Rewriting the Hero as a Failure: The Image of Wu Song in Shuihu zhuan and Jin ping mei* Henry Lem University of California, Irvine Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures The International Workshop on Ming-Qing Studies Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan July 21-22, 2016 The late Ming marks a profoundly important period in Chinese history, when thinkers began to reconsider the issue of human desire. Li Zhi 李贄 (1527-1602), for instance, considered man’s selfish tendencies to be “proverbial truths” 邇言, especially the love for wealth 好貨 and love for women 好色,1 which are explicitly addressed in the novel Jin ping mei 金瓶梅.2 Admittedly, the main concerns of this novel are the vices of drunkenness 酒, lust 色, avarice , and anger 氣.3 The commentator Zhang Zhupo 張竹坡 (1670-1698) even notes Jin ping mei primarily stresses the vices of wealth and lust 單重 色 (JPMC, 1: 1). Yet, to concentrate only on these concerns may prevent one from understanding the author’s other agendas, particularly to further complicate the gallant fellow 好漢 and his adherence to righteous loyalty 義.4 * Unpublished conference paper. Please e-mail hlem1@uci.edu for permission to cite. Li Zhi 李贄, “Da Deng Mingfu” 答鄧明府, in Chen Renren 陳仁仁, ed., Fenshu 焚書 (Changsha: Yuelu shushe, 2011), juan 1, 78. 2 Unless otherwise noted, all references to Jin ping mei are to Mei Jie 梅節, ed., Jin ping mei cihua 金瓶梅詞話 (Taipei: Liren shuju, 2007). Jin ping mei cihua is referred to as JPM. Chapter and page numbers are given in parentheses in the text. References to the chongzhen 崇禎 edition of Jin ping mei are to Zhang Zhupo 張竹坡, commentator, Jin ping mei 金瓶梅 (Ji’nan: Qilu shushe, 1991). This edition is referred to as JPMC. David T. Roy’s translation of Jin ping mei, Plum in the Golden Vase, is referred to as Plum. Volume and page numbers are cited in parentheses. 3 Entitled Si tan ci 四貪詞, “Lyric of the Four Vices,” in Jin ping mei cihua, 2. 4 One may be curious as to how the author of Jin ping mei considered the possibilities of complicating such issues in Shuihu zhuan. Of course, there are certain “ironies” in Shuihu zhuan which reveals some of the problems of the gallant fellow. As Andrew Plaks has noted, sexual temptation and the personal desire for revenge sometimes 1 Lem One scholar suggests Jin ping mei cannot be pinned down to one single theme.5 Thus one might also ask what accounts for the sophisticated and eclectic narrative style of Jin ping mei. As Patrick Hanan saliently points out, its originality can be attributed to the several kinds of sources used to write the novel, including the vernacular short story, the erotic short story, histories of the Song period, the drama, popular song, and chantefables.6 A key source was Shuihu zhuan 水 滸傳,7 which functioned as the Jin ping mei author’s point of departure. He was first a reader of Shuihu zhuan, and having read it, he must have found the Wu Song, Pan Jinlian, and Ximen Qing episodes striking: inspired to write a “spin-off” of Shuihu zhuan that would later become Jin ping mei. By thinking of the Jin ping mei author as initially a reader of Shuihu zhuan, one can raise a different set of questions. First, what happened in the process by which he became the author of Jin ping mei? Previous to becoming an author, perhaps he saw a “standard trajectory” in the following plot: Wu Song eventually kills Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing to appease the soul of Wu the Elder. However, as a reader-turned-author, now he imagines an alternative trajectory that begins to dominate the standard trajectory: Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing survive, while Wu Song’s vengeance is delayed for four years. Next, if Wu Song is considered to be the epitome of the gallant fellow in Shuihu zhuan, then in Jin ping mei, how is he represented differently, and to complicates the haohan’s maintaining of his heroism. See The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel: Ssu ta ch’i-shu (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 332-48. 5 Ming Dong Gu, Chinese Theories of Fiction: A Non-Western Narrative System (New York: State University of New York Press, 2006), 127. 6 Patrick Hanan, “Sources of the Chin P’ing Mei,” Asia Major (1963): 23-67. 7 Unless otherwise noted, all references to Shuihu zhuan are to Diwu caizi shu Shuihu zhuan 第五 子書水滸傳, Jin Shengtan 金聖嘆, commentator, in Lu Lin 陸林, ed., Jin Shengtan quanji 金聖嘆 集 (Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2008), vol. 3. Shuihu zhuan is referred to as SHZ. Chapter and page numbers are given in parentheses in the text. Sidney Shapiro’s translation of Shuihu zhuan, The Outlaws of the Marsh, is referred to as Outlaws, and page numbers are cited in parentheses. 2 Lem what effect? Last, in what ways might the author of Jin ping mei be challenging the righteous loyalty rhetoric in Shuihu zhuan? These questions may be better understood through a reading of intersecting episodes in both novels, which is the main focus of this paper. I would like to suggest that a comparative reading of such episodes—Pan Jinlian’s seduction attempt, Wu Song’s battle with the tiger, and Wu Song’s vengeance attempts—allows one to be in a better position to appreciate some of the other novelistic agendas of the latter. In Shuihu zhuan, the author valorizes the concept of righteous loyalty and the gallant fellow ideal, while in Jin ping mei, the author critiques them as lacking relevance in a world of corruption. In particular, the author of Shuihu zhuan depicts Wu Song as an authentic hero, whom the author celebrates for his uninhibited expression of heroism. By contrast, the author of Jin ping mei attempts a reversal of Wu Song by re-presenting him, that is, rewriting Wu Song’s god-like attributes as signs of his failure as a hero. Finally, the author draws attention to his anger, cunning, and obsession with vengeance as shortcomings, since Wu Song may be important on the battlefield in Shuihu zhuan, but whose significance is challenged in the domestic world in Jin ping mei. One way the author draws focus on these issues is by “rewriting.” This refers to omissions, interpolations, and edits to episodes in Jin ping mei that originally appeared in Shuihu zhuan. One prominent example is the description of Ximen Qing. From chapters one to eight, the author describes Ximen Qing with a golden fan in his hand a total of five times during his meetings with Pan Jinlian; this is actually the author’s invention, as the golden fan does not appear at all in Shuihu zhuan. 8 Regarding this point, Zhang Zhupo notes, “gentle readers themselves know [such descriptions] refer to Ximen [Qing] in Jin ping [mei] and not Ximen 8 Lin Gang 林崗, Ming qing xiaoshuo pingdian 明清小說評點 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2012), 125. 3 Lem [Qing] of Shuihu [zhuan]” 看官眼底自知為 金瓶 之西門，不是 水滸 之西門 (JPMC, 3: 62). This statement is important for a few reasons. First, Zhang’s address to readers demonstrates his effort to encourage reader participation in discovering the differences between Jin ping mei and Shuihu zhuan. Second, this address indicates readers should consider ways Jin ping mei departs from Shuihu zhuan but also remains indebted to it. Third, Zhang’s attention to the rewriting of Ximen Qing’s description has further implications on how other characters in Shuihu zhuan are reconfigured to fit the author’s agenda, one which includes the critique of Wu Song as a gallant fellow who becomes “displaced” in Jin ping mei. “Displaced” refers to the gallant fellow’s inability to fit in a world without righteous loyalty. As a contrast to the Ximen Qing, we may first consider the main character Song Jiang in Shuihu zhuan for comparison, to understanding why there is no authentic yi in the world of Jin ping mei. Song Jiang’s honor is built upon both his chivalry and generosity 義疏 and his resolve to carry out the Heavenly Way 替天行道. Both novels also include the scene where Song Jiang convinces Wang Ying to let go of a woman in the name of the gallant fraternity (SHZ, 31: 593; JPM, 84: 1456). Yet, some contradictions remain in the Jin ping mei author’s representation of Song Jiang. Song makes an effort to save Wu Yueniang from Wang Ying, because of his relationship with Ximen Qing, who he describes as a colleague and upright official 同僚 官 (JPM, 84: 1455).9 One detects a certain duplicity here; Song Jiang’s reference to the gallant fraternity [江湖 好漢] (JPM, 84: 1456) appears nominally, used to merely carry out action for Ximen Qing, someone who is barely an official and not righteous at all. 9 In the chongzhen edition, the editor took this effort of departure to an even greater extreme by removing the episode of Song Jiang altogether. In this way, he ruptures any connection with Shuihu zhuan whatsoever in chapter 84 and communicates an obvious message: Jin ping mei is not Shuihu zhuan, and readers are cautioned against reading it as a spin-off of the latter or as a work celebratory of the gallant fellow’s heroism and authenticity. 4 Lem The example of Song Jiang demonstrates how righteous loyalty is positioned very differently in both novels. We may begin by defining this term more broadly before exploring is meaning in the context of both novels. Yi can be read as “righteousness” in the Confucian tradition, 10 but in Shuihu zhuan, it points to the concept of yiqi 義氣: “sworn loyalty.” For example, the character Zhu Wu states he and other gallant fellows are not born on the same day, but are willing to die on the same day 不求同日生， 願同日死; even though their bond cannot be compared to the brotherhood between Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei, 11 they remain sincere in heart and mind 雖不及關 張 劉備的義氣，其心則同 (SHZ, 1: 79). From the beginning of the novel, characters already demonstrate a sense of indebtedness to the sworn loyalty between Liu Guan, and Zhang, a behavior which gallant fellows frequently model. In other words, the historical allusion to their oath constructs sworn loyalty as a shared code of honor to be upheld at all costs: a “brotherhood” based upon solidarity, sincerity, and comradeship. Hence sworn loyalty is perhaps the single most important principle for gallant fellows in Shuihu zhuan. Indeed, physical strength, superior martial prowess, and love for meat and mead are certainly trademarks of the gallant fellow. 12 But most important of all, the gallant fellow’s reputation in the brotherhood is made through his efforts to uphold righteous loyalty by In Lunyu 論語, Confucius emphasized the following: “The superior man [君子] holds righteousness [義] to be of highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valor [ 勇] without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordination; one of the lower people [小人] having valor without righteousness, will commit robbery [盜].” See James Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1960), vol. 1, 17: 23. 11 From here onward, I will use “brotherhood,” “sworn loyalty,” “righteous loyalty,” and “gallant fraternity” as convertible terms. 12 Robert Ruhlmann, “Traditional Heroes in Chinese Popular Fiction,” in The Confucian Persuasion, ed. Arthur F. Wright (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 150. 10 5 Lem all means possible: “always ready to lay down their lives for their friends, never willing to surrender or to let themselves be curbed or humiliated.”13 Now that the connection between yi and the gallant fellow in Shuihu zhuan has been established, we are better positioned to understand a few ways the author of Jin ping mei responds to the rhetoric of sworn loyalty. First, he creates a foil of the gallant fellow: the opportunist who cares only for personal gain. Ying Bojue 應伯爵 represents such a character as someone who “scrounges for food” 應 嚼, always profiting off his friends.14 Thus after Ximen Qing’s death, Ying Bojue and other “sworn brothers” arrange the funeral; he then praises Ximen Qing for his generosity. Ying’s words seem sincere, until he mentions how the funeral processions would actually put him and his friends in a lucrative position 咱還便益 (JPM, 80: 1397). The description of Ying Bojue’s activities after Ximen Qing’s death questions the possibility of an authentic righteous loyalty in a world where men inevitably succumb to avarice and lust. More directly, the author questions righteous loyalty through the narrator’s comment on Ying Bojue as the antithesis of the gallant fellow. He emphasizes that although Ximen Qing and Ying Bojue were “more intimate with each other than brothers” 賽過同胞 弟, the latter “committed a series of unrightful acts” 便做出許多不義之事 (Plum, V: 687; JPM, 80: 1408). The narrator’s contrast of words is forceful and illuminating: “brothers” 弟 are meant to be righteous and loyal 義, but this is certainly not the case for Ying Bojue, Ximen Qing’s most duplicitous “brother” of all. 13 14 Ibid., 168. A pun on Ying Bojue’s name, noted in Lin Gang, Ming Qing xiaoshuo pingdian, 159. 6 Lem Such a problematization of brotherhood appears more emphatically in the chongzhen edition. In chapter one, titled “Ximen Qing ardently unites ten brothers” 西門慶熱結十 弟, the chongzhen editor makes clear efforts to rewrite the concept of “brotherhood.” When Wu Yueniang warns Ximen Qing against trusting those “roughs” 行貨, the “listless, wandering souls” 游魂撞尸, Ximen Qing defends them and praises Ying Bojue as a “sworn brother” who he believes stands out among the rest: “at the bottom of his heart good and tactful” 本心又好又 知趣 (JPMC, 1: 16). According to one chongzhen commentator, this statement reveals Ximen Qing’s poor judgment of character because he is “one who indulges in favoritism and becomes confused” 溺愛者智昏. 15 Admittedly, Ximen Qing’s favoritism contributes to his eventual downfall. But the commentator seems to also imply Ximen Qing’s inability to see through the façade of his “brotherhood.” This is to say, Ximen Qing demonstrates zero cognizance of Ying Bojue’s profiteering tendencies: someone unworthy of Ximen Qing’s generosity, since many of these “sworn brothers” are, much like Wu Dian’en 吳典 , “without even a grain of gratitude” 無點 . Ximen Qing’s “brothers” may appear earnest in their friendship, but they lack the actual sincerity that gives brotherhood meaning and substance. Later in chapter one, this critique becomes more obvious in the oath of sworn brotherhood between Ximen Qing and his friends. During the ceremony, the Daoist priest mutters several adages familiar to readers of Sanguo yanyi 三國演義 and Shuihu zhuan, “combined loyalty in the Peach Garden” 桃園義重, “united See the chongzhen commentator’s note in Xin ke xiuxiang piping Jin ping mei pingyu 新刻繡像批評金瓶梅評語, in Zhu Yixuan 朱一玄, ed., Jin ping mei ziliao huibian 金瓶梅資料彙編 (Tianjin: Nankai daxue chubanshe, 2012), 187. 15 7 Lem in will” 欲同其志, and “all brothers in the four seas” 四海皆 弟 (JPMC, 1: 24). By invoking the solemn oath made by Liu, Guan, and Zhang, Ximen Qing’s “brotherhood” presumably becomes legitimate, yet through the Daoist priest’s words, the author actually parodies righteous loyalty as an impossibility in this band of “brothers,” rendering such pledges empty and artificial. Unlike the repeated scenes of sworn loyalty in Shuihu zhuan, here the priest’s words seem devoid of their actual meanings. Ximen Qing’s “brothers” are not “brothers” at all, but rather, freeloading opportunists that will do anything for self-gain. And it is precisely this kind of behavior driven by wealth, sex, and power that ultimately subverts sworn loyalty in Jin ping mei. In contrast to Ximen Qing and his “brothers,” Wu Song is perhaps the gallant fellow who most remarkably embodies the ideal of sworn loyalty. His transformation into a hero is narrated in Shuihu zhuan with close attention to two types of qi: “heroism” and “fury.”16 In particular, Wu Song’s efforts to avenge his elder brother belong to the former, yiqi 義氣: a sense of honor constituted by the righteous loyalty ideal. By contrast, Wu Song’s murder of fifteen people in the Mandarin Duck Hall is indicative of his nu qi 怒氣, an uncontrollable rage. Such impulsive and vicious killing is argued to be the cause of trouble for many heroes, as one Shuihu zhuan commentator notes,17 an issue the Jin ping mei author further complicates (this will be discussed later). Beginning with his first appearance in chapter 21, Wu Song exudes a terrible anger that often gets him in trouble. An accident with embers causes him to suddenly become incensed 氣 One issue in Shuihu zhuan is the consistency of the gallant fellow’s heroism. It is curious as to why the author rarely to critiques the gallant fellow’s behavior as problematic. Even when characters like Wu Song commit several murders, some justified and others seemingly excessive to the reader, the author refrains from critiquing the uninhibited passion that fuels his drive for vengeance. See C.T. Hsia, The Classical Chinese Novel: A Critical Introduction (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996), 103. 17 See the comment in Chu xiang ping dian Zhongyi shuihu zhuan 出像評點忠義水滸傳, in Shuihu zhuan huiping ben 水滸傳會評本, ed. Chen Xizhong 陳曦鍾 et. al (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1987), 11: 239. 16 8 Lem 將起來, and he almost attacks another man who turns out to be Song Jiang, a gallant fellow Wu Song reveres (SHZ, 21: 411). Previous to this, Wu Song almost kills a man in a drunken rage and then flees [因酒後醉了 . . . 一時間怒起， 一拳，打得那斯昏沉 小弟知道 徑地逃來] (SHZ, 21: 410). He is known by others to have a bad temper longer indulges in his former failings 前病不 死了因 一 氣剛, until he no (SHZ, 22: 414-5). Here the author presents Wu Song’s change from a man with anger issues to a hero with heightened responsibilities: someone willing to live and die for his brothers, who demonstrates his commitment to sworn loyalty through genuine, unrestrained expressions of heroism.18 At the heart of the gallant fellow’s crisis in Shuihu zhuan is the issue of sworn loyalty, by which various evil officials, greedy men, and adulterous women challenge his honor 19 and authenticity as a hero. This is no different for Wu Song. But Jin ping mei actually argues against the sworn loyalty rhetoric by deemphasizing Wu Song’s relationship with the gallant fraternity and his heroic behavior. Thus when Wu Song is first introduced, his meeting with Song Jiang is omitted entirely (JPM, 1: 4). Furthermore, in the initial meeting between Wu Song and Pan Jinlian, she is only moved by his physique [這般長大] and strength 氣力; her attention to Wu Song’s heroic feat against the tiger is removed by the author (JPM, 1: 14): an important detail which previously appears in Shuihu zhuan [大蟲也吃 打到了] (SHZ, 23: 432). Aside from these differences, the seduction episode remains almost identical in both novels. Pan Jinlian’s seduction occurs through the subtleties of her actions and words. First, she intentionally chooses the matching cups 雙杯 which suggest intimacy between two lovers. Part of Wu Song’s heroism is expressed through his “blunt and tactless” 戇直 personality. See Y.W. Ma 馬幼垣, Shuihu renwu zhi zui 水滸人物之最 (Taipei: Lianjing, 2003), 103-9. 19 Ding Naifei, Obscene Things: Sexual Politics in Jin Ping Mei (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002), 144-5. 18 9 Lem Next, Pan comments how Wu Song does not know how to stir a fire: “The best way is to get it nice and hot” (Outlaws, 382; SHZ, 23: 436-38). The author employs such details to build up Wu Song’s heroic response to his sister-in-law who he, by convention, must maintain a respectful distance from.20 Yet when Pan solicits Wu Song to finish her wine, he immediately pushes her away and throws the cup to the ground, reacting through physical action and then vocalizes a few words to express the intention of reclaiming his honor: I’m an upstanding man [男子漢] with teeth and hair who holds his head high [頂天立地], not some wicked immoral animal [敗壞風俗沒人倫的豬狗]! Stop this indecent behavior! If I hear any whispering about you, watch out! My eyes may recognize you as a sister-inlaw, but my fists won’t [眼裏認得是嫂嫂，拳頭却不認得是嫂嫂]! Let’s not have any more of this!” (Outlaws, 382; SHZ, 23: 439) Wu Song’s repudiation of Pan Jinlian’s advances is indicative of his qi: a sense of honor he must defend. In particular, his words affirm his authenticity as a good fellow who deems righteous loyalty to be the pinnacle of heroic behavior. Wu Song is not merely “holding up Heaven” and “grounding the Earth” for himself; these hyperbolic actions symbolize something greater: the “holding up” of righteous loyalty and expression of his devotion to brotherhood through a noble “indignation” 氣憤 (SHZ, 23: 439), both Wu Song’s honor (qi) undermined by Pan Jinlian and the ensuing fury (fen) he feels. There is partial agreement in both novels regarding how Wu Song’s heroism is represented, at least initially. In Shuihu zhuan, since Pan Jinlian challenges Wu Song by 20 Such behavior is an example of how men, especially educated civil bureaucrats, were bound by propriety in the late Ming. See Ray Huang, 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), 55. 10 Lem attempting to seduce him and then murdering his elder brother, Wu Song’s identity as a gallant fellow is now in danger, should he fail to uphold sworn loyalty. Given this, Wu Song must reclaim his honor by exacting vengeance: to kill Pan Jinlian and appease the troubled soul of Wu the Elder. Later on, because of Wu Song’s success in avenging his brother, he earns the praise of the court as a “fierce, righteously loyal fellow” 義氣烈漢 (SHZ, 26: 504), thereby setting the standard by which the gallant fellow’s heroism is measured: his firm dedication to yi and uninhibited expression of qi. Wu Song’s heroism is then critiqued in Jin ping mei. Rather than being described as fierce and loyal, Wu Song actually fails to apprehend the perpetrators and thus also fails to avenge his brother. Instead, Wu Song gets himself sentence to prison, all because he wrongly killed Li Waizhuan in a momentary fit of rage [一時怒起，誤打死了 ] (JPM, 10: 128). When read in juxtaposition, Wu Song’s “indignation” 氣憤 in Shuihu zhuan on one hand, and “rage” 怒氣 in Jin ping mei on the other, the latter’s author actually challenges the idea of Wu Song as the be-all and end-all of gallant fellows. If “indignation” arises from outside challenges to his honor, then Wu Song’s “rage” begins from an inner sense of pride, which can only be expressed through virulent and reckless action. It may be true Wu Song’s belligerence may “spoil our image of the hero,” even though one wishes to admire him as a “character of simple heroism.”21 However, Wu Song’s proclivity towards violence, although it may seem too savage at times, is an important aspect in the 21 C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel, 102-3. Y. W. Ma has provided a different reason to explain the doubts readers may have about Wu Song, which is equally convincing. He emphasizes readers may feel Wu Song to be cruel and murderous because the description of his actions in the Mandarin Duck Hall is overly detailed, which can be read as an inconsistency considering how other mass killings in the novel are “glided over with the brush” 輕輕 幾筆帶過. See Y.W. Ma, Shuihu lunheng 水滸論衡 (Taipei: Lianjing, 1992), 269-70. 11 Lem author’s attempt to exemplify his heroism, which at times necessitates violence as part of heroic action.22 And yet, the author of Jin ping mei seems to reject violence as heroic expression. On the contrary, he re-presents the image of Wu Song negatively, by problematizing his violent tendencies in order to underscore the impossibility of the gallant fellow and to comment on the insignificance of righteous loyalty in corrupt world. To better understand this issue, let us consider the “Wu Song Fights the Tiger” 武松打虎 episode. In Shuihu zhuan, Wu Song is depicted very consistently as a courageous and gallant fellow. After climbing Jingyang Ridge for some time, he reads a notice warning travelers of a man-eating tiger, realizing what the tavern keeper had said was true. But even against such dangers, Wu Song cannot return to the tavern: “If I go back, I will undoubtedly be laughed at and ridiculed by the tavern keep as a coward; I can’t go back now” 回去時，須吃 恥笑，不是 好漢，難以轉去” (SHZ, 22: 420). Wu Song’s dilemma shows that his honor is at stake. As evinced in his words, Wu Song perceives himself as a gallant fellow, which is also the image he projects onto others. Admittedly, in both novels Wu Song successfully kills the tiger, and then the village locals then celebrate his achievement. But in Jin ping mei, Wu Song is not concerned about upholding the gallant fellow code at all in this episode. Moreover, there is an inconsistency in how the narrator presents him. He tells us Chai Jin and the district magistrate saw Wu Song as a gallant fellow 一條好漢 (JPM, 1: 4, 9), but this does not account for the narrator’s own description of Wu Song as “this ordinary guy” 這漢子 (JPM, 1: 7), a term he uses to describe Wu Song when he returns to Qinghe County. In fact, the mix up between the terms hao han and hanzi frequently occurs in Jin ping mei, by which certain characters viewWu Song as a gallant Martin W. Huang, Negotiating Masculinities in Late Imperial China (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2009), 109-12. 22 12 Lem fellow, while the narrator describes him as ordinary man: indicative of a slippage between how characters perceive Wu Song and the narrator’s own evaluation of him. It is possible such rewritings aim to deemphasize Wu Song’s heroic image. In Shuihu zhuan, Wu Song remains unperturbed when his quarterstaff breaks in battle (SHZ, 22: 422). Afterwards, Wu Song wonders what would happen if another tiger should appear. He then considers going down the ridge and returning the next day to take care of the matter [倘或又跳 出一隻大蟲來時，却怎地鬥得 過？且掙 岡子去，明早却來理會] (SHZ, 22: 422). However, in Jin ping mei, when Wu Song’s quarterstaff breaks in battle, he begins to panic [那 條棒折做 截 . . . 武松心中，也有幾分慌了] (JPM, 1:6). Furthermore, after taking down the tiger, he remains fearful over the possibility of having to wrestle with a tiger once more [ 却怎 生鬬得過 ？] (JPM, 1: 7). All these details are subtly employed by the author to underscore Wu Song as not an indomitable, fearless hero, as he is represented in Shuihu zhuan, but a common man who succumbs to fear in battle. We may also consider the poem in this episode, which appears right before the fight scene ends to commemorate Wu Song’s heroic feat. If in Shuihu zhuan Wu Song’s battle against the tiger represents his status as a god-like man 神人 replete with divine strength 神威,23 which is expected for a hero of Wu Song’s stature, then such a representation of a god-like man in Jin ping mei is only possible because such a god-like man cannot fit into the world of corrupt people like Ximen Qing, Pan Jinlian, and Ying Bojue. Admittedly, there is a contradiction between Wu Song’s description in battle and his description after the battle. While wrestling with the tiger he As noted in Jin Shengtan’s commentaries, where he praises Wu Song for being a god-like man during the tiger fighting scene [打虎一篇，而嘆人是神人] (SHZ 22: 413) and repeatedly notes Wu Song’s god-like strength 神威 in the interlineal commentaries (SHZ 22: 423-426). 23 13 Lem shows clear signs of fear. But it is only after defeating the tiger does Wu Song transform from man to demigod, a heroic achievement emphatically noted in the poem. In one line, the poem reads: “If Bianzhuang saw the tiger he would have been scared senseless; had Li Cunxiao met the tiger, he would have bolstered his heart and guts” 卞莊見後魂 魄散，存孝遇時心膽強. In both editions of Jin ping mei, the last phrase is changed to “lose heart and guts” 心膽亡 (JPM, 1: 7).24 What accounts for this change? The author of Jin ping mei perhaps wanted to correct an inconsistency in these descriptions and then changed qiang 強 to wang 亡. Instead of having contrasting descriptions of a fear-ridden hero and courageous hero, both heroes are now described as being scared out of their wits. This revision actually has more significance beyond correcting a textual inconsistency: it changes how the passage will be interpreted. In Shuihu zhuan, the historical figure Li Cunxiao (d. 984) “bolsters his guts” in his encounter with the tiger, which has the effect of highlighting Wu Song as exceptionally courageous. But after Li is described as fearful, read in the context of Jin ping mei, Bianzhuang is not the only hero who exhibit signs of fear. Now Li Cunxiao, known for his intrepid courage and martial prowess,25 reacts to the tiger in a way unbecoming of a hero. These two terrified heroes are then contrasted with Wu Song, who prepares to battle the tiger fearlessly, reinforcing him as a god-like hero without equal, but out of place in the domestic, mundane world. The emphasis of Wu Song’s god-like status does not stop here. In Shuihu zhuan, the tiger hunters become awe-struck after witnessing Wu Song take town a tiger with his bare hands. 24 For a more detailed study on how Jin ping mei borrows from the Wu Song episodes in Shuihu zhuan , see Ouchida Saburo 大内田 郎, “Suikoden to Kinpeibai 水滸伝と金瓶梅, Tenri daigaku gakuhou 天理大学学報 24 (Mar. 1973): 204-25. 25 As noted in Xue Juzheng 薛居 , Jiu wudai shi 舊五代史 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1981), juan 53, 713-14. 14 Lem They react in fear and ask Wu Song if he is man or ghost 是人，是鬼 (SHZ, 22: 423). But in Jin ping mei, rather than becoming struck with fear, they almost venerate Wu Song as a god of supreme power: Strongman, are you a human or a god? [italics my emphasis] You must have eaten the heart of an alligator, the liver of a leopard, and the leg of a lion, or be made of gall. Otherwise, all by yourself, in the waning light, and without a weapon, how could you have possibly slain this man-eating tiger? 壯士，你是人也，神也？端的吃了㺀�心， 豹子肝，獅子腿，膽倒包了身軀！不然，如何獨自一個，天色漸晚，又沒器械，打 死這個傷人大蟲？ (Plum, I: 23; JPM, 1: 7-8). The shift from “ghost” 鬼 to “god” 神 is important as a key detail in the author’s re-presentation of Wu Song. In Shuihu zhuan, Wu Song as a “ghost” suggest the tiger hunters are fearful of him, imagining him to be a wronged and vengeful spirit. Yet, this is not the case in Jin ping mei. After watching Wu Song successfully take down the tiger, they become astonished at such a heroic feat and express their disbelief by commenting on his supremacy in battle, considering him a “god” worthy of veneration. And yet, the exaggerated details about what strange courageboosting viscera Wu Song ate, his enormous guts, fighting with his bare-hands in the middle of the night, and the unbelievability of his actions direct the reader’s attention to the author’s rhetoric against Wu Song’s heroism. He implicitly claims Wu Song’s heroic feat is incredible to such a great degree, that he becomes inauthentic—impossible, even—and given this, Wu Song is a man-turned-god: his heroism an expression of divine strength rather than the physical fitness, martial prowess, and uninhibited boldness of a typical gallant fellow. Such rhetoric is expanded upon in chapter one of the chongzhen edition. The chongzhen editor entirely omits Wu Song’s battle with the tiger and replaces it with Ying Bojue’s narration 15 Lem of this event to Ximen Qing. First, Ying Bojue explains how the tiger on Jingyang Ridge was beaten to death by Wu Song; however, Ximen Qing finds this difficult to believe 不信 (JPMC, 1: 28). The chongzhen editor then deliberately leaves out all details regarding Wu Song’s journey from Chai Jin’s manor, his battle with the tiger, and his arrival in Qinghe County. Instead, the whole tale of “Wu Song Fights the Tiger” is cursorily reported by Ying Bojue to Ximen Qing, who believes the tale to be fictitious hearsay.26 Such skepticism on part of Ximen Qing is another way the author comments on the impossibility of Wu Song and the gallant fellow ideal. Regarding this point, Zhang Zhupo writes: In the beating of the tiger episode of Shuihu [zhuan], the author describes how Wu Song kicks, strikes, kills and captures the tiger; But in Jin ping mei, the author uses a few “hows,” “just likes,” and an “also like” from [Ying] Bojue’s mouth, narrating that which the author of Shuihu describes forcefully, with only minimal effort. What nimble, crafty finesse! 口中幾個 水滸 怎的 打虎，是寫武松如何踢打，虎如何剪捕； 怎的 如許力量方寫出來者， ，一個 就像是 卻一毫不費力便了也 ，一個 又像 金瓶梅 ，便使 卻用伯爵 水滸 中費 是何等靈滑手腕！ (JPMC, 1: 5) In this comment, Zhang focuses on the author’s rewriting Wu Song’s battle with the tiger. Apparently, the author’s ability to glide over the most fantastic scene in Shuihu zhuan indicates his prowess in writing, by expressing only what is germane through terse, impactful language. Yet if one is to not be “deceived” 瞞過 by the text as Zhang cautions us,27 one should also ask why Wu Song’s feats of valor and strength are dramatically marginalized from the grand description in Shuihu zhuan to a few ambiguous utterances in Jin ping mei. Indeed, the author of 26 27 See Zhang Zhupo’s comment which discusses this issue, in JPMC, 1: 28. See Zhang Zhupo, Piping di yi qishu Jin ping mei du fa 批評第一奇書金瓶梅讀法, in JPMC, 37. 16 Lem Shuihu zhuan meticulously details Wu Song’s every action and movement in his battle with the tiger to underscore his martial prowess and extraordinary courage. However, by gliding over Wu Song’s heroic feats through Ying Bojue’s superficial utterances, “how” 怎麼 and “just like” 就 像是, and omitting the battle scene entirely, the chongzhen editor severely discounts Wu Song’s heroism and the significance of the gallant fellow. In short, the chongzhen editor’s choice to remove the Jingyang poem, delete Wu Song’s encounter with the tiger, and omit Wu Song’s dialogue with the tiger hunters are not without purpose. Such editorial choices demonstrate he made an effort to question the authenticity of Wu Song and his heroic feats. One of the most significant changes is the rewriting of Ying Bojue as the narrator of Wu Song’s battle with the tiger, by which his heroic feats are marginalized as merely hearsay and second-hand information—not to mention that Ying Bojue, as a duplicitous and profiteering opportunist, is the very antithesis of Wu Song: a fearless and staunch hero. The irony here is sharp and penetrating. Ying Bojue is obviously a character of lower moral integrity compared with Wu Song, yet the chongzhen editor gives Ying Bojue authority as the narrator of Wu Song’s heroic feat. In this way, Wu Song’s status as a hero, which both the author and commentator of Shuihu zhuan stress,28 is de-elevated by the chongzhen editor, by displacing Wu Song as merely an object of rumor, skepticism, and unbelievability in Ying Bojue’s narration. The irony generated in the contrast of Ying Bojue and Wu Song touches upon the broader issue of how Ximen Qing is rewritten in Jin ping mei through the context of Shuihu zhuan. Rewriting Ximen Qing also acts as a rhetorical move, because it has the effect of highlighting the tremendous change in Wu Song’s hero image. The author of Shuihu zhuan emphasizes the 28 See footnote 23. 17 Lem latter’s “super human strength” 神力 in his few rounds of battle with Ximen Qing (SHZ, 25: 500). Yet, such descriptions of Wu Song’s strength and martial ability are omitted in his encounter with Li Waizhuan (JPM, 9: 124). Although the author of Shuihu zhuan describes Ximen Qing as “skilled with fists and staves” 使得些好拳棒 (SHZ, 23: 445), the chongzhen editor fails to mention his martial abilities. On the contrary, he describes Ximen Qing as the “supreme commander of misty pleasures” 拾翠尋香的 帥 (JPMC, 1: 53). This suggests Ximen Qing’s strengths are not derived from martial skill whatsoever; on the contrary, his power comes from his sexual prowess, by which being in control of when and how he obtains sensual pleasures becomes a type of perverse honor, contrary to the gallant fellow’s honor. Likewise, the author of Jin ping mei seems to take Wu Song’s heroism and reconfigures it as a shortcoming to critique the gallant fellow as impossible in a world of corruption and deceit. Although the author of Shuihu zhuan describes him as a “true, solid-minded man” 硬心真漢 (SHZ, 23: 436), the author of Jin ping mei writes that Wu Song is a “direct, solid-minded man” 硬心的直漢 (JPM, 1: 17). This edit may only be the author’s miscopying, but if one reads this change as a rhetorical move that adds to his argument against the feasibility of Wu Song as a true hero, then such details indicate the author considers Wu Song direct and blunt, but not necessarily genuine. Moreover, even though Wu Song’s identity as a gallant fellow and his code of sworn loyalty are central in Shuihu zhuan, in Jin ping mei such ideals are impossible. In other words, in a world without righteous loyalty, even the greatest of heroes are like Ximen Qing who ultimately succumbs to the obsession with self-vindication. Thus when Ximen Qing confronts Li Ping’er about her marriage to Jiang Zhushan, he asks her “who is stronger” 誰 強, but this question does not refers to physical strength. Rather, it refers to Ximen Qing’s sexual prowess. Li Ping’er responds, “ever since I experienced love at your hands, by day and night all I 18 Lem do is long for you” 一經你手，教奴沒日沒夜 是想你 (Plum, I: 399; JPM, 19: 268). As Martin Huang aptly points out, such flattering remarks make Ximen Qing “feel vindicated,” and thus his qi, the “urge to dominate or to have absolute control over another person,” finally dissipates.29 Although Wu Song gains a sense of honor from his martial ability on the battlefield, Ximen Qing’s pride primarily derives from his sexual prowess in the bedroom. Read in this way, anger becomes a kind of self-consuming pride and desire to dominate. One might argue that such uncontrolled qi is a flaw that Wu Song now shares with Ximen Qing. The only way Wu Song can exist in the world of vice and corruption, then, is through his flaws as a hero, one of which includes his relentless fury. First of all, previous to his incarnation in Jin ping mei, Wu Song demonstrates cognizance of his qi as problematic. After killing several people at the Mandarin Duck Hall, Wu Song comments on the need to get rid of his “dirty rage” 鳥氣 through his frenzied streak of violence (SHZ, 30: 565). Here, the author of Shuihu zhuan anticipates how such anger can potentially get Wu Song in trouble; however, the author of Jin ping mei seems to problematize this aspect of Wu Song into a major flaw. In Jin ping mei, Wu Song’s qi is no longer the organic, uninhibited expression of the gallant fellow; it now constitutes a whole different meaning: a “mental greed” which “suggests intolerance, pride, jealousy, and the need to feel superior to others.”30 In Shuihu zhuan, Wu Song’s discovers the truth behind his brother’s death in a fairly unhindered manner. He collects two pieces of evidence from Coroner He: Ximen Qing’s silver bar used to bribe Coroner He to keep the coffin closed, and the blackened bones of Wu the Elder 29 Martin W. Huang, Desire and Fictional Narrative in Late Imperial China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), 106. 30 Ibid., 105. 19 Lem as proof of poisoning. Wu Song then consults with Yunge, who informs him Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing carried out an affair, as well as the latter’s attack on Wu the Elder. At first, the county magistrate refuses Wu Song’s case, until he presents the two pieces of evidence. Since the county magistrate is tied up with Ximen Qing, he again rejects Wu Song’s claims, forcing him to take the matters into his own hands (SHZ, 25: 483-92). Wu Song’s systematic approach in dealing with this matter is significant because with every step, from collecting evidence to finding witnesses, he builds a case in the eyes of the court, by which he justifies avenging Wu the Elder to the public, thereby allowing him to defend his honor as a gallant fellow. On the other hand, many details in this episode are changed in Jin ping mei to emphasize Wu Song as flawed for his rashness and anger, unable to fit into the world of corrupt human politics. Just as in the original, the spirit of Wu the Elder tells Wu Song he has suffered injustice and harbors resentment 屈啣冤; Wu Song then makes a solemn promise to requite Wu the Elder’s wrong and assuage his resentment as a brother 弟替你報 雪 (Plum, I: 178; JPM, 9: 119). But by the time Wu Song discovers the truth behind his brother’s death, Wu Song cannot confront Pan Jinlian because she has already remarried to Ximen Qing and has relocated to the Ximen household. Furthermore, contrary to what happens in Shuihu zhuan, Coroner He accepts Ximen Qing’s bribes and flees the scene. Thus when Wu Song presents his case to the county magistrate, he has no physical evidence and only the words of Yunge as testimony (JPM, 9: 122). After failing to present his case to the district magistrate and the docket officer, Wu Song storms the court in a rage. The narrator then interjects: “How was this man to find a vent for his anger?” 這漢子怎消洋這一口氣 (Plum, I: 183; JPM, 9: 123). Here the narrator does two things. First, again he refers to Wu Song as an ordinary man. Second, he underscores Wu Song’s failure as a hero, his rage. It is primarily rage that drives him to visit Ximen Qing’s pharmaceutical shop, 20 Lem where he coerces Manager Fu to tell him Ximen’s whereabouts, leading him to a wine shop on Lion Street. When Ximen Qing sees Wu Song from a window, he immediately flees. Wu Song then dashes up the stairs and recognizes Li Waizhuan from the Yamen. Knowing it was Li who told Ximen Qing about his return, a “deep rage awoke in his heart” 心中甚怒. Wu Song then kicks over tables, smashes the cups and saucers into pieces, and does not even wait for Li Waizhuan to respond before tossing him out the window, to then “race down the stairs in a relentless rage” 氣不捨奔 樓 (JPM, 9: 124).31 The changes made in this episode by the author of Jin ping mei can be understood as rewritings: descriptions used to critique Wu Song’s rage, symptomatic of an insatiable desire to vindicate himself. While Wu Song is convincing in Shuihu zhuan as a gallant fellow, someone skilled at human affairs, collecting evidence for his case, and finding ways to defend his honor appropriately, he appears less convincing in Jin ping mei: suffering from the inability to engage properly with others to avenge his dead brother. Admittedly, the impetus behind Wu Song’s rage appears to be avenging Wu the Elder, who claims to have suffered a most bitter death 死的好苦 (JPM, 9: 120). Yet if the reader is not to be misled by the author’s rhetoric, he also subtly hints at the impossibility of Wu Song as a gallant fellow. He is no longer interested in rectifying the injustice suffered by his brother; in fact, Wu Song now considers himself a victim who, in his words, “[has] suffered injustice and harbors resentment” 屈 啣 冤 (JPM, 10: 130). Such behavior does not immediately tarnish his reputation, however. Many gallant fellows in Shuihu zhuan fall victim to the law and are later rescued by others from the gallant fraternity. However, these gallant fellows never attempt to elicit pity from perpetrators or law enforcers. Not only that, one does not expect Wu Song, 31 In Shuihu zhuan, when Wu Song reaches the second floor, he finds Ximen Qing and manages to still kick over tables and smash cups and saucers, but there is no direct mentioning of Wu Song’s anger (SHZ, 25: 499). 21 Lem recognized for his martial prowess and indomitable spirit, to exaggeratedly play the victim role. In one scene, Wu Song is re-presented as a hero-turned-victim who employs a self-humbling rhetoric to get what he wants. He repeatedly protests against being treated unjustly 口口 冤 and even attempts to gain empathy from the minister: “In the past . . . there have been occasions when I exerted myself to the utmost on Your Honor’s behalf. How can you show no pity for me now? Your Honor ought not to subject me to such cruel torture” 小人平日也有與相公用力效勞 之處，相公豈不憫念？相公休要苦刑小人 (Plum, I: 189; JPM, 10: 128). Such pleads are unbecoming of a gallant fellow for a few reasons. A gallant fellow would not refer to himself as xiaoren to elicit pity, since using it in this way would tarnish his reputation in the gallant fraternity. Furthermore, Wu Song’s reference to his previous efforts in service of the minister suggest the latter owes him a debt of favor; the expectation for others to reciprocate directly goes against the mindset of the gallant fellow, for he does not keep score of favors owed to him. After re-presenting Wu Song’s as a victim, the author then underscores his duplicitous words and treacherous actions as failures of a hero, strategies which are part of Wu Song’s calculating plan to kill Pan Jinlian, by which every step is under his ruthless, meticulous control. Wu Song finally returns to Qinghe County in chapter 87. When he hears Ximen Qing is dead but Pan Jinlian is alive, his old resentment awakes in his heart 舊仇在心 (JPM, 87: 1494). In Shuihu zhuan, Wu Song avenges his brother within a few chapters. Compared with the same episode in Jin ping mei, Wu Song’s vengeance is delayed for over eighty chapters and therefore has a very different effect on the reader. In terms of the passage of time in both episodes, Wu Song has harbored intentions to avenge his brother for not a few days, but for over a period of four years in Jin ping mei. Thus readers of Shuihu zhuan would likely anticipate Wu Song will satisfy his long-awaited desire to avenge his murdered brother in Jin ping mei. Yet, Wu Song’s desire to kill 22 Lem Pan Jinlian cannot be completely explained by the motivation of avenging his brother, which is the facile explanation that readers of Shuihu zhuan would be all too familiar with. When read from the point of Wu Song’s anger and pride, in Jin ping mei he carries out “vengeance” not for his brother, but to vindicate himself by erasing the resentment he has held for so long. One important aspect of Wu Song’s plan to kill Pan Jinlian is his use of subterfuge, which is also addressed in Shuihu zhuan. A gallant fellow’s subterfuge does not necessarily taint his honor, especially when used to survive potentially fatal encounters. When Sun the Witch offers wine laced with a sedative to Wu Song, he picks up on her scheme and pretends to lose consciousness. After Sun lets her guard down, he then tackles her and the guards (SHZ, 26: 509). In another scene, Wu Song is being escorted by guards out of Mengzhou to the Flying-Cloud Ponds, where he sees more guards coming his way. Eight-tenths sure they are going to kill him, Wu Song pretends to have seen nothing, and after making a comment about relieving himself, he dispatches all four guards (SHZ, 29: 555). In these examples, one can read Wu Song’s subterfuge as heroic guile, because his circumstances have forced him fight his way out of precarious situations in order to survive. In contrast, the author of Jin ping mei portrays him as someone whose shrewd tactics contradict with his heroic behavior. Thus Wu Song’s gallant fellow identity is not the main focus in this episode; instead, the complex shift of his character is primarily at stake once he returns, having become an astute, calculating strategist who exercises domineering control in his revenge scheme. Feigning abidance to propriety 禮 is an integral part of Wu Song’s plan. Remembering how Dame Wang cared for his niece Ying’er and Wu the Elder’s house, Wu Song feigns modesty and promises to “return his gratitude” 相謝 in the future. Dame Wang then comments he now has a “knowledge of etiquette” 知禮. Next, Wu Song proposes to marry Pan Jinlian, to 23 Lem supposedly “keep the whole household together and live together, without arousing the derision of others” 一家一計過日子，庶不教人笑話. Dame Wang again comments on Wu Song’s knowledge of etiquette and even praises him for being a “truly gallant fellow” 真是好漢 [italics my emphasis] (JPM, 87: 1494-95).32 Dame Wang’s words are ironic because what she considers “true” is actually false. This is to say, Wu Song visits Dame Wang and Pan Jinlian not for the purpose of assisting the household or preserving the honor of his family, as Dame Wang believes. Unlike Wu Song’s behavior in Shuihu zhuan, where he applies tactics for survival or heroic feat, here tactics are used for personal revenge. He appears completely aloof from the common concerns of the gallant fellow. For Wu Song, now re-presented as more callous and indifferent, maintaining honor by using the right means to achieve a goal becomes insignificant. Like a god, he remains coolly distanced from such mundane concerns. Moreover, if for Dame Wang, the gallant fellow is expected to know etiquette, then in Jin ping mei, he is not the stalwart, valiant hero, nor the staunch defender of righteous loyalty as depicted in Shuihu zhuan. The gallant fellow is epitomized by Wu Song as a detached, taciturn god-like character with no concern for righteous loyalty: showing no qualms about boldly claiming to marry his sister-in-law and discounting the consequence of how such a claim might damage his reputation in the gallant fraternity. Not only that, in such a lack of concern for the consequence of his actions, Wu Song’s failings as a hero become more apparent. In Shuihu zhuan, he declares that “propriety must be observed” 禮不可缺 (SHZ, 25: 493) and conducts revenge in public, with all his neighbors as witnesses. They later become key elements in evidence-building to justify the murders and prove 32 I have slightly modified David Roy’s translation in Plum, vol. 5, 120-1. 24 Lem his actions were based on righteous loyalty. In contrast, his revenge in Jin ping mei occurs within the private confinements of the home, with only his niece Ying’er as witness, no longer concerned for how the public eye perceives him. Wu Song’s primary concern is self-vindication: to put his old resentments to rest by making those who made him suffer pay, instead of rectifying injustices, defending righteous loyalty, and appeasing the tortured soul of his elder brother. Immediately after Wu Song sacrifices Pan Jinlian in front of Wu the Elder’s spirit tablet, he leaves his niece to destitution (JPM, 87: 1499) who, now without father or guardian, indirectly becomes a victim of Wu Song’s violence: failing to prove his resolve in maintaining his righteousness as a gallant fellow.33 His ruthless behavior does not stop here. After Dame Wang calls out “murder,” Wu Song kills her right away and plans on murdering her son; he then pilfers Dame Wang’s silver and jewelry and immediately escapes (JPM, 87: 1499). Last, the author provides an elegiac poem mourning the death of Pan Jinlian, stressing she “died a most bitter death” 死得好苦也 (JPM, 87: 1499). In this careful placed and familiar phrase, we are reminded of the spirit of Wu the Elder who uttered the exact same words [死得好苦] (JPM, 9: 120). However, given Wu Song’s obsession with revenge, symptomatic of his self-consuming pride, he seems to have forgotten all about Wu the Elder and neglects to burn the spirit tablet as he does in Shuihu zhuan (SHZ, 26: 503). Although in Jin ping mei, Wu Song succeeds in killing Pan Jinlian and thereby avenges Wu the Elder in the mortal world, his failure to burn the spirit tablet prevents the spirit of Wu the Elder from ascending to heaven 生天界.34 In other words, Wu Song no longer demonstrates resolve to exact vengeance for the purpose of calming the spirit 33 As Martin Huang notes, how the gallant fellow conducts himself in relation to women is a crucial test of his resolve to maintain honor. See Martin Huang, Negotiating Masculinities in Late Imperial China, 107. 34 Wu Song’s intention to calm the soul of Wu the Elder so that he can ascend to heaven is mentioned in SHZ, 26: 501. 25 Lem of Wu the Elder. On the contrary, he is motivated towards vengeful action as a means to aggrandize his ego. In short, the re-presentation of Wu Song in this vengeance scene becomes more significant when read as part of the author’s rhetoric, by which he critiques Wu Song as inauthentic, aloof, and duplicitous. He is no longer a courageous and upright hero, but quite the opposite: merely an “ordinary man” 漢子 full of cunning, anger, and pride, who is “truly ruthless” 端的好狠也 (JPM, 87: 1498). What makes Jin ping mei unique is, indeed, its thematic departure from righteous loyalty and gallant fellows, to concerns of human vices and corruption. In this way, Jin ping mei differs tremendously compared with Shuihu zhuan, which provides the accounts of how each hero is forced to ascend Mt. Liang to become part of the gallant fraternity and, by extension, an opposition to the emperor. Yet, one cannot satisfactorily understand the literary genius of Jin ping mei without first considering its relationship to Shuihu zhuan, specifically how the author of Jin ping mei read and interpreted the latter, to then rewrite one episode into a novel full of several agendas, one of which is to critique the sworn loyalty rhetoric. If sworn loyalty is glorified in Shuihu zhuan, then the author of Jin ping mei considers it to be impossible in his fictive world. Such criticisms appear most lucidly in the author’s rewriting of the gallant fellow image, specifically Wu Song, whose martial prowess, resourcefulness, and fervor are represented as inauthentic and therefore the greatest failings of a hero. 26