Abstract
The Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan水滸傳) is one of the greatest Chinese novels. Since its publication over three centuries ago, there have been different interpretations of the moral significance of the actions performed by the outlaws gathering at the mountain of the Liang (Liangshan梁山). These Liangshan outlaws have generally been praised for their courage and faithfulness to colleagues; they, however, also perform wanton killing; over retribution, in addition to cannibalism; excessive drinking; etc.
Liu Zaifu, a prominent contemporary literary writer, describes the Water Margin as the Chinese people's“doors to Hell.” He claims that, despite its great literary achievement, the novel itself contains contorted values and problematic moralities. On his view, the outlaws’ killing of innocent victims indicates that they do not respect people’s rights and dignity. As a result, the promotion of the values in regard to this novel would contaminate the minds and souls of the Chinese people.
In this paper, I disagree with Liu, and I will explain an important virtue in the Water Margin, viz., the virtue of zhixing (直性). I believe that acts of the major outlaws show us how a person may live his life with an authentic style. I illustrate my point with reference to Wu Song’s killing of his sister-in-law. My view is that this action can be viewed as a meaningful revenge, a well-conducted ritual, as well as a significant moral achievement in Wu’s life. Toward the end of the paper, I explain the implication of this discussion on the subject of moral education. I believe that there is a connection between the virtue of zhixing and the everyday virtues which schools teach children in modern society. Zhixing provides an agent with an impetus for self-discovery and self-transcendence, whereas the everyday virtues will be the horizon on which the agent and his fellow members in society construct the fabrics of life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
There are other translations of the title as well, such as J. Dent-Young and A. Dent-Young’s (1997) The Marshes of Mount Liang. In this chapter, I will use Water Margin to represent this novel.
- 2.
Earlier versions of the stories of some characters can be found in Li (1939) Daisong shuanhe yishi (Some Stories of Song During the ShuanHe Years).
- 3.
- 4.
There are altogether 108 characters, and 36 of them are the main ones, each with a different personality and mannerism.
- 5.
This important part is characteristically deleted by Jin Shengtan (2007) in his 70-chapter edition Diwucaizishu shinaian shuihuzhuan 第五才子書施耐庵水滸傳 (The Fifth Talented Scholar’s Work: Shi Nai-an Water Margin). Jin’s edition is generally referred as the Guanhuatang ben. In this chapter, I will use “Guanhuatang” to stand for this edition, viz., Shui Hu Zhuan (Jin 2007), and “Rongyutang” to stand for the 100-chapter edition, which is commented by Li Zhi (2004).
- 6.
Records have shown that in Ming’s Qiong Jing 15 (1642) and in Ching’s Qiang Lung 19 (1754), there were such restrictive policies. On the prohibition in Ming period, see Mingching shiliao yibian deshiben 明清史料乙編第十本, bingke chaochuxingke yougeishizhong zuomaodi tiben 兵科抄出刑科右給事中左懋第題本, cited from Zhu and Liu (2002, pp. 448–450); on the prohibition in Ching period, see Jiangxi ancha yamenkan 江西按察衙門刊, dingli huibian 定例匯編, juansan jisi 卷三祭祀, cited from Wang (1981).
- 7.
Li Zhi 李贄, Lizhuowuxiansheng piping zhongyishuihuzhuan 李卓吾先生批評忠義水滸傳; Jin Shengtan, Diwucaizishu shinaian shuihuzhuan; Wang wuang-ru 王望如, Pinglun chuxiang shuihuzhuan 評論出像水滸傳; Yan Nanshangsheng 燕南尚生, Xinping shuihuzhuan 新評水滸傳, Guo Yingde 郭英德, Lun shuihuzhuan de sixiangyiyi 論水滸傳的思想意義in Shuihu zhengming desiji 水滸爭鳴第 4 輯,etc.
- 8.
I will be using the term “heroes” instead of the more cumbersome “heroes and heroines” in the rest of this chapter. I do so to follow the conventional terms of reference; I am not ignoring the fact that there are female members too among the Liangshan outlaws.
- 9.
According to Griffin (2008, pp. 9, 11), the term “natural rights” was replaced by “human rights” in the eighteenth century, after the establishment of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in France. For the development of the concept of “human rights” during the enlightenment period, see the works of Pufendorf (1934, p. 201) and Locke (1975: II. xxi. 55). On the presumption of innocence, see Declaration of the Rights of Man [DRM], 1789, Article 7 (Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library 2008), and Masferrer (2010, p. 25).
- 10.
Besides Confucianism, there is also the influence of Legalism, especially from Shang Yang (商鞅), who introduced the legal reforms in Qin, one of which was collective punishment (連坐). I am grateful for Tang Siufu, who mentioned this point to me.
- 11.
Booth (1988, p. 3) quotes Paul Moses’ remark, “That book is just bad education, and the fact that it’s so cleverly written makes it even more troublesome to me.”
- 12.
This is not to say that there is no moral lesson we can learn from the main characters of the novel, as I indicated that the novel’s storyline reveals the values of zhixing, which is an important virtue for the moral development of modern city dwellers.
- 13.
“Notional confrontation resembles real confrontation in that there are persons who are aware of S1 and S2, and aware of their differences; it differs from it in that at least one of S1 and S2 do not present a real option to them.” See also Williams (2006, pp. 152–162).
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
One interpretation – which Qian Mu calls the Daoist understanding – of this statement is that a person will be living in accordance with Dao if he does not conceal his inner nature but expresses it in his actions (Qian 1979, pp. 90–92).
- 17.
The statement is from Hanshu (book 13), Yiwenzhi 藝文志. (Ban 1962, p. 1746).
- 18.
Geuss (2005, p. 87) describes this kind of virtue as “bourgeois virtue.”
- 19.
In Analects 6.9, Confucius states that being direct and straightforward will inherently contribute to a person’s well-being, whereas the insincere and deceitful person will live in a way which leads to his own downfall.
- 20.
Foucault: “What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals, or to life. … But couldn’t everyone’s life become a work of art? Why should the lamp or the house be an art object, but not our life?” (Rabinow 1984, p. 343 and pp. 348–50); see also McGinn (1997, p. 97): “Virtue equals beauty plus the soul, to put it crudely. The particular kind of beauty proper to the soul is what virtue consists in.”
- 21.
In what follows, the essay number and the section number of this book will be represented in short form, that is, GMI, s10.
- 22.
Geuss (2005, p. 87): “Heroic virtue is a matter of achievement and competition; bourgeois virtue, a matter of cooperation in a social context.”
- 23.
For an objection to this point, see The John Locke Lectures 2014: “Anger and Forgiveness” by Nussbaum (2016).
- 24.
In Rongyutang, chapter 24 二十四回 (Li 2004, pp. 332–334).
- 25.
Wu Song often addressed the neighbors as “my respectful neighbors” (gaolin 高鄰) and he often held his fists (changnuo 唱諾) before he made any announcement. In Rongyutang, chapter 26 二十六回 (Li 2004).
- 26.
Compare Aristotle’s great-souled man: “Nor is he mindful of wrongs; for it is not the part of a great-souled man to have a long memory, especially for wrongs, but rather to overlook them” (1125a). This quotation is taken from Leiter (2002, p. 12). On how the noble man tends to forget, see ibid., p. 218.
- 27.
Nietzsche (1997, p. 10): “While the noble man is confident and frank with himself …, the man of ressentiment is neither upright nor naive, nor honest and straight with himself. His soul squints; his mind loves dark corners, secret paths and back-doors, everything secretive appeals to him as being his world, his security, his comfort; he knows all about keeping quiet, not forgetting, waiting, temporarily humbling and abasing himself.”
References
Adams, R. M. (2006). A theory of virtue. Oxford: Clarendon.
Ban, G. (1962). Han shu. 漢書. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju.
Booth, W. C. (1988). The company we keep : An ethics of fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chen, X. B. (2006). Shui hu zhuan yuan liu kao lun. 水滸傳源流考論. Beijing Shi: Ren min wen xue chu ban she.
Copp, D., & Sobel, D. (2004). Morality and virtue: An assessment of some recent work in virtue ethics. Ethics, 114(3), 514–554.
Cox, D. (2006). Agent-based theories of right action. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 9, 505–515.
Crisp, R., & Slote, M. (1997). Virtue ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Das, R. (2003). Virtue ethics and right action. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 81(3), 324–339.
Dent-Young, J., & Dent-Young, A. (1997). The marshes of Mount Liang. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Gao, R. 高儒 (2005). Bai chuan shi zhi. 百川書志. Shanghai: Shanghai gu ji chu ban she.
Geuss, R. (2005). Outside ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Griffin, J. (2008). On human rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hursthouse, R. (1999). On virtue ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hu, Y. L. 胡應麟 (1985). Shao shi shan fang bi cong zheng ji. 少室山房筆叢. Taibei: Taiwan shang wu yin shu guan.
Jin, S. T. (2007). Di wu cai zi shu shi nai an shui hu zhuan. 第五才子書施耐庵水滸傳 Beijing: Dangdai shi jie chu ban she.
Kumārajīva. (2005). Xin yi wei mo jie jing 新譯維摩詰經 (trans: Chen, Y.). Taibei Shi: San min shu ju gu fen you xian gong si.
Lau, D. C. (1979). Confucius: The analects (trans: Lau, D. C.). New York: Penguin Books.
Leiter, B. (2002). The philosophy guidebook to Nietzsche and Morality. London: Routledge.
Legge, J. (1885). Sacred books of the east (Vol. 28, Part 4) (trans.). The Li Ki [Reprinted in Sturgeon (2011)]. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/liji
Li, L. W. 黎烈文. (1939). Dai song shuan he yi shi. 大宋宣和遺事 Changsha: Shang wu yin shu guan.
Li, Z. (2004). Li Zhuowu xian sheng pi ping zhong yi Shui hu zhuan. 李卓吾先生批評忠義水滸傳 Beijing: Beijing tu shu guan chu ban she.
Liang, Y. 郎瑛. (1995). Qi xiu lei gao. 七修類稿 Shanghai: Shanghai gu ji chu ban she.
Liu, Z. F. 劉再復. (2010a). Shuang dian pi pan: dui “Shui hu zhuan” he “San guo yan yi” de wen hua pi pan. 雙典批判 : 對《水滸傳》和《三國演義》的文化批判 Beijing Shi: Sheng huo, du shu, xin zhi san lian shu dian.
Liu, Z. F. 劉再復. (2010b). Jiao yu, mei yu yu ren de sheng ming zhi liang. 教育、美育與人的生命質量 Xueshupinglun,學術評論 3, 15–17.
Locke, J. (1975). An essay concerning human understanding. (Nidditche, P. H. Ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Masferrer, A. (2010). The liberal state and criminal law reform in Spain. In M. Swllers & T. Tomaszewski (Eds.), The rule of law in comparative perspective (pp. 19–40). New York: Springer.
McGinn, C. (1997). Ethics, evil and fiction. Oxford: Clarendon.
Mencius. (2004). Mencius (trans: Lau, D. C.). London: Penguin.
Mordoch, I. (1997). Existentialists and mystics: Writings on philosophy and literature. New York: Allen Lane.
Nietzsche, F. (1994). On the genealogy of morality; and other writings (trans: Diethe, C.). K. Ansell-Pearson, & C. Diethe (Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (2001). Gay science (trans: Nauckhoff, J.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nussbaum, M. (2016). Anger and forgiveness: resentment, generosity, justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Plaks, A. H. (1987). The four masterworks of the Ming novel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Pufendorf, S. (1934). On the law of nature and nations (trans: Oldfather, C.H. & Oldfather, W.A.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Qian, M. (1979). Cong Zhong guolishi Lai Kan Zhongguo Minzuxing ji Zhongguowenhua. 從中國歷史來看中國民族性及中國文化 Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.
Rabinow, P. (Ed.). (1984). Foucault reader. New York: Random House.
Schacht, R. (Ed.). (2001). Nietzsche’s postmoralism: Essays on Nietzsche’s prelude to philosophy’s future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shi, N. A. (1999). Outlaws of the Marsh (trans: Shapiro, S.). Hunan: Hunan People’s Publishing House.
Shi N. A. 施耐庵 & Luo, G. Z 羅貫中. (2002) Ming jia ping dian “Shui hu zhuan”. 名家評點《水滸傳》Beijing: Xin hua chu ban she.
Swanton, C. (2001). A virtue ethical account of right action. Ethics, 112, 32–52.
Wang, L. Q. 王利器 (1981). Yuan Ming Qing san dai jin hui xiao shuo xi qu shi liao. 元明清三代禁毀小說戲曲史料 Shanghai: Shanghai gu ji chu ban she.
Williams, B. (1981). Moral luck: Philosophical papers 1973–1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, B. (2006). Ethics and the limits of philosophy. London: Routledge.
Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. (2008). Declaration of the rights of man. Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
Zhu Y. X. 朱一玄& Liu, Y. C. 劉毓忱 (Eds.). (2002). Shui hu zhuan zi liao hui bian. 水滸傳資料匯編 Tianjin Shi: Nan kai da xue chu ban she.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sin, W. (2016). The Water Margin, Moral Degradation, and the Virtue of Zhixing . In: Lam, CM., PARK, J. (eds) Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 29. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-940-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-940-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-938-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-940-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)