''The Water Margin'' is a Japanese television series based on the 14th-century book ''

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 ...

of Chinese literature. Made in two seasons of 13 episodes each by

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

it was shown in Japan in 1973 and 1974 as ''Suikoden'' (). The novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the

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 ...

. This adaptation follows Lin Chung (

Atsuo Nakamura is a Japanese actor and politician. He has appeared in more than 50 films since 1964. His younger brother Katsuyuki Nakamura is a writer. Career Nakamura first joined the Haiyuza theatre troupe in 1962, and became famous for his starring role i ...

) and his clashes with the local government official Kao Chiu (

Kei Satō was a Japanese character actor and narrator. He is known for his work with Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima, and for several films with Kaneto Shindo, such as '' Onibaba'' and ''Kuroneko''. He won the best actor award from ''Kinema Junpo ...

). For an English-language version, it was adapted by David Weir without translations, using only brief plot synopses. The dubbed version, narrated by

Burt Kwouk Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Ma ...

, was shown by the BBC from 1976 to 1978. An English novelisation, written by Weir, was released in 1978 as ''Water Margin''. ''The Water Margin'' is known for its sometimes obscure, but memorable philosophical quotes, such as "Do not despise the snake for having no horns, for who is to say it will not become a dragon?"

Episode list

Series 1

The first ten episodes were shown on the BBC from 21 September 1976 to 23 November 1976. The final three episodes were shown just before series 2 from 20 September 1977 to 4 October 1977.

Series 2

On the BBC series 2 followed on from series 1, shown from 11 October 1977 to 3 January 1978.

Home video

In the UK a DVD box set of both series was released by Fabulous Films in 2005. This was of a censored version broadcast before the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

by the BBC in the early 1980s. In 2016 the series was reissued on DVD and Blu-ray with missing portions reinserted that were included in the original 1970s post-watershed broadcast. All UK releases only contain the English dubbed soundtrack. In Germany a DVD box set was issued by Alive AG in 2008, followed by deluxe and basic Blu-ray sets in 2016 and 2017. As with the UK the series was also originally broadcast in a dubbed version, but all German DVD and Blu-ray releases have also included optional original Japanese audio with German subtitles. In its native Japan, the series was issued in a DVD box set in 2008.

Cast

Lin Chong Lin Chong is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', 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 ...

Gao Qiu Gao Qiu (1076?–1126) was a government official who lived during the Song dynasty of China and served in the court of Emperor Huizong. In the classical novel ''Water Margin'', he is fictionalised as one of the primary antagonists and a nemesis ...

Sanae Tsuchida is a Japanese actress. She was born on July 26, 1949, in Toyonaka, Osaka. In film, Tsuchida had a role in ''Kore ga Seishun Da!'' (1966). In another modern role (1976), she appeared in the Norifumi Suzuki film ''Torakku Yarō: Hōkyō Ichiban Ho ...

Hu Sanniang Hu Sanniang (literally "Third Sister Hu") is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed " Ten Feet of Blue", she ranks 59th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 23rd among th ...

* Tetsuro Tamba :

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 ...

So Yamamura was a Japanese actor and film director. He was also known by the name Satoshi Yamamura, while his actual birth name is Koga Hirosada. Yamamura graduated from University of Tokyo. In 1942, Yamamura and Isao Yamagata formed the ''Bunkaza Theatre ...

Lu Junyi Lu Junyi is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels, four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Jade Qilin", he ranks second among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 S ...

Takahiro Tamura was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1954 and 2005. He and his younger brothers Masakazu and Ryō were known as the three Tamura brothers. They were sons of actor Tsumasaburo Bando. Biography Tamura graduated from Dosh ...

Chai Jin Chai Jin is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the four great classical novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Little Whirlwind", he ranks 10th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backgr ...

Go Wakabayashi Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position l ...

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 ...

* Takeshi Obayashi :

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 ...

Hajime Hana was a Japanese actor. He was the leader of the comic jazz band The Crazy Cats, which featured such talent as Hitoshi Ueki and Kei Tani, and which starred in a series of film comedies (such as the "Irresponsible" (Musekinin) series at Toho) and in ...

Wu Song Wu Song ( zh, c=武松, p=wǔ sōng), also known as Wu the Second ( zh, c=武二郎, p=wŭ èrláng, labels=no), is a legendary hero recounted since the 13th century; and one of the well-known fictional characters in the ''Water Margin'', one of ...

* Atsushi Watanabe :

Ruan Xiaoqi Ruan Xiaoqi, also known as Ruan the Seventh, is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Living King Yama", he ranks 31st among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third o ...

Isao Yamagata was a Japanese film actor. In 1942, Yamagata and So Yamamura formed the ''Bunkaza Theatre Company''. In 1949 he made his film debut with ''Kirareya Senta''. Yamagata became famous for his role in 1953 film '' Gate of Hell''. He became a charac ...

Chao Gai Chao Gai, nicknamed "Pagoda-Shifting Heavenly King", is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He is not one of the 108 Stars of Destiny because he dies before the Grand Assembly ...

* Toshio Kurosawa :

Dai Zong Dai Zong is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Magic Traveller", he ranks 20th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backgr ...

* Teruhiko Aoi :

Shi Jin Shi Jin is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Nine-Tattoo Dragon", he ranks 23rd among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backg ...

* Makoto Sato : Yang Zhi *

Sei Hiraizumi is a Japanese actor. In 1964, Hiraizumi joined Daiei Film company and started his acting career. In the 1970s to early 1980s, he appeared in a lot of jidaigeki and detective television dramas as a guest villain actor. Hiraizumi starred as Koichi ...

Kin Sugai (28 February 1926 – 10 August 2018) was a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 9th Hochi Film Award for '' The Funeral''. Sugai is famous for her role as Sen Nakamura in the jidaigeki drama Hissatsu series. Sh ...

Kei Taguchi is a Japanese actor. He is most famous for playing villains and appeared in many jidaigeki and detective television dramas as a guest.日本タレント名鑑'82 VIPタイムズ社、1981 P.113 He is also known as voice actor. Taguchi graduated f ...

Kōji Nanbara was a Japanese people, Japanese actor. He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, Japan. In 1951, he signed with Daiei film company. nad made his film debut with ''Kamikaze Tokkotai''. He was most famous for playing villains. He died ...

Akiji Kobayashi , sometimes credited as Shōji Kobayashi, was a Japanese actor. He attended Nihon University College of Art, but withdrew before completing his degree and joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1949. He made his film debut with ''Satsujin Yogisha' ...

Ryōhei Uchida was a Japanese ultranationalist political theorist, Pan-Asianist, and martial artist, active in the pre-war Empire of Japan. Biography Uchida was born in Fukuoka prefecture. He was the son of ''Shinto Muso-ryu'' practitioner Uchida Ryōgorō,M ...

as Zhu Wu *

Toru Abe was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1944 to 1985. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Toru 1917 births 1993 deaths Japanese male film actors 20th-century Japanese male ...

Susumu Kurobe (born ; 22 October 1939) is a television, film and stage actor from Kurobe, Toyama, Japan, widely known for his portrayal of Shin Hayata, the first Ultraman in the '' titular character series'', a role he has played since the original series in ...

Nobuo Kawai was a Japanese actor. He is most famous for playing villains and appeared in many jidaigeki and detective television dramas as a guest. He was a member of Yukio Mishima's Roman Gekijo Theatre Company. He died of cerebral infarction on June 24, ...

Isamu Nagato was a Japanese actor from Kurashiki Okayama Prefecture. He was an actor who specialized in playing comical roles. He became popular for his role as Sakura Kyōjyurō in the ''Three Outlaw Samurai series''. Selected Filmography Films * ''Taiyō ...

Lu Zhishen Lu Zhishen is a fictional character in '' Water Margin'', one of the four great classical novels in Chinese literature. He is the main character in the first segment of the novel, which spans about six chapters. Nicknamed "Flowery Monk", he ra ...

Yutaka Mizutani is a Japanese actor and singer. He was born on July 14, 1952, in Ashibetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan. Biography Mizutani was raised from the age of eight in Tokyo, Japan. He started acting at the age of twelve, when a neighbor introduced him to a childr ...

Emperor Huizong of Song Emperor Huizong of Song (7 June 1082 – 4 June 1135), personal name Zhao Ji, was the eighth emperor of the Northern Song dynasty of China. He was also a very well-known calligrapher. Born as the 11th son of Emperor Shenzong, he ascended the ...

References

External links

*
BFI databaseGeekPlanetOnline: Why I Love The Water MarginTV.com guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Water Margin (1977 TV Series), The 1970s British drama television series 1973 Japanese television series debuts 1974 Japanese television series endings 1976 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings BBC Television shows Television series set in the Northern Song Works based on Water Margin