Was the Water Margin written by Shi Nai an alone?

Who is the author of "Water Margin", from the Ming Dynasty to the present, there are three theories: the first theory is that it was written by Luo Guanzhong, that is, the author of "Water Margin" is Luo Guanzhong; The second theory is that "Water Margin" is a collaboration between Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, which is a lot of opinions, and it is also the opinion of the Ming Dynasty; The third statement was written by Shi Nai'an alone. This was also seen in the Ming Dynasty at the earliest, but relatively late.

That's especially Jin Shengsi's book. After it became popular, because it was preceded by a preface of a fake Shi Nai'an, that preface was fake, and it was written by Jin Shengxian himself.

What era and place is Shi Nai'an? What about his life? It's a pity.

Nothing is known about Shi Nai'an's life and deeds. The only thing we can determine is that he was from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which was called Qiantang at that time. Why do we conclude that he was from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties?

That's because his collaborator can be sure that his collaborator is Luo Guanzhong. Luo Guanzhong was from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, so the collaborators were from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and Shi Nai'an was of course also from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. This author and era are so determined.

However, I only know that his surname is Shi, and his name is not called Nai'an, and Nai'an is either a word or a number. So according to this clue, an opinion can be put forward for everyone's reference. It is not possible to say that he has 100% evidence to be established, but it is just for your reference.

In other words, Shi Nai'an may be a beneficiary. Shi Hui was a dramatist in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, who wrote southern opera. The earliest person we know of this view was Wu Mei, a master of Qu Xue.

Wu Mei said in his book "Old Fun Talk" that Shi Nai'an is Shi Hui, the author of the Nanqu "Moon Worship Pavilion".

The legend seems to have been written by two people.

Background of the writing of "Water Margin": In the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the bureaucratic corruption and social darkness, the intensification of class contradictions, and the peasant uprising led by Song Jiang broke out in the northern region, and finally after the failure of the uprising, but the heroic stories of Liangshan were widely circulated. The Song people's "Xuanhe Legacy" depicts many stories of Liangshan heroes, and Shi Nai'an sorted out and processed them according to social reality and folk stories about the Water Margin, and finally created "Water Margin".

The main content of "Water Margin".

"Water Margin" depicts the story of the heroes of Liangshan who rebelled against oppression, but were finally recruited by the Song Dynasty and perished. After the advent of "Water Margin", it had a huge impact on society, and had an extremely far-reaching impact on the narrative literature of China and even East Asia, and became a model for Chinese creation in later generations. During the Northern Song Dynasty, one hundred and eight heroes led by Song Jiang rebelled in Liangshan, and fought for the Song Dynasty after being recruited, and finally died out.

The author or editor of "Water Margin" is generally considered to be Shi Nai'an, and most of the signatures of the extant journal are one of Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, or both.

In the past, in the official history of the relevant documents of "Water Margin", it was said that Shi Nai'an's "life is unknown" or "lacks reliable records", so scholars of all dynasties have expressed their own opinions, and the mystery is complicated. To sum it up, there are three main theories.

First: Represented by Hu Shi and Lu Xun, two big names in the literary world, it was proposed that Shi Nai'an was the name of an anonymous writer.

Second: Guo Xun was a native of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and his family collection of the "Water Margin" engraved copy is the earliest version found so far. Based on this, it is believed that Shi Nai'an is Guo Xun's name.

Third: Mr. Luo Ergang said in "Water Margin True Righteousness Examination" that the author of "Water Margin" is Luo Guanzhong, the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and Shi Nai'an has no one. There's also a hilarious saying:

Read Shi Nai'an in the names of Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong upside down, and it becomes "I am Luo Guanzhong".

Through years of research, it has been proved that Nai'an is indeed a person who is a knowledgeable and talented writer. Therefore, in many current literary books and periodicals, it is generally agreed that the authors of "Water Margin" are Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong.

Shi Nai'an (1296-1372), the name of the ear, the word Boyang, also known as Zi'an, also known as Zhaorui, the name of Yanduan, the name of Zhai Nai'an, is generally considered to be the author of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, one of China's four major masterpieces, "Water Margin". Luo Guanzhong, the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", is his disciple.

Shi Nai'an is a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu, his ancestral home is Suzhou, the son of Zhouren, born in Xinduo Town, Xinghua, entered a private school at the age of 13, Xiucai at the age of 19, raised people at the age of 29, and Jinshi at the age of 36. Between the ages of 36 and 40, he was in charge of Qiantang for two years, and then he disagreed with the government and returned to Suzhou.

At the age of sixty in the sixteenth year of Zheng (1356), Zhang Shicheng was not recruited according to Su; He was friendly with Zhang Shicheng's general Bian Yuanheng, and later lived in Jiangyin and taught in Zhutang Town. At the age of 71 or 72, he moved to Xinghua, and the family moved to Baijuchang and Shijiaqiao. Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly rejected; In the end, Ju Huai'an died at the age of 74.

Many of the place names in Shi Nai'an's "Water Margin" are taken from the vicinity of Zhutang. For example, "three dozen Zhujiazhuang" is the highlight of the book, in fact, Zhujiazhuang is Zhutang Town. **Zhongwu Song Jingyanggang fights tigers, and it is vividly written.

It is said that at that time, Shi Nai'an was just going to take a walk in Houyanggang behind the village in the mansion, and saw a yellow dog sleeping under a pine tree, and a Zhuang Ding Wu A Er beat the yellow dog away. Shi Nai'an went home and used this as the prototype to create, changing Houyanggang to Jingyanggang, the yellow dog became a white-fronted insect (tiger), and Wu Aer became Wu Song.