Guo Sheng

Guo Sheng is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Comparable to Rengui", he ranks 55th of the 108 Stars of Destiny and 19th of the 72 Earthly Fiends.

Background

Guo Sheng is from Jialing (嘉陵; present-day Jialing District, Nanchong, Sichuan). He dons a suit of silvery white armour over a white robe, and a silver belt and silver headdress. He rides on a white horse and wields a ji similar to Lü Bu's "Sky Piercer" (方天畫戟).

Initially a trader, Guo Sheng decides to become a bandit after he lost his goods in the river during a storm and did not have enough money to pay for his journey home. When he was young, he learnt martial arts from a military officer in his hometown and has become an expert in using the ji after several years of training. He is nicknamed "Comparable to Rengui" because his combat skills are on par with those of Xue Rengui, a famous Tang dynasty general.

Joining Liangshan

Guo Sheng hears of Lü Fang's reputation as a mighty warrior and desires to challenge him. He travels to Mount Duiying (對影山), where Lü Fang leads a group of bandits, and engages Lü Fang in a one-on-one duel on horseback. Neither of them can defeat his opponent after fighting over a period of more than 10 days.

Song Jiang, Hua Rong and other outlaws are on their way back to Liangshan Marsh when they pass by Mount Duiying. They chance on the duel between Guo Sheng and Lü Fang. At the time, the blades and the tassels of Guo Sheng and Lü Fang's jis get entangled so the two men struggle to free their weapons. Seeing that, Hua Rong fires an arrow that hits the entangled point and separates the weapons. Everyone cheers. Guo Sheng and Lü Fang stop fighting and greet Song Jiang, who convinces them to join the outlaw band at Liangshan.

Campaigns and death

After the 108 Stars of Destiny come together in what is called the Grand Assembly, Guo Sheng becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry. Along with Lü Fang, he is responsible for the security of the central camp when the Liangshan forces go to battle. The two of them also flank Song Jiang and serve as his bodyguards during battle.

Guo Sheng follows the Liangshan heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces on Song territory after they received amnesty from Emperor Huizong. During the campaign against Fang La's rebel forces, Guo Sheng is assigned to attack the enemy at Black Dragon Ridge (烏龍嶺; northeast of present-day Meicheng Town, Jiande, Zhejiang). While leading Liangshan forces on a charge up the ridge, he gets crushed to death by boulders rolled down by enemy soldiers.

Other mentions

In Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Guo Sheng is the ancestor of the protagonist, Guo Jing.^[1]

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. 111. 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, p. 91
• Zhang, Lin Ching (2009). Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House. ISBN 978-7506344784.