Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan, sometimes abbreviated to Shui Hu), also translated 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 novel attributed to Shi Nai'an. Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, the novel is written in vernacular Chinese rather than Classical Chinese. The story, set in the Song Dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers 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. It has introduced to readers many of the most well known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen. Water Margin was based on the exploits of the outlaw Song Jiang and his 36 companions. The group was active in the Huainan region and surrendered to the Song government in 1121. They were recorded in the his...