Fang Tianding is a fictional character in the Water Margin

Water Margin

Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...

, one of the Four Great Classical Novels

Four Great Classical Novels

The Four Great Classical Novels, or the Four Major Classical Novels of Chinese literature, are the four novels commonly regarded by scholars to be the greatest and most influential of pre-modern Chinese fiction. Dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties, they are well known to most Chinese readers...

 of Chinese literature

Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...

. Fang Tianding is a son of the rebel leader, Fang La

Fang La

Fang La was a rebel leader who lived during the Song Dynasty. He is also featured as one of the antagonists and nemesis of the 108 Liangshan heroes in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.-Biography:...

, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan

Mount Liang

Mount Liang is a mountain in Liangshan County, Shandong province, China which rises to 197.9 m above sea level. It is well known as the stronghold of the 108 legendary Song Dynasty heroes of the classic Chinese novel Water Margin...

 outlaws.

Biography

Fang Tianding is the oldest son of Fang La

Fang La

Fang La was a rebel leader who lived during the Song Dynasty. He is also featured as one of the antagonists and nemesis of the 108 Liangshan heroes in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.-Biography:...

 and crown prince of his father's kingdom. When the Liangshan

Mount Liang

Mount Liang is a mountain in Liangshan County, Shandong province, China which rises to 197.9 m above sea level. It is well known as the stronghold of the 108 legendary Song Dynasty heroes of the classic Chinese novel Water Margin...

 heroes attack Fang La in Jiangnan

Jiangnan

Jiangnan or Jiang Nan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of the Yangtze Delta...

, Fang Tianding is placed in charge of defending Hangzhou

Hangzhou

Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

. The four great generals of Fang La's forces (Deng Yuanjue

Deng Yuanjue

Deng Yuanjue is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Deng Yuanjue is the Royal Advisor serving under the rebel leader, Fang La, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan outlaws...

, Li Tianrun

Li Tianrun

Li Tianrun is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Li Tianrun is the Kingdom Stabilising Great General serving under the rebel leader, Fang La, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan outlaws...

, Shi Bao

Shi Bao (Water Margin)

Shi Bao is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Shi Bao is the South Departing Great General serving under the rebel leader, Fang La, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan outlaws...

 and Si Xingfang

Si Xingfang

Si Xingfang is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Si Xingfang is the Kingdom Protecting Great General serving under the rebel leader, Fang La, one of the antagonists and enemy of the 108 Liangshan outlaws...

) are placed under Fang Tianding's command. These four generals inflict heavy casualties on Liangshan later. 12 of the 59 Liangshan heroes who perished in the Fang La

Fang La

Fang La was a rebel leader who lived during the Song Dynasty. He is also featured as one of the antagonists and nemesis of the 108 Liangshan heroes in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.-Biography:...

 campaign were killed in action at the battle of Hangzhou. Fang Tianding orders his archers to kill Liangshan's Zhang Shun

Zhang Shun

Zhang Shun is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 30th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "White Stripe in the Waves".-Background:...

, who was climbing over Hangzhou's Yongjin Gate.

After the fall of Hangzhou to Song Jiang

Song Jiang

Song Jiang was the leader of a group of outlaws who lived during the Song Dynasty. The outlaws were active in the present-day provinces of Shandong and Henan before their eventual surrender to the government. Song Jiang is also featured as a character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great...

's army, Fang Tianding attempts to escape and he encounters Zhang Heng

Zhang Heng (Water Margin)

Zhang Heng is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 28th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Boatman".-Background:...

 (Zhang Shun's brother) at Mount Wuyun. To Fang Tianding's surprise, his steed refuses to move. Zhang Heng drags him off the horse's back and kills him. It is later revealed that Zhang Heng was actually possessed by Zhang Shun's spirit and he killed Fang Tianding for revenge.

External links

Fang Tianding on Baidu Baike

Baidu Baike

Baidu Encyclopedia is a Chinese language collaborative Web-based encyclopedia provided by the Chinese search engine Baidu. Like Baidu itself, the encyclopedia is heavily self-censored in line with government regulations....