Song is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the Song Dynasty, written with the same character.
Lu Zhishen is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. He is the lead character in the first segment of the novel, which spans about six chapters. Nicknamed "Flowery Monk", he ranks 13th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny.
Iron Shirt is a form of hard style martial art exercise believed to help protect the human body from impacts in a fight. This is one of the 72 arts of the Shaolin Temple. Some martial arts are based on the belief that a correctly trained body can withstand more damage than one that is untrained. Iron Shirt is said to be a series of exercises using many post stances, herbs, qigong and body movements to cause the body's natural energy (qi) to reinforce its structural strength. Practitioners believe that directing energy to parts of the body can reinforce these parts of the body to take blows against them. In the Shaolin version of Iron Shirt, the practitioner would do things such as lying on a stump or supporting tablets of granite on the chest with the goal of toughening the body.
Wu Song is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Pilgrim", he ranks 14th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. In folklore, Wu Song is an apprentice of the martial artist Zhou Tong and he specialises in Chuojiao and the use of the staff and double broadswords.
Zhu Tong is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Lord of the Beautiful Beard", he ranks 12th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny.
Sun Li is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Sick Yuchi", he ranks 39th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 3rd among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Deng Fei is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Fiery Eyed Suan-ni", he ranks 49th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 13th among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Tong Wei is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Dragon Emerging from a Cave", he ranks 68th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 32nd among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Tong Meng is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "River Churning Clam", he ranks 69th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 33rd among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Li Zhong is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Tiger Slaying General", he ranks 86th of the 108 Stars of Destiny and 50th of the 72 Earthly Fiends.
The 108 Stars of Destiny are at the core of the plot of the Chinese classical novel Shui Hu Zhuan, which was written by Shi Nai'an in the 14th century and is commonly translated as Water Margin, Outlaws of the Marsh, or All Men Are Brothers. Suikoden, the Japanese translation of Shui Hu Zhuan, has been made into a series of role-playing video games. Based on the Taoist concept that each person's destiny is tied to a Star of Destiny, the 108 Stars of Destiny represent 108 demonic overlords who were banished by Shangdi, a supreme god in Chinese folk religion. Having repented since their banishment, the stars are released from imprisonment by accident, and are reborn in the world as 108 heroes who band together for the cause of justice.
Tong Guan (1054–1126), courtesy name Daofu (道夫), was a Chinese court eunuch, military general, political adviser, and state councillor to Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty. In the classical novel Water Margin, Tong Guan is fictionalised as a corrupt government official and an enemy of the 108 Stars of Destiny.
Zhōu is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 周, which now ranks as the 10th most common surname in Mainland China, and 71st in South Korea. It has been one of the ten most common surnames in China since the Yuan Dynasty.
Various martial arts have been attributed to or associated with Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Song Dynasty general, Yue Fei. This is because assorted wuxia novels and folk legends portray him as being either a Shaolin monk or a lay disciple of Shaolin. Some of these skills range from mastery of the bow, double swords and Chinese spear to that of Wudang hard qigong, Chuojiao boxing and even magical X-ray eyes. However, the oldest historical record that mentions his name only says he taught archery to Yue Fei. Nothing is ever said about him knowing or teaching a specific style of Chinese martial arts.
Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Song Dynasty General Yue Fei, has appeared in various types of media; including black-and-white films, wuxia novels, and folktales. He mainly appears in material dealing with Yue Fei, but also in media about his other students and his own biography and comic book.
All Men Are Brothers, also known as Seven Soldiers of Kung Fu, is a 1975 Hong Kong wuxia film based on the Chinese classical novel Water Margin. The film was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by Chang Cheh and Wu Ma.
All Men Are Brothers is a Chinese television series adapted from Shi Nai'an's Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The series is directed by Kuk Kwok-leung and features cast members from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The series was first broadcast on 8TV in March 2011 in Malaysia.
Outlaws of the Marsh is a Chinese television series adapted from Shi Nai'an's classical novel Water Margin. It was first broadcast on Shandong TV in China in 1983, and was not completed until 1986. The series was one of the earliest television dramas with an ancient China setting to be produced in mainland China. It was divided into different parts, each focusing on the story line of a certain character. Widely regarded as a classic in mainland China, the series won a Golden Eagle Award.
