Li Jun is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "River Dragon", he ranks 26th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Background The novel depicts Li Jun as eight chi tall and having thick eyebrows, large eyes, a reddish face, wire-like whiskers and a booming voice. Born in Luzhou (蘆州; present-day Hefei, Anhui), he moves to Jieyang Ridge (揭陽嶺; believed to be in present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) with his close friend Li Li. He is a good fighter and an excellent swimmer. As water is like his natural habitat, he is nicknamed "River Dragon". Li Jun engages in illegal salt smuggling on Xunyang River with his sidekicks Tong Wei and Tong Meng, who are brothers, while Li Li runs an inn on Jieyang ridge, where he drugs, robs and butchers customers. Joining Liangshan On his way to exile in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) as a mitigated sentence for killing his mistress Yan Poxi, Song Jiang passes by Jieyang Ridge and takes a rest in the inn of Li Li with his two escorts. After drugging the three, Li Li waits for his helpers to come to cut them up. Li Jun and the Tong brothers come to his inn for refreshments. Li Jun has been waiting by the riverbank for days hoping to meet Song Jiang, who is famous for chivalry. Upon learning an exile is drugged, Li Jun immediately frisks the escorts and finds the document confirming the identity of the person. Li Li quickly revives Song. They introduce themselves to Song and treat him as an honoured guest before seeing him off. Song Jiang passes by Jieyang Town where he offends the Mu brothers (Mu Hong and Mu Chun) by giving money to street performer Xue Yong, who has neglected to pay respect to the Mus. After unknowingly finding accommodation at the house of the Mus thanks to the kindness of the brothers' father, Song and his two escorts have to sneak away when they realise they are close to danger. Pursued by the Mus, the three scramble on to the boat of the pirate Zhang Heng when they come to the bank of Xunyang River. Halfway across the waters, Zhang draws out his knife and asks them whether they would rather be knifed or drowned. Just when the three