The concept of the “Mandate of Heaven” is one of the oldest of political concepts and it was developed during the Shang (1600–1046 BCE) and the Zhou Dynasties (1045–256 BCE). The Mandate of Heaven was the legitimization theory of rule which determined that political legitimacy of the King (and later Emperor) was derived from the approval of “Heaven.” Accordingly, the King, or the “Son of Heaven” (Tian Zi), was charged by Heaven to rule “All Under Heaven” (Tianxia) and to care for the people. Conversely, if this socio-political contract was not fulfilled; if the King did not rule wisely or care for the people, Heaven would indicate the loss of the Mandate of Heaven through signs and portents such as natural disasters (such disasters as floods from neglected levee banks, famine from failed crops and the absence of famine relief, may be interpreted in the modern day as the results of the neglect of public infrastructure and administration). Just as importantly the loss of the Mandate of Heaven would also be demonstrated by the loss of the approval and support for the King from the ordinary people. It was Mencius, the “second sage” of Confucianism, who consolidated much of the pre-Confucian and early Confucian thought and articulated the concept of the Mandate of Heaven in Confucian terms which would persist to the present day. In articulating the Mandate of Heaven in Confucian terms “Heaven sees as the people see, Heaven hears as the people hear,”10 Mencius entrenched the concept of “the right to rebellion” within the Confucian socio-political framework. Therefore, the failure or the absence of Confucian virtues from the King or the Emperor would ultimately lead to socio-political chaos, with a systemic failure of society and order. Consequently these human indications, along with the signs and portents directly from Heaven itself, would point to the loss of the Mandate of Heaven, and signal the right of the people to rebel and install a new leader chosen by the people and approved by Heaven.
It is here in this reciprocity of the Confucian socio-political order and the loss of the Mandate of Heaven that lies at the core of The Water Margin story. In The Water Margin we see the breadth of these Confucian virtues laid out for our heroes to display, and the lack of those virtues in our villains and wider Song society. Just as the villainous ministers, corrupt officials and the cruel and uncaring society demonstrate the loss of Confucian virtue, The Water Margin portrays the bandits of Liangshan Marsh as rebels within the Confucian political framework. The Liangshan bandits are loyal, virtuous, righteous and benevolent rebels, committing their crimes and sometimes atrocities against the unjust (and paradoxically, many innocent bystanders) in the name of loyalty to the Song Emperor and the Song state. Similarly, there also the bandits who commit crimes of astonishing barbarity and brutality in the name of Confucian virtues such as filial piety, loyalty, and righteousness against adulterous women and their lovers and against those who have exploited or harmed the innocent. Their acts of violence, their atrocities, and even acts of sadism are carried out on the unjust and unvirtuous as acts of virtue, righteousness, and loyalty in themselves, without any sense of contradiction.
While the Liangshan heroes serve to illustrate uncompromising expressions of Confucian virtue, the fates of the victims of their “crimes of virtue” serve to illustrate the consequences of when even the most virtuous behaviors are taken to the extreme. The most obvious examples of this form of “extremist Confucian virtue” are clearly found in the fates of the adulterous women, Yan Poxi, Pan Qiaoyun, and Madame Lu. Each are not only murdered in the name of Confucian virtue, but they are also subjected to the most barbarous and brutal of treatment, including disembowelment and dismemberment (and in one instance, being literally torn apart by bare hands). Likewise, the inherent barbarism of extremist Confucian virtue can also be found in the form of officially state sanctioned punishment. The associated stories of the corrupt and unvirtuous, while serving a purpose of highlighting the Confucian virtue of the heroes, also provide a glimpse of the drudgery and misery of life in a society of a dynasty in decline.11 We see women such as Yan Poxi forced by poverty to act as mistresses for rich men, while other people such as Old Jin and his daughter are mercilessly exploited by bullies such as the Butcher Zheng.12 In the notionally virtuous Confucian state with a meritocratic civil service, we find the unvirtuous promoted to the highest offices in the state, such as Prime Minister Cai Jing, while the worthless are likewise promoted to high office through flattery and patronage, such as the idler Gao Qiu, whose only skill is his ability to impress the Crown Prince (and later Emperor) at football.13 We find that a lack of virtue is systemic throughout the corrupt state and government, with almost every level of senior and minor civil servants, ranging from ministers and magistrates to policemen and prison guards open to bribery, corruption, calculated brutality, and negligence to duty and to the law.
The portrayal of the most strident of the rebels among the Liangshan Marsh bandits as the most upright of Confucian characters is juxtaposed against the corruption of officials, the abuse of power, sexual infidelity, and moral decay. In doing so, we are reminded of the consequences of the collapse of reciprocal expression of loyalty, fidelity, and benevolence from the state. Therefore when we view the characters and the storyline in The Water Margin through the context of rigid Confucian values, we begin to appreciate the “virtue” in some of the seeming “unvirtuous” heroes. In Song Jiang, the eventual head of the Liangshan bandits, we have a clear model of Confucian virtue. A clerk of a county magistrate’s court (and therefore a genuine Confucian archetype), Song Jiang is renowned throughout the land for his filial piety, benevolence, compassion, and generosity; he is the help of the poor and the helpless. Even after he accidentally kills his greedy mistress (whom he keeps out of compassion for her poverty) and is forced into banditry to escape corrupt officials, Song Jiang yearns for Imperial amnesty and a chance to resume his Imperial service. Similarly, the clearly virtuous heroes such as Lu Junyi, Lin Chong, Wu Song, and Dai Zong also become outlaws when they become the unfortunate victims of corrupt officials or commit crimes in the name of Confucian virtue against the unvirtuous or the corrupt. In contrast to these exemplars of virtue, it is sometimes harder to see the virtue in the vulgar, hard drinking, hard swearing, and hard fighting characters of Lu Da (Zhishen) and Li Kui. However, underneath the surface we do see their virtue shining through, despite their rough and sometime brutal personae. While they may be rough and ready soldiers, they are undoubtedly loyal and righteous—Lu Da is a help of the helpless, and Li Kui really does love his mother.
Commentary and editorship of Jin Shengtan
The authorship of The Water Margin is normally ascribed to Shi Naian (ca. 1296–1372 CE), though there has been substantial debate as to its true authorship. Some commentators consider Shi Naian as a non de plume of Luo Guanzhong (ca. 1315–1400 CE), the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), while yet other commentators consider The Water Margin to be a collaborative effort between Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong.14 Throughout the Ming Dynasty, The Water Margin was further edited and commented upon by various editors until it reached its most definitive form in the 120 Chapter version edited by Li Zhi ca.1592.15 In the two hundred and fifty odd years until 1641, the story of the Liangshan Marsh bandits followed the adventures of the heroes becoming outlaws, rebelling against the corruption of local officials and then being amnestied and pardoned before entering the service of the Imperial government.
However, in 1641, Jin Shengtan published the penultimate evolution of The Water Margin by excising the final fifty chapters of the text where the Liangshan bandits gain their pardon