In Song Dynasty, farmers and fishermen around Liangshanpo waged numerous armed struggles against government oppression and exploitation, and Sung River Uprising was just one of them. Sung River Uprising took place in the Xuanhe period at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the trigger that aroused the peasant uprising was the "Xicheng Kuotian" established in the Northern Song Dynasty. In order to solve the financial difficulties, Song Huizong established this institution in the first year of Zheng He (111), which was dedicated to the search. Liangshan Lake was originally a small lake. Because the Yellow River burst, many original small lakes joined it. By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, a great lake with 800 miles of water had formed, and many bankrupt farmers and some fugitives made a living from it. However, the "Xicheng Kuotian Institute" regards the whole water margin as a "public office", stipulating that anyone who goes into the lake to fish, collect lotus roots and cut pu will be heavily taxed according to the size of the ship, and offenders will be punished as thieves. Farmers and fishermen can't afford to pay heavy taxes, so they have to take risks, rely on the geographical conditions of water margin, assemble armed forces, resist rent and taxes, and stop killing officers and men. Therefore, the water margin became the stronghold of the peasant armed uprising.
The peasant uprising led by Song Jiang was originally based on the water margin, which was "built here" (Biography of Pu Zongmeng and History of Song Dynasty) and "there are 36 stone platforms at the foot of the mountain" (Compilation of Historical Materials of Peasant War in Song Dynasty). Song Jiang and others have been fighting here for four or five years. It was not until the first year of Song Huizong Xuanhe (1 1 19) that the uprising was officially declared. Then he left the water margin and moved to Qing, Qi and Pu countries. The government began to notice the existence of this rebel army and ordered "(Beijing) East and Pu.
What is the scale of the Sung River Uprising? Relevant history books, such as Biography of Hou Meng, History of Song Dynasty, Xuanhe Legacy, etc., have only 36 people. According to Lang Ying's seven revisions, these 36 people are: Song Jiang, Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Shi Jin, Chai Jin, Ruan Xiaoer, Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan, Liu Tang, Zhang Qing, Yan Qing, Sun Li, Zhang Shun, Zhang Heng, Hu Yanzhuo, Li Jun, Hua Rong, Qin Ming, Li Kui, Lei Heng, Li Jun. Yu Jiaxi, a close friend, made a detailed textual research on this. As an influential peasant uprising, only 36 people were involved in the "Qi-Wei rebellion", and tens of thousands of officers and men could not resist it at all, which was impossible in any case. Some people think that these 36 people may be the total number of rebel leaders, that is to say, there may be 36 heroes who revolted with Song Jiang. Later, every hero commanded an army, but for convenience, they were called by 36 names. This explanation is also reasonable. So, how many people were there in the peasant uprising led by Song Jiang? Because there is no record in history, the exact number of people cannot be counted, and the team is roughly several thousand.
According to historical records, there were 36 heroes in the Sung River Uprising. Why did it become 108 in Water Margin? Lang Ying clearly pointed out in the "Seven Revisions": "If you want to become a Chinese book, take thirty-six as the highest day and add the names of seventy-two people." This is the theory of Liangshan 108 heroes. When Luo Guanzhong was writing a novel, he thought that the Sung River Uprising had a saying of "doing justice for heaven". At that time, there were only 36 "indecent gifts different from other thieves" in Liangshan, written as 108. A novel is a novel and should never be regarded as history.
Song Jiang's ending
Soon after the formal uprising of Sung River in the first year of Xuanhe, he left Liang Shanbo and moved to Shandong, Hebei and Henan. "There are tens of thousands of officers and men in Heshuo and Tokyo, and no one dares to stop them." In the third year of Xuanhe (1 12 1), in February, Song Jiang led the rebels to Haizhou (now Lianyungang), and Zhang Shuye, the magistrate of Haizhou, sent thousands of officers and men to ambush in the suburbs of Haizhou, challenging them with light troops and luring the rebels to abandon the ship and go ashore. After the rebel army landed, it was surrounded by an ambush, and Zhang Shuye sent troops to burn the rebel ships. The rebels fell into a tight encirclement, their retreat was cut off and they suffered heavy losses. In a desperate situation, Song Jiang led his people to surrender to the officers and men of Song Jun, and accepted the appeal of the court and became a member of Song Jun.
What did Song Jiang do after he accepted the harness? On this issue, there is a great debate among historians, mainly focusing on whether Song Jiang went to levy Fang La.
The Fang La Uprising was a peasant uprising that happened almost at the same time as the Sung River Uprising, which was much larger in scale and had much greater influence. After Song Jiang surrendered, he was sent by Song Dynasty to suppress Fang La, which is clearly recorded in the history books. For example, Li Tao's Long History and History as a Mirror, Yang Zhongliang's Long History and History as a Mirror, the compilation of Northern League in the Three Dynasties, and the Outline of Emperor Song in the Ten Dynasties all clearly recorded that after Song Jiang surrendered, he took officers and men to suppress the Fang La uprising, and Song Jiang changed from a peasant uprising leader to an executioner who slaughtered peasant uprisings. However, in 1939, the epitaph of General Gu Wu Yi and General Hedong in the Song Dynasty was unearthed, which is known to historians. It is clearly recorded in the epitaph that Song Jiang didn't go to Fang La, but only caught Song Jiang after Fang La's victory. As historical materials, there is a constant debate in the field of history. As far as historical records are concerned, the authors at that time were all first-class historians, and basically all people at that time wrote contemporary history. Song Jiang's surrender and Fang La's conquest were important historical events at that time, so the records can't be wrong, but the records in the epitaph may be distorted. Therefore, we think that Song Jiang really surrendered, acted as a pawn in the Song Dynasty, and participated in suppressing the peasant uprising in Fang La.
Sung River and Water Margin
Over the past 100 years, hundreds of peasant uprisings, large and small, have taken place in Song San, which is unprecedented in previous dynasties. However, the peasant uprising in the Song Dynasty did not form a national scale, and its scope of activities was limited to a corner, with a limited number of participants. The duration is very short, ranging from several years for the elderly to several months for the elderly. In addition, the rulers of the Song Dynasty pursued the policy of "settling down first", so the peasant uprising in the Song Dynasty failed to become a tool for the landlord class to change the dynasty. Among the hundreds of peasant uprisings in Song Dynasty, the peasant uprising in Liangshanpo led by Song Jiang was basically a small one in terms of scale and influence. So, why is it so influential? First of all, the Chronicle of Xuanhe in the Southern Song Dynasty gave a romantic and story-telling account of the uprising, which made people feel vivid after reading it. Secondly, the Water Margin written by Luo Guanzhong and Shi Naian in the Ming Dynasty, with the hero of Liang Shanbo as the main line, made the story of Liang Shanbo and Song Jiang deeply popular among the people, with increasing influence and almost household names. Although novels have some connection with history, they are not the same thing. This is what readers should pay attention to when reading Water Margin. Historical novels should never be equated with historical truth.