Wang Yin (Water Margin)

Wang Yin
Water Margin character
Also known as	"Secretary Wang" (王尚書)
Secretary of Military Affairs of Fang La
Origin	Stone craftsman
Ancestral home / Place of origin	Shezhou (present-day She County, Anhui)
Weapon	Bronze spear
Names
Simplified Chinese	王寅
Traditional Chinese	王寅
Pinyin	Wáng Yín
Wade–Giles	Wang Yin

Wang Yin is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He serves as an official under Fang La, a rebel leader who established a separatist regime in southern China against the ruling Song Empire. Fang La is one of the rebel leaders that the 108 Liangshan outlaws have to defeat after they have been granted amnesty by the Song government. Wang Yin holds the position of "Secretary of Military Affairs" in Fang La's rebel state.

Life

Wang Yin is from Shezhou (歙州; present-day She County, Huangshan City, Anhui), where he used to be a stone craftsman. Well versed in scholarly and military arts, he holds the appointment of "Secretary of Military Affairs" (兵部尚書) in Fang La's rebel state. In battle, he wields a bronze spear and rides on a stallion, Zhuan Shan fei (轉山飛), which moves across mountainous terrain and water as though it were treading on flat land.

During the battle of Shezhou against Liangshan forces loyal to the Song Empire, Wang Yin sets pitfall traps near the city gates and lures Liangshan's Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo into the traps, where they meet their ends. When the city is overrun by Liangshan forces, he attempts to break out of the encirclement and encounters Shi Yong and Li Yun, who try to stop him. He slays Shi Yong while his horse tramples Li Yun to death. After that, he runs into Sun Li, Huang Xin, Zou Yuan and Zou Run, and fights with all four of them. He manages to hold them off until Lin Chong shows up and joins the battle. Wang Yin is eventually slain by the combined efforts of the five Liangshan heroes.

References

• Template:Zh icon Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 217. EPB Publishers Pte Ltd, 1992. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
• Buck, Pearl. All Men are Brothers. Moyer Bell Ltd, 2006. ISBN 9781559213035.
• Zhang, Lin Ching. Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House, 2009. ISBN 978-7506344784.
• Keffer, David. Outlaws of the Marsh.
• Miyamotois, Yoko. Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits.
• Template:Jp icon Ichisada, Miyazaki. Suikoden: Kyoko no naka no Shijitsu. Chuo Koronsha, 1993. ISBN 978-4122020559.
• Shibusawa, Kou. Bandit Kings of Ancient China. KOEI, 1989.