how does the water margin frame song jiang’s concept of loyalty, and what does it say about the author’s ideals in song-era china?
Throughout the story of The Water Margin, the central character Song Jiang embodies the spirit of an ideal, loyal servant to the Emperor and the Heavens. While the audience is only introduced to him after several chapters, he quickly gains an outsized presence in the novel as he is known well throughout the empire for his loyalty and generosity to others. However, as the story progresses, the audience begins to see a more nuanced idea of loyalty for Song Jiang, one which follows a strict hierarchy that seems to illustrate Shi Nai'an’s desired moral principles for the Chinese populace. This hierarchy of loyalties is as follows: the Emperor comes first, followed by his sworn brothers, and finally his family. In the novel it becomes clear that in order to maintain this hierarchy, Song Jiang must betray both his sworn brothers and his family at different times, but he never betrays the Emperor, even when it costs him his life. When we are first introduced to Song Jiang, he is depicted as “filial to his parents, … a chivalrous man, [and] generous to friends” (p. 176), which demonstrates how his strong foundation of loyalty is known throughout the empire. This loyalty is soon put to the test, as Song Jiang risks his career as a local clerk in order to forewarn Chao Gai of the impending raid on his compound, thereby saving both Chao Gai and his comrades from an ambush. His words to Chao Gai upon initially arriving at the compound further capture this loyalty: he says, “you know my devotion, brother. I’d lay down my life for you” (p. 181). It is quite apparent from this interaction that Song Jiang places his sworn brothers ahead of his role as a government servant; this also foreshadows the outsized importance that he places on these relationships in comparison to government officials.
Soon after this event, we are introduced to Song Jiang’s family, which consists of his father, Squire Song, and his younger brother, Song Qing. Throughout the novel, we find instances in which Song Jiang is loyal to his father and upholds the devoted filial relationship that he is known for. For example, while Song Jiang is with Yan Shun on the way to “the stronghold”, he receives a letter from Song Qing which falsely claims that his father has passed away; immediately upon receiving this, Song Jiang decides to return to the Song estate in order to pay his respects prior to the burial. While Yan Shun believes that he wouldn’t be let into the stronghold without his brother, Song Jiang declares, “I'm not without feeling for our men, but my old father was the one I loved best" (p. 357). He returns to the estate even amidst the risk of being arrested for his outstanding crimes in Yuncheng County, thus demonstrating how he was willing to sacrifice himself for the filial duties that he saw required of him. Furthermore, later in the novel he states to Chao Gai, “I’d die willingly, for my father’s sake” (p. 428), confirming the importance which Song Jiang places on his filial duties and loyalty to his family. Through these events, it appears that Song Jiang places his filial obligation and loyalty to his family ahead of that towards his sworn brothers; however, other events prior to this as well as later in the novel undermine this and show that Song Jiang actually places familial loyalty behind that of his brothers. The first event in which we see Song Jiang betray his family takes place after he kills Poxi and hides from the law in his family’s manor. The constables are sent to the Song estate in order to find Song Jiang, but Squire Song tells them that "Song Jiang is an unfilial son... [and] I therefore disinherited him a few years ago, officially" (p. 220). While this did protect Squire Song and Song Qing from being taken to the county courthouse, this disinheritance is indeed a very important and consequential step for Squire Song to have taken. As the novel says, the result of this action was that Song Jiang could have “nothing to do with [his family]” and had to conduct “all family business secretly in his private quarters” (p. 224). Thus, he would have had less contact with his family than a typical son and would be unable to care for his father in his late age. While this was done in order to protect his father from any troubles that may have arisen from his dealings with the jianghu scene including his sworn brothers, the fact that continuing these dealings came at the cost of Song Jiang being able to maintain his inheritance and traditional familial duties indicates that Song Jiang chose loyalty to his sworn brothers over loyalty to his family. This is even more apparent later on, when Song Jiang returns to his father and is subsequently arrested. His father warns him that if the Mount Liangshan heroes rescue him from exile, he should not “join their band”, or else “people will criticize you for being disloyal and unfilial” (p. 363). Initially, Song Jiang follows this advice as he states later that he could not join the chieftains “because of my father’s strict instructions” (p. 424). However, he later breaks this command by rejoining the chieftains that rescued him from Huang the Wasp. Through his sworn brothers’ assistance, he is able to bring his father and brother Song Qing to safety on Mount Liangshan, which seems to demonstrate how this loyalty to his sworn brothers is far more useful than simple familial ties. From this point forward, while Song Jiang continues to make an effort to materially support his father, it is clear that he feels a greater loyalty towards the Liangshan brotherhood as he chooses to continue living and fighting alongside them rather than caring for his father in his old age. Beyond Song Jiang’s own family, the novel also uses other characters to demonstrate how his perspective on this prioritization of loyalties is one to be modelled after. Perhaps the best example of this comes from the story of how Qin Ming joined the heroes after being framed by the Liangshan heroes for pillaging his own village. Indeed, upon defeating Qin Ming’s forces on the mountainside, the heroes attempt to persuade Qin Ming to join their brotherhood, but Qin steadfastly refuses. Following this, Song Jiang concocts a plan framing Qin Ming of “murder and arson” in order to “compel [him] to give up any hope of ever going back”, which subsequently leads to the murder of Qin Ming’s family. This collateral damage was even intended by Song Jiang, as he says they “made it appear that you were trying to bring out your family” (p. 346), which led the Prefect to execute Qin Ming’s wife. While this further reveals Song Jiang’s belief that familial ties are lesser than those of the sworn brotherhood, it is ultimately up to Qin Ming to represent the perspective of the “other” and confirm that this view is indeed shared by those outside of Song Jiang’s mind. By consciously choosing to join the forces which “injured [him] grievously” and going so far as to offer an “entrance gift” of avenging “the hurts” that the Liangshan heroes “have suffered” (p. 347), Qin Ming demonstrates an approval of Song Jiang’s actions and helps illustrate how Song Jiang’s perspective on loyalty is meant to be universal rather than simply his own individual worldview.
The final and most important pillar of Song Jiang’s loyalty lies with the Emperor and, more broadly, the Heavens. It is this pillar that trumps all other loyalties that Song Jiang has, even towards lamentable effects at the end of the novel. Song Jiang’s unparalleled loyalty to the Emperor comes from a dream-like divine intervention midway through the novel with the Mystic Queen of Ninth Heaven, who instructs him to “act according to Heaven's behest and show complete loyalty to the emperor” (p. 433). From this moment forward, all of Song Jiang’s actions are driven by a willingness to serve the Emperor and, by extension, Heaven. For example, it is only after this intervention that Song Jiang begins to use the phrase “act on Heaven’s behalf” in describing the actions of the Liangshan heroes, even going so far as to create a banner with that slogan written across it. Additionally, his loyalty to Heaven was not just a self-constructed idea, but also recognized by those who were presumed to be working on behalf of the Emperor. An example of this comes shortly after Peng Qi was captured and made a chieftain in the Marsh, when his fellow officer Ling Zhen was also captured. Upon Ling Zhen’s arrival, Peng Qi tells him that “leaders Chao Gai and Song Jiang act righteously for Heaven” (p. 573). In this situation, Peng Qi is acting as an outside perspective on the matter, not only to Ling Zhen but also to the reader - as a former government officer, his voice carries additional weight, as his previous role was supposedly in service to the Emperor and Heaven. However, his belief that the Liangshan heroes are truly fighting on Heaven’s behalf seems to confirm that Song Jiang’s loyalties truly do lie with the Emperor and the Heavens. With this guiding principle, Song Jiang’s actions in the latter half of the novel can be further understood, as he believed that his actions were divinely ordained and done in direct service of the Emperor, however cruel or unseemly they might have been. For example, when Song Jiang sent Lei Heng, Wu Yong, and Li Kui to rescue Zhu Tong, but Zhu Tong refused to leave his role as attendant to the Prefect, Song Jiang instructed Li Kui to kill the Prefect’s four-year-old. The primary reason for this was to “cut off any chance of [Zhu Tong] returning to the city” (p. 533), but through the lens of loyalty to the Emperor, we can see how Song Jiang believed this action to be justified. In order to reunite the heroes with Zhu Tong, one of the Heavenly Spirits, Song Jiang saw this as a necessary evil that would bring Zhu Tong into direct service of the Emperor rather than groveling as an attendant to a functionary. It was likely further justified in Song Jiang’s perspective given that this evil was perpetrated against a Prefect, which to Song Jiang would just be another wicked government official that is not truly dedicated to Heaven.
In the final chapters of the novel, there is also further evidence that this loyalty to the Emperor trumps all other loyalties that Song Jiang might hold, as he is willing to betray both his sworn brothers as well as his own life for the sake of the Empire. One prominent example comes shortly after amnesty, when the heroes are given an edict from the Emperor enlisting them to fight against the Liao Tartars. During this battle, Minister Ouyang of the Liaos attempts to negotiate with Song Jiang in order to bring the Liangshan heroes to the Liaos’ side. The minister offers them amnesty, gifts of gold and silver, and official titles - but Song Jiang refuses. Afterwards, Song Jiang recounts the offer with Wu Yong, who serves as the objective voice with the heroes’ best interests at heart. His determination is that “going over to the Tartars at least would be better than maintaining a fortress in Mount Liangshan” (p. 854), which indicates that joining the Liaos would be the best decision for the heroes. However, Song Jiang firmly refuses this, exclaiming “you’re badly mistaken!” (p. 854), and then going on to state “even if the Song Dynasty wrongs me, I can't wrong the Song Dynasty" (p. 854). This is a grim manifestation of Song Jiang’s guiding principle, as it reveals the limitations of Song Jiang in his quest to deliver justice on Heaven’s behalf as he refuses to fight against those who represent the worst of the corruption due to their positions in the highest seats of the Empire. Although Song Jiang realizes the danger that Marshals Cai Jing, Guan Tong, Gao Qiu, and Yang Jian pose to himself and his brothers, he also understands that they are part of the royal court and hold the trust of Emperor Huizong; therefore, he feels that if he were to move against them, he would be subverting the Emperor. This dilemma forces Song Jiang to betray his brothers in order to maintain his absolute loyalty to the Emperor and the Song Dynasty. Indeed, although he did not know in advance how many heroes would die from their later battles with Fang La, he still made the conscious decision in this moment to devote the lives of his men to the Song Dynasty rather than to adhere to what may have been best for them. The conflict between Song Jiang’s loyalty to the Emperor and his loyalty to his brothers sets up another betrayal by Song Jiang against his brother Li Kui at the end of the novel. He is given a bottle of wine from the Emperor which was poisoned by the evil Marshals in the royal court, and realizes that it has been poisoned only after consuming some of the wine. While he could choose to act in revenge against those who sought to kill him, Song Jiang instead chooses to kill his sworn brother, Li Kui, who he knows would punish the royal court if he discovered that Song Jiang had died at their hands. Through the lens of obeying Heaven and the Emperor, it is clear as to why Song Jiang makes this difficult decision: he does not wish to ruin his “reputation of loyalty to the Emperor” (p. 999), and states plainly that he would “rather the emperor wronged [him] than wrong the emperor” (p. 1000). This is in stark contrast to Li Kui, whose highest loyalty is towards Song Jiang - even after Song Jiang reveals to Li Kui that he was poisoned, Li Kui says he will continue to “serve [Song Jiang] after death” (p. 1000). This contrast is made in order to encourage the adoption of Song Jiang’s perspective on loyalty, as the scene ties two different ideas of absolute loyalty to two different figures. The author makes utter loyalty to a figure other than the Emperor undesirable by linking this concept to Li Kui, who is often depicted as rash and barbaric in the novel. Conversely, he ties absolute loyalty to the Emperor with the wise and knowledgeable Song Jiang, thus promoting this loyalty as the most preferable.
As we’ve explored in this paper, Song Jiang’s nuanced view of loyalty places Heaven first, followed by his sworn brothers and his family. In order to adhere to this hierarchy throughout the novel, Song Jiang must give his utmost devotion to the Emperor, but this comes at the expense of his family, his sworn brotherhood, and even his own life. Through Song Jiang’s actions and the story of the Liangshan heroes, Shi Nai’an provides a moral framework of loyalty upon which he envisions the future Chinese populace to observe, where the Emperor is at the center of their decisions and actions.
Shi, Nai'an, et al. Outlaws of the Marsh. Silk Pagoda, 2006.