Shi En
| Shi En | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
| Nickname | "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub" (金眼彪) |
| Rank | 85th, Concealment Star (地伏星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Infantry leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Prison warden from Anping Outpost |
| Hometown | Mengzhou, Jiaozuo, Henan |
| First appearance | Chapter 28 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 施恩 |
| Traditional Chinese | 施恩 |
| Pinyin | Shī Ēn |
| Wade-Giles | Shih En |
Shi En is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 85th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 49th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub".
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Water Margin describes Shi En as a handsome man standing six chi tall with a fair complexion and a beard. He is nicknamed "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub". Shi En is the son of the commander of Anping Outpost, a prison camp for exiled convicts in Mengzhou, Jiaozuo, Henan.
[edit] Meeting Wu Song
Wu Song is sentenced to exile in Mengzhou after killing Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing to avenge his brother. According to a law passed down since Emperor Taizu's time, every new convict who enters the prison must be flogged 100 times. The corporal punishment is meant to tame unruly and arrogant prisoners who enter prison for the first time. Shi En respects Wu Song as a hero and succeeds in persuading his father to spare Wu from the beating on the excuse that Wu appears to be ill.
Wu Song is led to a clean cell and provided with luxuries everyday. Wu Song is grateful towards Shi En and wants to repay him for his kindness. Shi En tells Wu Song that he used to run a restaurant called "Forest of Delight" (快活林). A hooligan called Jiang Zhong, nicknamed "Jiang the Door God", came one day and beat him up and took over his restaurant. Wu Song promises to help Shi En take back the restaurant.
Wu Song defeats Jiang Zhong in a fight and warns Jiang never to return to Mengzhou and orders Jiang to apologise to Shi En. Jiang Zhong resents Wu Song and he bribes Inspector Zhang to help him. Inspector Zhang invites Wu Song to his residence and frames him for theft later. Wu Song is arrested and sentenced to exile once more. Meanwhile, Jiang Zhong returns to the restaurant and seizes it back from Shi En by force.
[edit] Becoming an outlaw
The guards escorting Wu Song into exile have been bribed by Jiang Zhong to kill him along the way. However, Wu Song senses something amiss and he kills the guards and escapes. He returns to Mengzhou and kills Inspector Zhang and Jiang Zhong. He flees from Mengzhou and goes to join the outlaws on Mount Twin Dragons with help from Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang. Shi En also leaves Mengzhou with his family at that time. He joins the outlaws later after the deaths of his parents.
[edit] Campaigns and death
Shi En follows the outlaws back to Liangshan Marsh after the great battle at Qingzhou (in present-day Shandong) and joins the Liangshan cause of "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf". He becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry after the Grand Assembly. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces after they have been granted amnesty by the emperor. During the Fang La campaign, Shi En follows the Ruan brothers on a naval assault on the enemy territory of Kunshan, but falls into the river by accident and drowns.
[edit] References
- (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 171. EPB Publishers Pte Ltd, 1992. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
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