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, Shandong)
Weapon	Pair of sabres, lasso
Names
Simplified Chinese	扈三娘
Traditional Chinese	扈三娘
Pinyin	Hù Sānniáng
Wade–Giles	Hu San-niang

Hu Sanniang (literally "Third Sister Hu") is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Ten Feet of Blue", she ranks 59th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 23rd among the 72 Earthly Fiends.

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 – the Li Family Village (李家莊) and Zhu Family Village (祝家莊). The ridge is in Yunzhou (鄆州), Zhongshan Prefecture (中山府), which is around present-day Dongping County, Shandong. A highly skilled warrior, Hu Sanniang is capable of taking on several opponents at the same time. She dons a suit of armour over a red robe, a golden helmet, and a silk belt when she goes to battle. Her weapons of choice are a pair of sabres and a lasso, which she uses to catch and pull opponents off their horses.

Fighting the Liangshan outlaws

Hu Sanniang is originally engaged to Zhu Biao, the third son of Zhu Chaofeng, the master of the Zhu Family Village. The Zhus have been taunting and provoking the outlaws of Liangshan Marsh for some time. After the Zhus capture Liangshan's Shi Qian, the outlaws come to attack the village to save Shi Qian and teach the Zhus a lesson. The Zhus seek help from their neighbours, the Hus, who send Hu Sanniang to aid them.

Hu Sanniang rides into battle and challenges the outlaw chieftains to a one-on-one duel. Aroused at the sight of a lady warrior, Liangshan's Wang Ying eagerly accepts the challenge and tries to flirt with Hu Sanniang and capture her. However, Wang Ying underestimates Hu Sanniang, who uses her lasso to pull him off horseback and throw him to the ground; the Zhu forces then rush forward and capture Wang Ying.

After defeating Wang Ying, Hu Sanniang shows no sign of weariness as she continues to take on Liangshan's Ou Peng and Ma Lin and hold them off. When Liangshan's leader Song Jiang is retreating, Hu Sanniang pursues him with the intention of capturing him and gaining the top credit for victory. The chase leads her to Liangshan's Lin Chong, who easily defeats and captures her. She is bound and sent as a captive back to Liangshan, where she is placed under the watch of Song Jiang's father.

Joining Liangshan

When Hu Sanniang's brother, Hu Cheng, pleads with the Liangshan outlaws to release his sister, Song Jiang agrees on the condition that Hu Cheng captures one of the Zhu brothers and bring him to them. When the outlaws finally defeat the Zhu forces and overrun the Zhu Family Village, Zhu Biao flees to the Hu Family Village for shelter. Hu Cheng takes Zhu Biao captive and sends him as a prisoner to the Liangshan camp. Along the way, however, Liangshan's Li Kui intercepts them and kills Zhu Biao while Hu Cheng escapes. Although the Hu family have already made peace with Liangshan, Li Kui nonetheless fights his way into the Hu Family Village and slaughters everyone there. He later receives a severe scolding from Song Jiang for his brash behaviour.

Back at Liangshan, Song Jiang convinces Hu Sanniang to join the Liangshan outlaw band, and arranges for her to marry Wang Ying – to fulfil his earlier promise to help Wang Ying find a bride. Although Hu Sanniang is initially reluctant to marry Wang Ying, she eventually agrees to marry him and remains faithful to her husband for the rest of her life.

Campaigns and death

Hu Sanniang becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry after the 108 Stars of Destiny come together in what is called the Grand Assembly. She follows the Liangshan heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces on Song territory after they received amnesty from Emperor Huizong.

During the campaign against Fang La's rebel forces, Hu Sanniang and Wang Ying are assigned to attack the city of Muzhou (睦州; in present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang). They encounter Zheng Biao, one of Fang La's generals, who uses his sorcery to confuse Wang Ying and kill him. Hu Sanniang attempts to avenge her husband but ends up being killed by Zheng Biao's magical gold bricks.

References

• Buck, Pearl S. (2006). All Men are Brothers. Moyer Bell. ISBN 9781559213035.
• Miyazaki, Ichisada (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.