Cai Fu

Cai Fu is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Iron Arm", he ranks 94th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 58th among the 72 Earthly Fiends. He shares the same nickname as Zhou Tong, who, in legend, was the martial arts master of some Liangshan heroes such as Lu Junyi and Lin Chong.

Background

Cai Fu and his younger brother, Cai Qing, are from Daming Prefecture (大名府; present-day Daming County, Hebei). They work as jailers and executioners in the local prison. Cai Fu is nicknamed "Iron Arm" because he can behead a convict with just one swing of his sword and spare him unnecessary pain.

Joining Liangshan

Lu Junyi is arrested and imprisoned after being betrayed by his adulterous wife and treacherous housekeeper Li Gu. Li Gu bribes the Cai brothers to kill Lu Junyi in prison. Chai Jin visits them later and offers them an even larger sum of money to take good care of Lu Junyi. Not wanting to antagonise either side, the Cai brothers use the money to bribe officials to sentence Lu Junyi to exile on Shamen Island (沙門島; present-day Changdao County, Shandong).

Li Gu bribes the guards escorting Lu Junyi to Shamen Island to kill him along the way. Although Lu Junyi's loyal servant Yan Qing manages to save his master when the guards are about to finish him off, Lu Junyi is captured again shortly after when Yan Qing goes look for food. This time, Lu Junyi is sentenced to death and Cai Fu is assigned to be the executioner. During the execution, Cai Fu deliberately stalls for time while Shi Xiu, one of the Liangshan outlaws, storm the execution ground in a lone attempt to save Lu Junyi. Shi Xiu succeeds in freeing Lu Junyi but both of them are ultimately outnumbered and captured again. Grand Secretary Liang Shijie, the governor of Daming Prefecture, decides to keep Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu alive to lure the Liangshan outlaws to attack Daming Prefecture. The Cai brothers are tasked with watching over the prisoners and they treat them well.

As Liang Shijie expected, the Liangshan outlaws come for Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu later. Wu Yong, Liangshan's chief strategist, sends a number of spies to infiltrate the city and create havoc during the Lantern Festival. In the meantime, Chai Jin visits the prison and succeeds in convincing the Cai brothers to free Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu. When the Liangshan spies create havoc in Daming Prefecture, the other Liangshan outlaws use the opportunity to attack from outside. Liang Shijie flees as the government forces are thrown into disarray by the sudden attack. Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu are saved, while the Cai brothers follow the outlaws back to Liangshan and join them.

Campaigns and death

Cai Fu becomes the chief executioner of Liangshan after the Grand Assembly of the 108 Stars of Destiny. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces on Song territory after they received amnesty from Emperor Huizong. He is critically injured at the battle of Qingxi County (清溪縣; present-day Chun'an County, Zhejiang) during the campaign against the rebel leader Fang La and dies from his wounds.

References

• Buck, Pearl S. (2006). All Men are Brothers. Moyer Bell. ISBN 9781559213035.
• Ichisada, Miyazaki (1993). Suikoden: Kyoko no naka no Shijitsu (in Japanese). Chuo Koronsha. ISBN 978-4122020559.
• Keffer, David. "Outlaws of the Marsh: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary". Poison Pie Publishing House. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Li, Mengxia (1992). 108 Heroes from the Water Margin (in Chinese). EPB Publishers. p. 191. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
• Miyamoto, Yoko (2011). "Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits". Demystifying Confucianism. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Shibusawa, Kou (1989), Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Koei
• Zhang, Lin Ching (2009). Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House. ISBN 978-7506344784.