Many people also found that the top two of Liangshan Five Tigers in the Water Margin were written by imitating Shu Five Tigers.
For example, Guan Sheng, the broadsword, is as famous as Guan Yu in his costumes, weapons and mounts, and he himself is a descendant of Guan Yu. And Lin Chong, like Zhang Fei, has a leopard head, leopard eyes, a moustache and a snake spear, and has a bad temper. Therefore, Lin Chong also has a nickname called "Little Zhang Fei", and some people in the village call it "Yide" (Yide is the word of Zhang Fei in Romance).
The problem is that Water Margin is China's earliest Zhanghui novel, which is earlier than The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In that case, why did Lin Chong, a leopard with eyes and a beard, write it after Zhang Fei? Obviously, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is later than The Water Margin. Why not say that Zhang Fei imitated Lin Chong?
Some people say that Zhang Fei was a figure in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of Han Dynasty, and Lin Chong was a figure in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Lin Chong was obviously better than Zhang Fei. In fact, this is not true, because there is no record of Zhang Fei's appearance in official history. As for some people who say that Zhang Fei is a handsome boy, he can write a good hand and is good at drawing beautiful women, which is mentioned in the notes novels of the Ming Dynasty.
Personally, this is mainly due to the evolution of the images of Zhang Fei and Lin Chong.
The four classical novels, Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Water Margin, were not written by one person at a time, during which many people participated, but the basic draft was finally edited by Luo Guanzhong, Wu Cheng'en and Shi Naian, so they were considered as authors, but in fact they did not create all the storylines.
For example, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei's image stories have been found in the History of the Three Kingdoms, Commentary on the History of the Three Kingdoms, and the drama of the Three Kingdoms in the Yuan Dynasty. Moreover, in the story of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei's image is "a leopard with eyes and a beard".
There is a man named Zhang, named Yide, who is from Fanyang, Yanbang County. He was born with a leopard head and leopard eyes, a beard, more than nine feet long and a bell ringing. -"Three Kingdoms Pinghua"
The History of the Three Kingdoms is a storyteller in the Yuan Dynasty. The author is unknown. This story had a great influence on the later Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It can be said that it is the basis of romance, and the characters and most stories have been finalized. Zhang Fei's first appearance in Pinghua was "the leopard with eyes and beard".
Lin Chong's image has not been finalized in the Yuan Dynasty.
Lin Chong first appeared in Song and Yuan Dynasties' Legacy of the Great Song Dynasty, but Lin Chong in it was only nicknamed "Leopard Head", and what he looked like was not mentioned. There is no story and image of Lin Chong in Song Jiang's Thirty-six Zan and Yuan Zaju.
This shows that before the Water Margin, Lin Chong's image was not fixed. It was not until the book Water Margin was completed that Lin Chong's image of a leopard with eyes and a beard was confirmed.
To sum up, we can find that they are all "leopard heads with eyes and needs", but Lin Chong's image is later than Zhang Fei's, so it is true that Lin Chong imitated Zhang Fei's writing. Of course, Zhang Fei refers to Zhang Fei in Yuan Zaju, not The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Zhang Fei in the movie.
Strictly speaking, Lin Chong in Water Margin and Zhang Fei in Romance are all imitations of Zhang Fei in Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Yuan Dynasty.
In fact, the image of Zhang Fei in Yuan Dynasty has always had an influence on the characters in Ming and Qing novels, especially those like valiant generals, many of whom are "leopard heads with eyes and beards".
For example, Hou Xiaogong in Good Biography, Bu Dawu in Seven Swords and Thirteen Heroes, Xiong in Anti-Tang, Changyi in Liang Wudi Romance and so on. These people are all leopard heads with eyes and beards. Besides these decent people, even some villains will be like Zhang Fei. Sometimes, they even have weapons and even mounts like Zhang Fei.
The most interesting thing is that this image is probably worn out later, so even beautiful women and ugly women are like this. For example, in "Continued Jin Ping Mei", the little general's sister was born with "leopard head and leopard eyes".