Jiang Ping,

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Zechang, is a fictional

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

knight-errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective '' errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric ...

from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''

The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (忠烈俠義傳), also known by its 1883 reprint title ''The Three Heroes and Five Gallants'' (三俠五義), is an 1879 Chinese novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. The n ...

'' and ''

The Five Younger Gallants ''The Five Younger Gallants'' (小五義) is an 1890 Chinese novel and the best known sequel to the hugely popular 1879 novel ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (republished as ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' in 1889). It is ...

''. Nicknamed "River Rat" or "River-Overturning Rat" () for his amazing swimming and

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath-h ...

skills, he is able to stay underwater seemingly forever. He is the fourth sworn brother of the "Five Rats", whose other members are Lu Fang,

Han Zhang Han Zhang is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' and ''The Five Younger Gallants''. Nicknamed "Earth Rat" or "Earth-Piercing Rat" () for his expertise in land mines ...

Xu Qing Xu Qing (; born 22 January 1969), known also as Summer Qing, is a Chinese actress. She was accepted into the acting class of Beijing Film Academy in 1988 and graduated in 1992. Career Xu made her debut in the 1990 film '' Life on a String'', ...

and

Bai Yutang Bai Yutang, nicknamed "Sleek Rat" or "Brocade-Coated Rat" (錦毛鼠), is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novel ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants''. Handsome, brave, clever and charismatic, Bai Yutang is ...

. Highly witty, Jiang Ping is one of the most colorful characters in the original novel. He is scrawny, and his appearance more of a sick patient than a fighter, yet he often outsmarts opponents with clever tricks, disguises or lies. Researcher Susan Blader considers him the only "gallant" "whose intellectual, emotional, and physical prowess compares favourably with that of any 'heroes'".

References

The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants characters Fictional characters from Jiangsu Literary characters introduced in 1879 {{novel-char-stub