Tian Hu is a fictional character and antagonist 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 ...

'', 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. He is one of the three rebel leaders in 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 res ...

along with

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 someti ...

and Wang Qing, that the Liangshan heroes have to defeat in the final chapters of the novel. He only appears in the longest versions of the stories which include these extra chapters.

Life

Tian Hu was originally a hunter from Qinyuan County, Weisheng Prefecture (威胜府),

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

. He possesses great physical strength and excels in martial arts. The government of the

is corrupt and people are suffering from extreme poverty and natural disasters. Tian Hu uses the opportunity to spread rumours and incite people to follow him in rebelling against the government. As the local government is weak and lacks a capable military force to suppress Tian Hu's rebels, Tian conquers and overrun five prefectures and 56 counties in a short time. Tian Hu establishes for himself a domain in the

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

and

region and proclaims himself "King of Jin". He also builds a palace for himself in

Fenyang Fenyang (), formerly as Fenyang County () before 1996, is a county-level city under the administration of Lüliang prefecture-level city, in Shanxi Province, China. Fenyang is located in the wide valley of the Fen River, some 20-plus kilometers ...

. After the Liangshan outlaws have been granted amnesty by Emperor Huizong, the emperor sends them on military campaigns to drive away the Liao invaders in the north and suppress the rebel forces on Song territory as a form of service to the Song Empire. The Liangshan heroes successfully defeated the Liao invaders, followed by Tian Hu and Wang Qing's rebel forces, without suffering much casualties. Tian Hu is captured by Liangshan's "Featherless Arrow" Zhang Qing after his defeat.

Life

References

Further reading