Shi En 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...

. He ranks 85th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 49th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub".

Background

The Water Margin describes Shi En as a handsome man standing six chi

Chi (unit)

The chi is a traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately equal to one foot. Its length is derived from the length of human forearm and has first appeared during the Shang Dynasty approximately 3000 years ago. Since then it has spread to and adopted by other East Asian cultures, such as...

tall with a fair complexion and a beard. He is nicknamed "Golden Eyed Tiger Cub". Shi En is the son of the commander of Anping Outpost, a prison camp for exiled convicts in Mengzhou

Mengzhou

Mengzhou is a County-level city in Henan province, People's Republic of China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city Jiaozuo. Its population in 1999 stood at 341,190.-Economy:...

, Jiaozuo

Jiaozuo

Jiaozuo is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the west, Luoyang to the southwest, and the province of Shanxi...

, Henan

Henan

Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

.

Meeting Wu Song

Wu Song

Wu Song

Wu Song, nicknamed "Pilgrim", is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 14th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes. Wu Song also appears in the novel Jin Ping Mei, a spin-off of Water Margin...

 is sentenced to exile in Mengzhou after killing Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing to avenge his brother. According to a law passed down since Emperor Taizu

Emperor Taizu of Song

Emperor Tàizǔ , born Zhao Kuangyin , was the founder of the Song Dynasty of China, reigning from 960 to 976.-Ancestry and early life:...

's time, every new convict who enters the prison must be flogged 100 times. The corporal punishment is meant to tame unruly and arrogant prisoners who enter prison for the first time. Shi En respects Wu Song as a hero and succeeds in persuading his father to spare Wu from the beating on the excuse that Wu appears to be ill.

Wu Song is led to a clean cell and provided with luxuries everyday. Wu Song is grateful towards Shi En and wants to repay him for his kindness. Shi En tells Wu Song that he used to run a restaurant called "Forest of Delight" (快活林). A hooligan called Jiang Zhong, nicknamed "Jiang the Door God", came one day and beat him up and took over his restaurant. Wu Song promises to help Shi En take back the restaurant.

Wu Song defeats Jiang Zhong in a fight and warns Jiang never to return to Mengzhou and orders Jiang to apologise to Shi En. Jiang Zhong resents Wu Song and he bribes Inspector Zhang to help him. Inspector Zhang invites Wu Song to his residence and frames him for theft later. Wu Song is arrested and sentenced to exile once more. Meanwhile, Jiang Zhong returns to the restaurant and seizes it back from Shi En by force.

Becoming an outlaw

The guards escorting Wu Song into exile have been bribed by Jiang Zhong to kill him along the way. However, Wu Song senses something amiss and he kills the guards and escapes. He returns to Mengzhou and kills Inspector Zhang and Jiang Zhong. He flees from Mengzhou and goes to join the outlaws on Mount Twin Dragons with help from Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang. Shi En also leaves Mengzhou with his family at that time. He joins the outlaws later after the deaths of his parents.

Campaigns and death

Shi En follows the outlaws back to Liangshan Marsh

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...

 after the great battle at Qingzhou (in present-day Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

) and joins the Liangshan cause of "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf". He becomes one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry after the Grand Assembly. He follows the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao

Liao Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

 invaders and rebel forces after they have been granted amnesty by the emperor. During 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, Shi En follows the Ruan brothers on a naval assault on the enemy territory of Kunshan, but falls into the river by accident and drowns.