Water Margin (known in Chinese as Shuihu Zhuan, sometimes abbreviated to Shuihu), also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, Tale of the Marshes, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is a 14th century novel and one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathered at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress rebel forces. The novel was originally titled in Chinese Jianghu Haoke Zhuan (江湖豪客傳), and the title was sometimes extended to Zhongyi Shuihu Zhuan (忠義水滸傳). It has introduced to readers many of the most beloved literary characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen. The 108 Stars of Destiny (天導一百零八星) are at the core of the plot of the Chinese classic Shui Hu Zhuan (水滸傳), commonly translated as Water Margin, Outlaws of the Marsh, or All Men Are Brothers, written by Shi Nai'an during the 14th century. Based on the Taoist concept that each person's destiny is tied to a Star of Destiny (宿星), the 108 Stars of Destiny are stars that represent 108 demonic overlords who have been banished by the Taoist sage, Shang Ti. Having repented since their banishment, the stars are released from their place of banishment by accident, and are reborn in the world as 108 heroes who band together for the cause of justice. The 108 Stars of Destiny are translated into the 36 Heavenly Spirits and the 72 Earthly Fiends. Other titles for the Stars of Destiny include The 108 Stars of Heavenly Earth and The 108 Stars of Heaven and Earth. One Heavenly Spirit, Lu Zhishen, is represented in a folktale as a sworn brother of Zhou Tong.[1] According to The Oral Traditions of Yangzhou Storytelling, several popular folktales about the Heavenly Spirit Wu Song, from the "Wang School" of Yangzhou storytelling, state that he killed the tiger "in the middle of the tenth month" of the "Xuanhe year" (the emphasis belongs to the original author). In Iron Arm, Golden Saber, Earthly Fiend Sun Li is portrayed as a fellow student of Zhou Tong and Luan Tingyu. In Louis Cha's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Earthly Fiend Guo Sheng is said to be the ancestor of the protagonist Guo Jing. This app is a album of the 108 Stars of Destiny. iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/water-margin-album/id578065237?mt=8&uo=4
