The Jottings of Unsagacious Lu

On Shi Nai’an’s epic of brotherhood, banditry, and rough justice, The Water Margin, with miscellaneous excursions

POSTS:

• Water Margin Chp 10: Sinecures can be overrated.
  After a hiatus from my reading–imposed by professional commitments and other annoyances–I am happily back reading Shi Nai’an in front of a fire cracking away in a wood stove, an ice cold domestic brew cracked, next to me. Where were we . . . ? Panther Head Lin Chong hears a familiar voice calling his
• Water Margin Chp 9: A Weekend with Small Whirlwind
  Now follows an episode immortalized in the Peking Opera (see “Wild Boar Forest” here). As the guards go in for the kill, … from behind the pine tree came a thunderous road as a solid iron rod shot forward, intercepted the staff and sent it flying into the sky. Then out leaped a big fat
• Water Margin Chp 8: Sun the Buddha’s clerkship, unlawful open carry, and bribes high and low
  Lin Chong is apprehended by the Imperial Guards. The commander, Marshal Gao, orders his transfer to the Kaifeng Prefect (the civil authority) for examination and execution. Lin Chong is imprisoned; his family send him food and tip the jailers, “bribing high and low.” Eventually, Lin Chong pleads his case before the Prefect. Luckily for Lin
• Water Margin Chp 7: Vendetta with “The King of Lechers”
  The ruffians approaching Sagacious Lu alongside the ordure pit are no match for the tattooed monk. Lu sees their attack coming, kicks their legs out from under them, and hurls them into the filth. Lu bursts out laughing and invites the ruffians into the monastery’s compound after they have cleaned themselves. There the gang of
• Water Margin Chp 6: Murder & post-prandial arson . . . nothing like seeing old friends!
  Sagacious Lu follows the sound of temple bells up a mountain path through a thick pine forest, arriving at a dilapidated building marked as the Waguan Monastery. Seeking food and shelter, Lu wanders through the abandoned ruins of the complex, until he finds a small group of old monks huddled in a room behind the

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