Friday, September 19, 2008

Ding Desun

Ding De-sun is a character in the epic Chinese tale the ''Water Margin''.

Ding Desun was 's loyal servant, alongside Gong Wang. His face and neck was covered with battle scars, thus earning him the nickname 'Arrow-shot tiger' . He excelled in martial arts as well just like Gong Wang and few were his match.

When the Liangshan heroes led by Lu Junyi attacked Dongchangfu, they were severely defeated by Zhang Qing and even after Song Jiang came with reinforcements, the Liangshan heroes still could not win Zhang Qing. Zhang Qing defeated about fifteen of Liangshan's top generals. Eventually, Ding Desun was trapped by Lu Fang and Guo Sheng, then, Yan Qing fired an arrow which hit Ding's horse, and the wounded horse threw Ding to the ground. Lu and Guo then easily captured Ding. In the end, Zhang Qing was subdued by the Liangshan heroes and he agreed to join the Liangshan band. Ding Desun and Gong Wang also joined the band as well.

Ding Desun became one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry and 72 Earthly Warriors. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Ding followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. During the Fang La campaign, Ding followed Lu Junyi to attack Wengzhou, but lost the battle and had to retreat. Zhu Wu devised a strategy and told the heroes to lie in ambush in their camp, as he expected Fang La's forces to launch a sneak attack at night. Truly, Zhu's prediction was right and the Liangshan heroes scored a great victory against Fang La's troops. Ding Desun was bitten by a poisonous snake in the bushes and died shortly afterwards from poisoning.

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