Song Jiang was a Chinese historical figure who led an armed rebellion against the ruling Song Dynasty in the early 12th century. His band marauded over a region straddling the present-day Chinese provinces of Shandong and Henan. They eventually surrendered to the Imperial Court. The historical Song Jiang was turned into a fictional character in Water Margin, which became one of the four famous Classic Chinese Novels. He is the central figure in the book, and the leader of the 108 heroes who come together as bandits in Shandong's Liangshan Marsh. Life Song Jiang is mentioned in the History of Song, the most authoritative of records on the history of the Song dynasty. His name occurs in the portion relating to Emperor Huizong () that: Another account, from the portion relating to Zhang Shuye in the History of Song, records the following: In Water Margin The fictional Song Jiang in Water Margin is based on the historical one and folktales that had been circulating in the Shandong region. One tale, for example, is about "36 huge banners and 72 smaller banners of local bandits", a likely origin of the 108 Stars of Destiny in Water Margin. Background In Water Margin, Song Jiang is depicted as short, swarthy, and having a big squarish mouth and eyes like those of a fenghuang. He lives and works in Yuncheng County, where he serves as a clerk of the magistrate. He is nicknamed "Timely Rain" because he is generous and helpful, often assisting heroes in difficulties and the indigent. As he is known to be filial, he is also called "Filial and Righteous Dark Third Son" and "Dark Song Jiang", with "dark" referring to his complexion. After all the 108 Stars of Destiny come together at Liangshan, he goes by another nickname, "Protector of Justice", to advertise his conviction in life. He is trained in both scholarly and martial arts, but he is apparently not a great fighter. He has a younger brother named Song Qing. Song Jiang is a close friend of Yuncheng's chief constables, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, as well as Chao Gai, the headman of Yuncheng's Dongxi Village. After Chao and his six confederates hijacked valuables from a conveyance to the Grand Tutor Cai Jing in the imperial capital Dongjing, the government of Jizhou is under pressure to solve the case as Yellow Mud Ridge, the site of the robbery,