Hu Sanniang

Hu Sanniang
Water Margin character
First appearance	Chapter 47
Nickname	"Ten Feet of Blue" 一丈青
Rank	59th, Bright Star (地慧星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends
Cavalry leader of Liangshan
Ancestral home / Place of origin	Yunzhou, Zhongshan Prefecture (around present-day Dongping County, Tai'an, Shandong)
Weapon	Pair of sabers, lasso
Names
Simplified Chinese	扈三娘
Traditional Chinese	扈三娘
Pinyin	Hù Sānniáng
Wade–Giles	Hu San-niang

Hu Sanniang (lit. "Third Sister Hu") is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. She ranks 59th among the 108 Liangshan heroes and 23rd among the 72 Earthly Fiends. She is nicknamed "Ten Feet of Blue". The nickname might be a praise for her height and looks.

Background

Hu Sanniang is the daughter of Squire Hu, the master of the Hu Family Village (扈家莊) on Lone Dragon Ridge (獨龍崗), where two other villages also stand – Li Family Village (headed by Li Ying) and Zhu Family Village. The ridge is in Yunzhou (鄆州), Zhongshan Prefecture (中山府), which is around present-day Dongping County, Tai'an, Shandong. Hu Sanniang goes into battles wearing a suit of armour over a red robe, a golden helmet, and a silk belt. A martial arts expert capable of battling with several enemies at the same time, she wields a pair of sabers in combat and carries a lasso, which she uses efficiently to catch and pull opponents off their steeds.

Joining Liangshan

Hu Sanniang is originally engaged to Zhu Biao, the third son of Zhu Chaofeng, the master of the neighbouring Zhu Family Village (祝家莊). The Zhus have been vilifying the outlaws of Liangshan Marsh, who finally come to attack them to avenge the insults. Hu Sanniang comes to the Zhus' aid and comes face to face with several of the outlaw chieftains. The lecherous Wang Ying is aroused when he sees a female warrior and takes up her challenge. Wang Ying underestimates Hu Sanniang, who in a nimble move dragss him off his horse with her hand and dumps him onto the ground to be bound by her men. She continues to fight with Liangshan's Ou Peng and Ma Lin without showing any sign of weariness. Finally she turns to Liangshan's leader Song Jiang and pursues him as he flees. The pursuit takes her to Lin Chong, a formidable fighter who takes little time to unhorse her. Song Jiang instructs that she be escorted back to Liangshan and placed under the watch and care of Elderly Song, his father.

Hu Sanniang's elder brother, Hu Cheng, comes to plead with Song Jiang to release his sister. Song Jiang agrees on the condition that Hu Cheng seizes any Zhu who flees to him. The outlaws defeat the Zhus eventually and overrun the village. Zhu Biao runs to Hu Cheng and is taken captive. Hu Cheng and his men run intoLi Kui on their way to Song Jiang's camp. Li Kui hacks off Zhu Biao's head and comes next for Hu Cheng, who quickly flees. Hu is said to become a noted military officer years later in the southern Song court, which continues the Song rule in the south after the Jurchens overran the north. Although the Hu family have earlier made peace with Liangshan, Li Kui charges into the Hu Family Village and kills everyone inside. He is later reprimanded by Song Jiang for disobeying orders.

Back in Liangshan, Hu Sanniang has consented to becoming a ward of Song Jiang's father. With Song Jiang and the other outlaw chiefs as matchmakers, Hu Sanniang is given in marriage to Wang Ying to fulfil Song Jiang's earlier promise to find Wang a bride. The bride-to-be remains silent throughout the wedding preparations, as she notices how seriously Song Jiang takes his promise to Wang.

Campaigns and death

Hu Sanniang becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry after the 108 Stars came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. She follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces in Song territory after they received amnesty from Emperor Huizong. During the campaign against the rebel leader Fang La, Hu Sanniang and Wang Ying are assigned to attack the enemy-controlled city of Muzhou (睦州; in present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang), where they face Fang La's general Zheng Biao in battle. Zheng Biao uses his sorcery skills to confuse Wang Ying and kill him. Hu Sanniang attempts to avenge her husband but Zheng Biao uses his magical gold bricks to kill her.

References

• Buck, Pearl S. (2006). All Men are Brothers. Moyer Bell. ISBN 9781559213035.
• Ichisada, Miyazaki (1993). Suikoden: Kyoko no naka no Shijitsu (in Japanese). Chuo Koronsha. ISBN 978-4122020559.
• Keffer, David. "Outlaws of the Marsh: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary". Poison Pie Publishing House. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Li, Mengxia (1992). 108 Heroes from the Water Margin (in Chinese). EPB Publishers. p. 119. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
• Miyamoto, Yoko (2011). "Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits". Demystifying Confucianism. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Shibusawa, Kou (1989), Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Koei, pp. 91, 93, 98
• Zhang, Lin Ching (2009). Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House. ISBN 978-7506344784.