Fang Xi
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Fang Xi (方腊) was a rebel in the Song Dynasty and also a nemesis of the 108 heroes of Liangshan in the epic Chinese tale, the Water Margin.
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[edit] Pronunciation of the name
The Han characters "方腊" are pronounced as "Fang Xi" rather than "Fang La," a mistransliteration in the Shapiro translation. The confusion was caused when the character "腊" was used as a simplified version of another character "臘" (pronounced as "la"). In fact, the character "腊" was not a simplified character during the Song Dynasty, but another character pronounced as "xi".
[edit] The Fang Xi Rebellion
The Fang Xi Rebellion took place nearing the end of the northern Song period in China. Fang Xi was by occupation a lumberjack. Being a man from south of the Yangtse River, he became frustrated and angry at the growing corruption in the Song emperor's court. Given that this frustration was shared by many of his compatriots who suffered from the same poverty and neglect he found himself well supported. By gaining massive support and rallying troops south of the Yangtse River, he became formidable enough to challenge the emperor in the north. Soon enough, by conquering and gaining control of vast amounts of land south of the Yangtse, Fang Xi set up his own court and declared himself emperor.
Fang Xi's rebellion was eventually crushed by united local armies organized by the corrupt officials he sought to destroy. Afterwards, Fang Xi was captured and killed.
In contrast to the Water Margin, Fang Xi never did encounter a force such as Song Jiang's 108 heroes, or even encounter Song himself who was of another time period.
[edit] Water Margin
The classic Chinese epic novel The Water Margin presents a semi-fictional account of Fang Xi and his battle with the Liangshan outlaws. After Song Jiang and the outlaws defeated the Imperial Court, which despatched troops time and time again to attack Liangshan Marsh, the Emperor decided to grant them amnesty after listening to their account that they were forced to become outlaws and they wanted to serve their country. After the outlaws have been granted amnesty, the Emperor sent them on campaigns against the Liao Tartars in the north and the other rebels in the south. Fang Xi was one of the southern rebel leaders, with the others being Wang Qing and Tian Hu.
Whilst the Liangshan contingent suffered hardly any casualties up till the point of the defeat of the Liao Tartars, the campaign against Fang Xi proved to be calamitous. Only 30-odd heroes survived the brutal and bloody war, while a majority of the rest were killed in action by several of Fang's subordinates.
Fang Xi was eventually captured by the Liangshan heroes after an elaborate infiltration scheme involving Chai Jin. He was gagged and tied up by Lu Zhishen and escorted back to the capital city by imperial troops under the command of Tong Guan. Fang Xi was found guilty of treason and executed in the capital city.
[edit] List of Fang Xi's subordinates
- Fang Jie (方杰) - a nephew of Fang Xi. He was a powerful warrior who had defeated Hua Rong in battle once. He killed Liangshan's Qin Ming by stabbing him with his spear while the latter was distracted. He was slain by Wu Song just before Fang Xi was captured.
- Fang Tianding (方天定) - a general of Fang Xi's army. He killed Liangshan's Hao Siwen in battle and dismembered the corpse before displaying Hao's severed head to the heroes. He was also responsible for ordering his archers to shoot down Zhang Shun when the latter was climbing over the Yongjin Gate (涌金門) of Hangzhou (杭州). Fang Tianding was slain by Zhang Shun's brother Zhang Heng on Mount Wuyun (五雲山) eventually. It was said that Zhang Shun's spirit possessed Zhang Heng and killed Fang Tianding for revenge.
- Bao Daoyi (包道乙) - Fang Xi's Imperial Advisor (國師) who was an expert in using the 'Xuan Tian Hun Yuan Sword' (玄天混元劍). He used the sword to slice off Wu Song's arm in the final battle but Wu Song was saved by Lu Zhishen. Bao Daoyi was later killed by Ling Zhen.
- Du Wei (杜微) - a former blacksmith who was highly trusted by Fang Xi and became one of his warriors. He was an expert in using his six flying daggers. At one instance on the battlefield, he hurled one of his flying daggers at Qin Ming and Qin Ming used his weapon to block but Fang Jie seized the opportunity to stab Qin and kill him. Du Wei also killed Sun Erniang and Yu Baosi with his flying daggers as well.
- Shi Bao (石寶) - one of Fang Xi's best warriors. He wielded a fine sword called the "Windsplitter" (絶風刀) and was portrayed as a fearsome warrior whose combat skills matched the best of Liangshan. He was responsible for the deaths of the following Liangshan heroes: Suo Chao, Deng Fei, Yan Shun, Bao Xu and Ma Lin. He committed suicide to avoid capture and humiliation after his army was defeated.
- Zheng Biao (鄭彪) - also known as Zheng Mojun (鄭魔君). He was one of Fang Xi's generals whose name literally meant 'Demon Lord' (魔君). He was a fearsome warrior as well as a master of sorcery. He used sorcery to bewitch his enemies and attack them using his golden bricks (金磚) when they were in a trance. He was responsible for slaying Liangshan's Xiang Chong and the couple Wang Ying and Hu San Niang. He laughed aloud after killing the couple and was killed by Yang Xiong who sneaked up on him behind shortly afterwards.
- Zhang Jinren (張近仁) - one of Fang Xi's best warriors. He was nicknamed 'Thunderbolt God' (霹靂神). Together with Gao Keli, both of them were responsible for slaying Liangshan's Han Tao and Peng Qi.
- Gao Keli (高可立) - one of Fang Xi's best warriors. Together with Zhang Jinren, they were responsible for slaying Liangshan's Han Tao and Peng Qi.
- Bai Qin (白欽) - one of Fang Xi's warriors who fought with Lu Fang at Black Dragon Ridge (烏龍岭) and both of them rolled down the slope to their deaths.
- Premier Lou (婁丞相) - the Premier or Prime Minister of Fang Xi's Kingdom. He killed Liangshan's Ruan Xiaowu after discovering Ruan's undercover identity.
- Secretary Wang (王尚書) - Fang Xi's chief secretary. He was responsible for slaying Liangshan's Li Yun and Shi Yong.
- Guo Shiguang (郭世廣) - one of Fang Xi's generals who fought with Xuan Zan fiercely and both of them perished together under Yinma Bridge (飲馬橋) in Suzhou (蘇州).
- Pang Wanchun (龐萬春) - one of Fang Xi's best warriors whose archery skills rivaled Liangshan's Hua Rong's. His appearance was marked with his killing of Liangshan's Shi Jin with a single arrow shot at Yu Ling Pass (昱岭關). He inflicted heavy casualties on Liangshan when his archers killed Shi Xiu, Chen Da, Yang Chun, Li Zhong and Xue Yong along with 2000 Liangshan troops. He also managed to kill Ou Peng who was famous for being able to catch projectiles in mid-air, with a few successive arrow shots.
- Li Tianrun (厲天閏) - a general of Fang Xi's army who guarded Du Song Pass (獨松關). He was best known for killing Liangshan's Zhang Qing and Zhou Tong.
- Zhang Tao (張韜) - one of the four generals who defended Du Song Pass (獨松關) together with Li Tianrun. He was responsible for slaying Liangshan's Dong Ping when the Liangshan heroes attacked the Pass.
- Li Tianyou (厲天佑) - one of the four generals guarding Du Song Pass together with Li Tianrun.
- Zhang Jian (張儉) - one of the four generals guarding Du Song Pass together with Li Tianrun.
- Yao Yi (姚義) - one of the four generals guarding Du Song Pass together with Li Tianrun.
