Tian Hu

Tian Hu
Water Margin character
First appearance	Chapter 91
Also known as	King of Jin (晉王)
Leader of Tian Hu forces
Origin	Hunter
Ancestral home / Place of origin	Qinyuan County, Shanxi
Names
Simplified Chinese	田虎
Traditional Chinese	田虎
Pinyin	Tián Hǔ
Wade–Giles	Tien Hu

Tian Hu is a fictional character and antagonist in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He is one of the three rebel leaders in the Song dynasty along with Fang La and Wang Qing, that the Liangshan heroes have to defeat in the final chapters of the novel. He only appears in the longest versions of the stories which include these extra chapters.^[1]

Life

Tian Hu was originally a hunter from Qinyuan County, Weisheng Prefecture (威胜府), Shanxi. He possesses great physical strength and excels in martial arts. The government of the Song dynasty is corrupt and people are suffering from extreme poverty and natural disasters. Tian Hu uses the opportunity to spread rumours and incite people to follow him in rebelling against the government.

As the local government is weak and lacks a capable military force to suppress Tian Hu's rebels, Tian conquers and overrun five prefectures and 56 counties in a short time. Tian Hu establishes for himself a domain in the Hebei and Shanxi region and proclaims himself "King of Jin". He also builds a palace for himself in Fenyang.

After the Liangshan outlaws have been granted amnesty by Emperor Huizong, the emperor sends them on military campaigns to drive away the Liao invaders in the north and suppress the rebel forces on Song territory as a form of service to the Song Empire. The Liangshan heroes successfully defeated the Liao invaders, followed by Tian Hu and Wang Qing's rebel forces, without suffering much casualties. Tian Hu is captured by Liangshan's "Featherless Arrow" Zhang Qing after his defeat.

References

Further reading

• 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. 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.