Changes

[[File:Suikoden-kuniyoshi.jpg|right|thumb|285px|[[1856]] woodblock print by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]] depicting an underwater fight scene from the novel.<br>Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 11.36641.]]

[[File:Suikoden-kuniyoshi.jpg|right|thumb|285px|[[1856]] woodblock print by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]] depicting an underwater fight scene from the novel.<br>Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 11.36641.]]

''Chinese/Japanese'': 水滸伝 ''(Shui hu zhuan / Suikoden)''

''Chinese/Japanese'': 水滸傳 ''(Shuǐ hǔ zhuàn / Suikoden)''

The ''Shui hu zhuan'', known as ''Suikoden'' in Japanese, and variously as "The Water Margin," "The Outlaws of the Marshes," or by several other titles in English, is counted among the most famous and popular [[Ming Dynasty]] novels. Based on oral storytelling traditions going back to the [[Northern Song Dynasty]], and compiled into a "novel" in the 15th century, the book tells the stories of 108 noble bandits; the original stories, though heavily elaborated and fictionalized, may have been based on an actual group of bandits active in Liangshan in the last decades of the Northern Song. The book was banned as subversive in the [[Qing Dynasty]], but continued to be very widely read nevertheless.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 121.</ref>

The ''Shuǐ hǔ zhuàn'', known as ''Suikoden'' in Japanese, and variously as "The Water Margin," "The Outlaws of the Marshes," or by several other titles in English, is counted among the most famous and popular [[Ming Dynasty]] novels. Based on oral storytelling traditions going back to the [[Northern Song Dynasty]], and compiled into a "novel" in the 15th century, the book tells the stories of 108 noble bandits, who are driven by government corruption to take matters into their own hands, fighting to "champion the oppressed and avenge the wronged;"<ref name=schiro254>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 253-254.</ref> the original stories, though heavily elaborated and fictionalized, may have been based on an actual group of bandits active in Liangshan in the last decades of the Northern Song. The book was banned as subversive in the [[Qing Dynasty]], but continued to be very widely read nevertheless.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 121.</ref>

Retold and republished in numerous forms in both China and Japan, and beyond, the book remains extremely famous, and its characters widely known.

Retold and republished in numerous forms in both China and Japan, and beyond, the book remains extremely famous, and its characters widely known. It was banned for a time under the [[Qing Dynasty]] due to its anti-government themes, but continued to be widely sold anyway. Mao Zedong is known to have particularly enjoyed the story in his youth.<ref name=schiro254/>

Characters and scenes from the story appear in numerous ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints, especially of the 19th century. The first version of the story to be widely available within Japan, with Japanese text, was a set of illustrated books published serially between [[1805]] and [[1835]], with text by [[Takizawa Bakin]] and images by [[Hokusai|Katsushika Hokusai]].

Characters and scenes from the story appear in numerous ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints, especially of the 19th century. The first version of the story to be widely available within Japan, with Japanese text, was a set of illustrated books published serially between [[1805]] and [[1835]], with text by [[Takizawa Bakin]] and images by [[Hokusai|Katsushika Hokusai]].