Jin Dajian

Jin Dajian is an engraver living in Jizhou (濟州; around present-day Jining and Heze, Shandong) whose excellent skill in carving seals, stone tablets and designs on jade earns him the nickname "Jade Armed Craftsman". He has known Wu Yong before the latter joins the bandits of Liangshan.

When Song Jiang is in exile in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) as a mitigated sentence for killing his mistress Yan Poxi, he could move around in and out of prison freely with permission of the chief warden Dai Zong, who is a friend of Wu Yong. One day Song gets drunk in a restaurant. Lamenting his misfortune, he writes a seditious poem on a wall in the eatery, which he forgets the next day. Huang Wenbing, a petty official, discovers the poem and reports it to Cai Jiu, the governor of Jiangzhou, leading to Song's arrest and lock-up. Cai Jiu orders Dai Zong to take a letter to his father Imperial Tutor Cai Jing in the imperial capital Dongjing (東京; present-day Kaifeng, Henan) to seek advice on how to deal with this egregious offence.

Passing by Liangshan, Dai Zong is taken up to the stronghold where he tells the outlaws the dangerous situation of Song Jiang. Wu Yong suggests forging a letter in the name of Cai Jing to fool Cai Jiu to send Song Jiang to Dongjing. The plan is to rescue Song when he is being transported there. But the letter could only be faked with the help of the scholar Xiao Rang, who could imitate Cai Jing's handwriting, and the craftsman Jin Dajian, who could forge Cai's personal seal. So, Dai Zong travels to their homes where he lures them to the vicinity of Liangshan claiming that their skills are needed for the renovation of a temple. When they find themselves trapped, Jin and Xiao have no choice but join Liangshan and create the fake letter as instructed by Wu Yong.

But the seal affixed to the letter happens to be one not appropriate for correspondence between father and son. The letter fools Cai Jiu but not Huang Wenbing, who points out the giveaway. Cai Jiu orders Song Jiang and Dai Zong be executed. Meanwhile, having realised the mistake, Wu Yong sends many chieftains to Jiangzhou, where they succeed in rescuing them.

Jin Dajian is placed in charge of all the engraving work, particularly carving of seals, after the 108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the "Grand Assembly". He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces in Song territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan.

In the attack on Jingnan (荊南; around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei) in the campaign against Wang Qing, Xiao Rang, Jin Dajian and Pei Xuan are captured by the enemy. The three, who refused to surrender and yielded up any information under torture, are freed when Xiao Jiasui and others revolt against Wang, leading to the fall of Jingnan

Before the Liangshan heroes commence their last expedition, which targets Fang La, Emperor Huizong summons Jin Dajian to the palace, where he is retained to serve as an imperial craftsman for the rest of his life.

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