Preface
Liangshan 108 generals are a group of heroes in the ancient Chinese literary masterpiece "Water Margin", and their stories are gripping and passed down through the ages.
However, among the 108 heroes, there are five people whose deaths are particularly striking, their lives and deaths are bizarre, and there is a deep charm behind each story. So how will these majestic, heroic and fearless heroes of Liangshan end their lives in a bizarre way?
Some of them even seem so ridiculous that even the way they died is ridiculous. Is it the impermanence of fate, or is it the result of the flaws of human nature? Let us take a closer look.
1. The mysterious Taoist who died laughing
When it comes to Dai Zong, people naturally think of his "Shenxing" stunt. As long as he tied four pieces of armor horses that resembled paper talismans to his legs, he could travel 800 miles a day, comparable to the red rabbit horse of the Three Kingdoms period. This "Scud" survived the Zhengfangla War, but he didn't want to be an official, he just wanted to continue cultivating, so he handed in the official letter and went to Yuemiao in Tai'an Prefecture to accompany the monk to accompany him.
However, one day a few months later, Dai Zong suddenly burst out laughing three times, and the person passed away like this. It is really incomprehensible that a Taoist with a mysterious magic died of laughter in the temple like this.
Perhaps, this is where Dai Zong's fate lies. As a character who represents mystery and ambiguity, his ending should naturally be so mysterious. But on the other hand, his laughter may not be for nothing.
At this time, Lu Junyi, Song Jiang and other heroes of Liangshan have been killed one after another, and the fall of Liangshan is just around the corner. As Dai Zong, who witnessed the entire heroic epic of Liangshan, he laughed three times, does this mean that he has seen through the red dust and let go of his obsession with life and death? His laughter is not only great compassion, but also great enlightenment.
Second, Ruan Xiaowu who runs tricks
Among the three Ruan brothers, only Ruan Xiaoqi survived to the end. Ruan Xiaoer killed himself in the Battle of Wulongling, while Ruan Xiaowu was killed by Fang La's subordinate Prime Minister Lou. It seems that Ruan Xiaowu's death is not abnormal, but the details are strange.
First of all, he is the only one in the book who only found out that Tiangang had died when Song Jiang counted the number of people. For the death of other Tiangang, the author has more or less a few descriptions, but the author only mentions Ruan Xiaowu's death: "Ruan Xiaowu was killed by Prime Minister Lou Cheng in Qingxi County first. Immediately after that, the author diverted from the topic and said something else.
What's even more intriguing is that Song Jiang, who has always been sentimental, didn't react after learning the news. This gives people a feeling: it seems that Ruan Xiaowu is just an insignificant "trick" in Liangshan.
But according to Ruan Xiaowu's status in the water army, he should not be killed so hastily. So, what is the reason behind it? Perhaps, we can look for clues from Ruan Xiaoer's death.
According to the description in the book, when Ruan Xiaoer was fighting with Fang La's water army, Tong Wei and Tong Meng were accompanied by Tong Wei and Tong Meng on a fast boat, but as soon as they saw that the enemy army was strong, the two took the lead in jumping off ship and fleeing for their lives, leaving only Ruan Xiaoer and Meng Kang to fight the boat. When Ruan Xiaoer wanted to jump ship, it was too late, and he could only kill himself to avoid being humiliated.
And when Ruan Xiaowu was killed, he also had Tong Wei and Tong Meng as his partner. At that time, Li Jun planned to go to Qingxi City to offer food, so he asked Ruan Xiaowu to pretend to be a duke, and Tong Wei Tong Meng to accompany him as a sailor. But in the end, among the three, only Ruan Xiaowu was killed by Prime Minister Lou, but Tong Wei and Tong Meng retreated.
Could it be that only Ruan Xiaowu's identity has been discovered? Or what were Tong Wei and Tong Meng's "cronies" doing at the moment when he was killed? From this point of view, is there some kind of conspiracy of factional struggle hidden behind Ruan Xiaowu's death?
Third, the man has a double gun general who does not flick lightly
In the Battle of Dusong Pass, the two-spear generals Dong Ping and Zhang Qing were besieged by Li Tianyan, one of the four generalissimos of Fangla. Dong Ping was injured in his left arm and couldn't resist after only ten rounds.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Zhang Qing hurriedly stabbed Li Tianyan with a gun, but was dodged by the other party, and was stabbed to death on a pine tree instead. This scene is really suffocating. As a cautious and calm general, Zhang Qing should have stayed away from this reckless foot battle, but he was implicated by Dong Ping's personal anger and finally gave his life.
It turned out that the night before the battle broke out, Dong Ping deliberately concealed Lu Junyi, and privately found Zhang Qing to discuss, and the two decided not to ride horses and go to the gate first. An injured Dong Ping needs a helper too much, and Zhang Qing, as a man, how can he refuse in the face of such an occasion?
So, he was dragged into the water by Dong Ping and finally died. The trust and friendship of one man to another man has led to such a tragic ending, which is really sad.
Fourth, the bizarre death of the arrow tiger
Ding Desun, the deputy general from Dongchang Mansion, gave people a sense of self-deprecation from the beginning. His nickname, "Tiger by Arrow," sounds absurd, as if to say that a tiger who has been hit by an arrow can play a majestic role, but in fact, he really does not have much opportunity to show off his might.
When Song Jiang was at the Liangshan Reunion, he arranged this military general who was good at fighting immediately into the infantry army general school, and his position and expertise were completely inconsistent. Tindeson seems destined to play a "misplaced" role in this world.
What's even more ironic is the final death of this Liangshan hero. During the battle against Fangla, Ding Desun followed Lu Junyi to attack Shezhou, but was bitten in the foot by a poisonous snake lurking in the grass on the way, and finally died of poisoning.
One hundred and eight heroes, only Ding Desun suffered this catastrophe, which is really ridiculous. As an infantry general, he should have died on the battlefield, but he was killed by a poisonous snake, was it because of the smell of his feet? Such a way of death once again confirmed his self-deprecating nickname.
5. The withering of heroes
As the head of the Five Tigers of Liangshan, Guan Sheng's prestige is well known to everyone in the rivers and lakes. This battle-hardened military general fought all the way out of his hometown in Jiangxi, and finally joined Liangshan and fought side by side with Song Jiang. In the war of Zhengfangla, he made great achievements and can be described as a hero.
However, fate often plays tricks on people. After the end of the war, Sekisheng was appointed as the head of the Daimyo's Sho Soldiers and Horses. But one day, this strong general fell from his horse due to drunkenness, resulting in serious injuries and finally died.
It is ironic that a hero who is invincible on the battlefield finally died because of a small misstep. Guan Sheng's death has a certain similarity with Lu Junyi's death due to drunkenness, as if to imply that the heroes of Liangshan are destined to a tragic end.
epilogue
The impermanence of life often lies in these small accidents. A loud laugh, a stumble, a lurking poisonous snake...... These seemingly trivial things can determine a person's life and death. And the bizarre deaths of these Liangshan heroes may be a kind of mockery and ridicule of fate for them.
They used their heroic lives to write tragic epics, but in the end they could not escape a tragic end. From this point of view, the way they died is nothing less than a profound exploration and interpretation of human nature and fate.
The impermanence of life and the flaws of human nature doom their endings to be so bizarre and absurd, but this is also the charm of the unstoppable heroic epic of Water Margin.