Qin Ming 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 "Fiery Thunderbolt", he ranks seventh among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny.

Background

A native of Kaizhou (開州; present-day

Fengcheng, Liaoning Fengcheng () is a city in the southeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Administratively, it is a county-level city under the administration of Dandong, the downtown of which lies southeast of the city. Formally known as the Fengcheng ...

), Qin Ming is a high-ranking military commander serving in

Qingzhou Qingzhou () Wade–Giles: Tsing-chou, sometimes written as Ching-chow-fu, formerly Yidu County (Yitu) (), is a county-level city, which is located in the west of the prefecture-level city of Weifang, in the central part of Shandong Province, Chin ...

(青州; in present-day

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 ...

). He is nicknamed "Fiery Thunderbolt" due to his thunderous voice, fiery temper and impetuousness in battles, which make him a fearsome but reckless warrior. His weapon is a sort of spiked club known in Chinese as "wolf's teeth mace" ().

Conflict with the bandits of Mount Qingfeng

When Murong Yanda, the governor of

, is informed that

Hua Rong Hua Rong is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Little Li Guang", he ranks ninth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backgro ...

, the garrison commander of Qingfeng Fort (清風寨; in present-day

, Shandong), which is in his jurisdiction, has joined the outlaws at nearby Mount Qingfeng (), he orders Qin Ming to lead a military force to eliminate them. Earlier, Qin's martial arts student

Huang Xin Huang Xin is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Guardian of the Three Mountains", he ranks 38th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and second among the 72 Earthly Fien ...

, who was sent by Murong to Qingfeng Fort to deal with Hua Rong, had captured Hua. But Hua and

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 ...

, Hua's friend and the source of the row, were rescued from him by the three bandit chiefs of Mount Qingfeng -

Yan Shun Yan Shun is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Multicoloured Tiger", he ranks 50th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 14th among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Background ...

, Wang Ying and Zheng Tianshou. Huang is forced to hole himself up in the fort. Qin Ming is sent as Mount Qingfeng is deemed hard to suppress. Qin Ming battles with Hua Rong on horseback but neither prevails. Hua then feigns defeat and flees. Knowing that Qin easily loses his cool, Hua lures him to gallop round Mount Qingfeng. Finally, madly enraged and tired, Qin falls into a dug pit. He is taken to

, who unties him and tries to win him over with warm words. Although Qin takes to Song, he turns down his plea, swearing that he would live and die a

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 ...

official. But he agrees to rest overnight at the stronghold. The following day, when Qin Ming returns to Qingzhou, he finds the city's suburb razed with the residents killed. When he reaches Qingzhou, Murong Yanda bars his entry and accuses him from the top of the city's gate of leading the outlaws to commit the carnage. To punish Qin, Murong has executed his entire family, including his wife. Qin tries to force his way into Qingzhou, but gives up under a shower of arrows. As he wonders aimlessly and sorrowfully, he meets Song Jiang, Hua Rong and the bandit chiefs of Mount Qingfeng. He is then told the bloodbath is their work, carried out when he spent the night at the stronghold and led by a man disguised as him. Qin is furious but is appeased after Song says he will arrange for Hua Rong's sister to marry him as compensation. After defecting to the bandits, Qin Ming convinces Huang Xin to surrender Qingfeng Fort and join the group as well. As Qingzhou is likely to send a bigger force, the group takes Song Jiang's advice and abandons Mount Qingfeng to join the bandits of Liangshan.

Life at Liangshan

Later during Liangshan's battle at Qingzhou, Qin Ming kills Murong Yanda to avenge his family. That came as

Huyan Zhuo Huyan Zhuo is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Double Clubs", hə ranks eighth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits (天罡), the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny ...

, after his defeat by Liangshan, has fled to Qingzhou in hope of redeeming himself by wiping out the bandits there. One of the strongholds is Mount Twin Dragons, which, finding Huyan a tough opponent, requested help from Liangshan.

came to Qingzhou with a force and captured Huyan, who succumbed to Song's warm treatment. Huyan tricked Murong Yanda to open the gate of Qingzhou. Once the governor appears at the gate, Qin Ming rides forth and smashes him to death. As one of the best fighters of Liangshan, Qin Ming participates in most of its battles. A few times he almost loses his life due to his impetuous temper.

Death

Qin Ming is appointed as one of the

Five Tiger Generals The Five Tiger Generals is a popular appellation in Chinese culture for the top five military commanders serving under one lord. Although the term does not appear in Chinese historical records and is not used officially, it has been heavily used i ...

of the Liangshan cavalry 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 the

territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan. In the attack of Qingxi County (清溪縣; present-day

Chun'an County () is a Counties of China, county of Zhejiang, Zhejiang Province, East China, East China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, containing the well-known Qiandao Lake and bordering Anhui ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

) in the campaign against the rebel

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 ...

, Qin Ming fights Fang Jie on horseback. Fang's deputy Du Wei hurls his daggers at Qin. Qin dodges them but Fang seizes the chance to spear him to death.

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qin, Ming 36 Heavenly Spirits Fictional characters from Liaoning