Li Li (Water Margin)

For other people named Li Li, see Li Li (disambiguation).

Li Li
Water Margin character
First appearance	Chapter 36
Nickname	"Life Taking Judge" 催命判官
Rank	96th, Slave Star (地奴星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends
Scout leader of Liangshan
Origin	Tavern owner
Ancestral home / Place of origin	Luzhou (present-day Hefei, Anhui)
Names
Simplified Chinese	李立
Traditional Chinese	李立
Pinyin	Lǐ Lì
Wade–Giles	Li Li

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li (Chinese :李; pinyin :Lǐ).

Li Li is a fictional character in Water Margin , one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Life Taking Judge", he ranks 96th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 60th among the 72 Earthly Fiends.

Background

The novel depicts Li Li as having a reddish beard and fiery round eyes like those of a tiger. Born in Luzhou (蘆州; present-day Hefei, Anhui), he moves to Jieyang Ridge (揭陽嶺; believed to be in present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi), where he robs customers after knocking them unconscious with spiked drinks and then butchers them to make filling for baozi with their flesh. He is a close friend of Li Jun, who smuggles salt on Xunyang River, which is close to Jieyang Ridge.

Joining Liangshan

When Song Jiang is in exile to Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) as a mitigated sentence for killing his mistress Yan Poxi, he and his two escorts pass by Jieyang Ridge and come to eat in Li Li's inn. The three are knocked out. Li Li is waiting for his assistants to come to help cut them up when Li Jun and his two sidekicks Tong Wei and Tong Meng come to his inn for some refreshment. Li Jun checks the official documents on the escorts and is shocked to learn that the exile is Song Jiang, whom he greatly admires as a chivalrous hero. In fact, Li Jun has been waiting to meet Song at the river bank for days. Li Li quickly revives the three and apologises to Song. The four treat Song Jiang as an honoured guest before he continues on to Jiangzhou.

In Jiangzhou Song Jiang is arrested and sentenced to death for writing a seditious poem on a wall in a restaurant. The outlaws from Liangshan Marsh rush to Jiangzhou, where they storm the execution ground and rescue him. But they are stranded at a river bank. In the meantime, friends that Song Jiang has made in the Jieyang region, led by Li Jun and including Li Li, are sailing to Jiangzhou to rescue Song. They come upon the group and ferry them to safety. Together they head for Liangshan, where Li Li becomes one of the chieftains.

Campaigns and death

Li Li is put in charge of an inn that acts as a lookout for Liangshan after the 108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces in Song territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan.

In the battle of Qingxi County (清溪縣; present-day Chun'an County, Zhejiang) in the campaign against Fang La, Li Li is severely injured and dies later from the wounds.

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. 195. 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
• Zhang, Lin Ching (2009). Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House. ISBN   978-7506344784.