Origin Horse thief First appearance Chapter 60 | Simplified Chinese 段景住 | |
Nickname "Golden Haired Hound"
金毛犬 Rank 108th, Hound Star (地狗星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends Ancestral home / Place of origin Zhuozhou, Baoding, Hebei Weapon Whip of the King of Horses (馬王鞭) Similar Wang Dingliu, Jiao Ting, Yang Lin, Xue Yong | ||
Duan Jingzhu is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 108th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 72nd of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Golden Haired Hound".
Contents
Background
The novel describes Duan Jingzhu as a man with red hair and a yellow beard; he is nicknamed "Golden Haired Dog" because of his appearance. He is from Zhuozhou (in present-day Baoding, Hebei) and makes a living by stealing horses from the north and selling them in the south. Once, by chance, he manages to get his hands on the Jade Lion (玉獅子), a precious steed belonging to a Jurchen prince. He intends to present the Jade Lion, along with 200 fine horses, as gifts to Chao Gai, the chief of the outlaws at Liangshan Marsh, and join the outlaw band.
On his way to Liangshan, his horses are stolen by the highwayman Yu Baosi, who brings them to the Zeng Family Fortress and presents them to Zeng Nong, the Zeng family patriarch. The Zengs have been provoking the Liangshan outlaws through insulting messages for some time, and they hurl abuse at Duan Jingzhu when he demands that they return the stolen horses.
Joining Liangshan
Around the time, Song Jiang and the Liangshan outlaws are returning to base after a battle against imperial forces when they encounter Duan Jingzhu. Song Jiang sends Duan back to Liangshan and asks him to inform Chao Gai. Chao Gai is furious after hearing about what happened and his anger increases after he learns that the Zengs once injured his friend Liu Tang in an unprovoked attack. He decides to personally lead the outlaws to attack the Zeng Family Fortress but is killed in the midst of battle by a poisoned arrow fired by Shi Wengong, a martial arts instructor in the fortress.
The outlaws eventually defeat the Zengs, overrun the fortress, and kill Shi Wengong in revenge. Song Jiang succeeds Chao Gai as the new chief of Liangshan.
Campaigns and death
Duan Jingzhu becomes one of the scout leaders of Liangshan after the Grand Assembly of the 108 Stars of Destiny. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces after they have been granted amnesty by Emperor Huizong.
During the campaign against the rebel leader Fang La, Duan Jingzhu follows Ruan Xiaoqi and the Liangshan navy to attack the enemy on the Qiantang River. However, strong winds cause Duan's boat to be swept far out into the open sea. Duan eventually drowns when his boat sinks because he is not a good swimmer.