Ruan Xiaoer
| Ruan Xiaoer | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Tai Sui Who Stands His Ground" (立地太歲) |
| Rank | 27th, Sword Star (天劍星) of the 36 Heavenly Spirits |
| Navy leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Fisherman |
| Hometown | Shijie Village, Shandong |
| First appearance | Chapter 15 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 阮小二 |
| Traditional Chinese | 阮小二 |
| Pinyin | Ruǎn Xiǎoèr |
| Wade-Giles | Juan Hsiao-erh |
Ruan Xiaoer, also known as Ruan the Second, is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 27th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Tai Sui Who Stands His Ground".
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Water Margin describes Ruan Xiaoer as a muscular man with a sharp face, a wide mouth, a cold gleam in his eyes and some yellow hair on his chest. Ruan Xiaoer is the older brother of Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi. They live in Shijie Village, Shandong, and earn their living by fishing and trading illegally on the river.
[edit] Becoming an outlaw
The Ruan brothers join Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng and Liu Tang in robbing the convoy of birthday gifts for the Imperial Tutor, Cai Jing. The seven men become wanted criminals after the robbery and they flee to Liangshan Marsh for refuge after defeating soldiers sent to arrest them.
Wang Lun, the incomptent and selfish leader of the outlaw band on Liangshan, refuses to accept the seven men and try to send them away with gifts. However, Wu Yong instigates Lin Chong into killing Wang Lun, and Chao Gai is elected as the new chief of Liangshan. Ruan Xiaoer is ranked sixth among all the heroes present then.
Ruan Xiaoer becomes an active member of the Liangshan naval force and participates in several of the battles against the enemies of Liangshan. He makes a major contribution during the first imperial assault. The Ruan brothers sabotage enemy cannons and lure Ling Zhen into a trap on the river. They capsize his boat and capture him later. Ling Zhen is persuaded by Song Jiang to join the Liangshan cause.
[edit] Campaigns and death
Ruan Xiaoer becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan navy after the Grand Assembly. After the outlaws are granted amnesty by the emperor, Ruan Xiaoer follows them on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and other rebel forces.
During the Fang La campaign, Ruan Xiaoer is assigned to lead the attack on the enemy's naval base at Black Dragon Ridge. The enemy bombards Ruan's ship heavily with cannon fire. Ruan Xiaoer is trapped in a sea of fire and he attempts to escape by diving into the water. Enemy soldiers use hooks to grab hold of him. Ruan Xiaoer is afraid of being captured by the enemy and suffer humiliation, thus he draws his sword and commits suicide.
[edit] References
- (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 55. EPB Publishers Pte Ltd, 1992. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
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