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Song Jiang (宋江) was the leader of a bandit group in the 12th century, during the Song Dynasty. His group was active in the present-day provinces of Shandong and Henan, before surrendering to government troops. He features as one of the heroes of the classic Chinese novel Water Margin, the leader of an army of bandits on Mount Liang.
Song Jiang in history
Song Jiang is mentioned in the historical texts toward the end of the reign of Emperor Huizong. There is some confusion about his place of birth and his original base of operations. One account, from Piling Ji notes that Song Jiang gathered together fugitives to prey on the roads of Shandong. Another account says that he and his group rose north of the Yellow River and moved south into the Huai River valley. They were said to have invaded some ten commanderies and were evidently regarded as more than merely a nuisance by the imperial court at Kaifeng. A palace memorial by the official Hou Meng survives in the History of Song: "Song Jiang with thirty-six others crosses Qi and Wei (roughly the central belt of the North China Plain) at will. Government troops number several ten thousand, but none dare to oppose him. His ability must be extraordinary. Now that the Qingxi bandits have risen, why not pardon Song Jiang and have him campaign against [the bandit] Fang La to redeem himself." No imperial response is recorded to Hou's suggestion.
Song Jiang's bandits were active in the prefectures of Chuzhou and Haizhou (now in central Jiangsu province) in early 1112. A description of their activities and subsequent defeat by government troops is recorded in the official biography of Zhang Shuye (張叔夜), who was at the time prefectural head of Haizhou:
- Shuye asked his scouts where they had gone; the bandits had made their way to the coast and taken charge of ten huge ships. He then recruited a thousand dare-to-die men and arranged an ambush in a nearby city. Next he sent skirmishers to bring the bandits to battle. The strongest footsoldiers were placed by the sea. When troops from both sides clashed, he had the bandits' ships burned. When the bandits heard of this they lost their will to fight. The troops in ambush struck, capturing many of the bandits. Then Song Jiang surrendered.
Nothing more is known of the historical Song Jiang or his companions after his surrender.
Song Jiang in fiction
Song Jiang's fictional association with Mount Liang is very old. Folk stories in the Mount Liangshan area refer to "thiry-six big banners and seventy-two small banners" of local bandits, perhaps a reference to the original thiry-six companions of Song Jiang.
In the Water Margin, Song Jiang is a native of Shandong. He is known as Timely Rain (及時雨).
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