Friday, September 19, 2008

Jiang Jing

Jiang Jing was a character in the ''Water Margin''.

Jiang Jing was from Tanzhou, Hunan. He once failed in an imperial examination, and after that he shifted his focus from books to martial arts. He was an expert in martial arts, mathematics and in deploying troops, so he was nicknamed the 'Magic mathematician' .

Once, Chao Gai led the Liangshan heroes to storm the execution ground in Jiangzhou to rescue Song Jiang and Dai Zong. On their way back, the heroes passed by Huangmen Mountain, where Jiang Jing, Ou Peng, Tao Zong-wang and Ma Lin. They stopped Song Jiang and wanted to join the Liangshan band, which Song agreed.

Jiang Jing became an accountant in Liangshan, and was in charge of making records of their exports and imports of provisions. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Jiang followed the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. He was one of the few lucky survivors after the campaigns and he took up an official post. However, he felt homesick and resigned. Then, Jiang Jing went back to Tanzhou and lived peacefully as a commoner.

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