapters of the extended version of Water Margin.
Some of the battle scenes actually read like battles, but all too often we have the formula duels between hero generals, and supposedly entire formations fleeing after one guy is killed or captured. I suspect that this was all an anachronistic holdover from Bronze Age stories. Sun Tzu never seems to discuss that kind of warfare...
Again, I'm reading these for historical interest rather than primary enjoyment. The novel is interesting, but the conventions are too artificial for modern tastes. The behavior of the heroes is an interesting study in cultural contrasts with the chivalric ideals of Europe (where they were largely phony, too).
Read
January 27, 2023Iron Ox: Decapitation for the W
Everyone else: Well shoot
Everyone else: Well shoot
February 27, 2013
Eisenschädeliger Ochsenkopf
Auch wenn der Roman sicherlich seine besten Kapitel nun hinter sich hat, und wir mit diesem vierten Band das Gebiet der alternativen 70-Kapitel-Fassung verlassen, breitet sich vor dem Leser ein stimmungsvolles Panorama des Song-China aus: Es müssen keine neuen Rekruten für die inzwischen vollständig versammelte Banditenschar mehr gewonnen werden, und die Helden haben nun Zeit, etwas für ihre Erholung zu tun. Song Jiang beispielsweise möchte das Laternenfest sehen (was in viel Blutvergießen endet), und das Wunderkind Yan Qing einen Ringkampf gegen einen scheinbar unschlagbaren Gegner führen (was in viel Blutvergießen endet).
Weniger zentriert auf einzelne Personen nimmt nach diesen Freizeitgestaltungen aber ein anderer Ton die Überhand. Eine Kampagne der inzwischen vollständig versammelten Banditenschar folgt an die nächste - da ist wenig Platz für die liebevolle Charakterisierung der ersten Kapitel. Für viele Leser wird der Text sehr viel weniger charmant und begeisternd sein, denn ab hier beginnt sich das für die chinesischen Klassiker typische Repetitionsmuster voll auszuwirken, und der Roman fühlt sich ab ca. Kapitel 80 an wie "Drei Königreiche".
Immer noch ist mir die Namensgebung ein Dorn im Auge, und ich stolpere jedesmal regelrecht über die hässlichst übersetzten Ehrennamen der Banditen wie "Hasty" oder "Pluto", bei denen man sich in einen Micky-Maus-Film versetzt fühlt.
Und doch: Dies ist meiner Meinung nach die lesbarste aller Übersetzungen des Shuihuzhuan, und gerade in den Kampagnenkapiteln spürt man dies am deutlichsten.
Auch wenn der Roman sicherlich seine besten Kapitel nun hinter sich hat, und wir mit diesem vierten Band das Gebiet der alternativen 70-Kapitel-Fassung verlassen, breitet sich vor dem Leser ein stimmungsvolles Panorama des Song-China aus: Es müssen keine neuen Rekruten für die inzwischen vollständig versammelte Banditenschar mehr gewonnen werden, und die Helden haben nun Zeit, etwas für ihre Erholung zu tun. Song Jiang beispielsweise möchte das Laternenfest sehen (was in viel Blutvergießen endet), und das Wunderkind Yan Qing einen Ringkampf gegen einen scheinbar unschlagbaren Gegner führen (was in viel Blutvergießen endet).
Weniger zentriert auf einzelne Personen nimmt nach diesen Freizeitgestaltungen aber ein anderer Ton die Überhand. Eine Kampagne der inzwischen vollständig versammelten Banditenschar folgt an die nächste - da ist wenig Platz für die liebevolle Charakterisierung der ersten Kapitel. Für viele Leser wird der Text sehr viel weniger charmant und begeisternd sein, denn ab hier beginnt sich das für die chinesischen Klassiker typische Repetitionsmuster voll auszuwirken, und der Roman fühlt sich ab ca. Kapitel 80 an wie "Drei Königreiche".
Immer noch ist mir die Namensgebung ein Dorn im Auge, und ich stolpere jedesmal regelrecht über die hässlichst übersetzten Ehrennamen der Banditen wie "Hasty" oder "Pluto", bei denen man sich in einen Micky-Maus-Film versetzt fühlt.
Und doch: Dies ist meiner Meinung nach die lesbarste aller Übersetzungen des Shuihuzhuan, und gerade in den Kampagnenkapiteln spürt man dies am deutlichsten.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews