Bao Xu is a fictional character in ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

'', one of the

Four Great Classical Novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish t ...

in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "God of Death", he ranks 60th among the

108 Stars of Destiny The 108 Heroes are the main characters of the Ming dynasty classic Chinese novel the ''Water Margin'', which was written in the 14th century and usually attributed to Shi Nai'an. The heroes are divided into the 36 Heavenly Spirits and 72 Earthly F ...

and 24th among the 72 Earthly Fiends.

Background

Bao Xu is ugly-looking with a face shaped and coloured like the bottom of a wok, fierce bulging eyes and lips like those of a wolf. His voice is thunderous and terrifying. Bao, a skilled fighter who uses a broad-bladed

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

, is nicknamed "God of Death" as he likes to kill and plunder. He leads a bandit gang on Mount Deadwood () in Kouzhou (寇州; believed to be present-day

Guan County, Shandong Guan County () is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordered by Hebei province to the west. It is administered by Liaocheng City. The population was in 1999. History As an isolated county, with relatively low ...

Joining Liangshan

The imperial military officers

Shan Tinggui Shan Tinggui is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "General of Sacred Water", he ranks 44th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and eighth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Bac ...

and

Wei Dingguo Wei Dingguo is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "General of Holy Fire", he ranks 45th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and ninth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Backgr ...

capture Liangshan's

Xuan Zan Xuan Zan is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Ugly Prince Consort", he ranks 40th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and fourth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Backgroun ...

and

Hao Siwen Hao Siwen is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Wood Dog of Well", he ranks 41st among the 108 Stars of Destiny and fifth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Background ...

at Lingzhou (凌州; present-day

Ling County Lingcheng District, formerly Ling County or Lingxian, is a district of the city of Dezhou, Shandong province, China. On 29 October 2014, the State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

), who have come with

Guan Sheng Guan Sheng is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Great Blade", he ranks fifth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backgro ...

to head them off before they set out on the mission to exterminate their stronghold by order of the

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

court. Shan and Wei send the two captives to the imperial capital Dongjing (東京; present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) for punishment. Meanwhile, Li Kui has secretly left for Lingzhou after

Song Jiang A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

forbade him from being part of Guan Sheng's expedition. He gets into a fight with Jiao Ting on the way after accusing the other of staring at him. Jiao, who is a skilled wrestler, easily floors him twice. However, he is glad to learn that the dark fellow is Li Kui. Jiao, who is heading to Mount Deadwood to join Bao Xu's band, invites Li to go with him, suggesting that they could work out something with Bao about Lingzhou. At Mount Deadwood, Bao Xu welcomes Li's invitation to join Liangshan. Just then the troops escorting Xuan Zan and Hao Siwen come past the hill and are set upon by Bao and his men. After rescuing the two, Li Kui leads an attack on a gate of Lingzhou, breaking into it, when Wei Dingguo is battling with Guan Sheng outside the city. Earlier, Guan has captured and won over Shan Tinggui. After Wei also surrendered, Guan takes the group, including Bao Xu, back to Liangshan.

Campaigns and death

Bao Xu is appointed as one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry after the

came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces in

territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan. In the battle of

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

in the campaign against

Fang La Fang La (; died 1121) was a Chinese rebel leader who led an uprising against the Song dynasty. In the classical novel ''Water Margin'', he is fictionalised as one of the primary antagonists and nemeses of the 108 Stars of Destiny. He is sometime ...

, Bao Xu and Li Kui are assigned to attack the city's north gate. After slaying the enemy officer Lian Ming, Bao Xu charges into the city where he finds himself surrounded by hiding troops. He is sliced in two by the enemy general Shi Bao.

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bao, Xu 72 Earthly Fiends Fictional characters from Shandong