This book has been translated in to English with the title, The Water Margin. It tells about a group of outlaw heroes who lived in the marshland named Liangshanbo in the Northern Song dynasty. It is one of the most famous Chinese jhanghui novels, and it has many different versions. It is basically a combination of several story lines, and the story lines at the beginning of this book usually introduce a hero, such as Song Jiang, Li Kui, Lin Chong, Lu Jhihshen, telling how he was unfairly treated by either the corrupted officials or the evil gentry, or by both, before joining this outlaw group. This group armed itself and fought against the government. The official troops could never win. Nevertheless, there were at the same time foreign forces invading China and internal bandit groups looting the public. So the Song court offered amnesty to and enlisted the aid of the heroes of Liangshanbo.

      Song Jiang, the head of the Liangshanbo heroes, accepted the offer and then led his fellow "brothers" to fight for the country. Their military achievements included defeating both the foreign Taliao invaders and the bandit groups headed by Tian Hu and Wang Cing. However invaders from the southern country, Fang La, were very tough for them. After scores of battles, many Liangshanbo heroes were sacrificed before peace finally arrived. However, the surviving heroes were framed and killed by treacherous ministers.

      It is a story about the tragic lives of heroes. Jhong, loyalty, and Yi, righteousness, are the morals. The first half of this story talks about the heroes, who were righteous, gathering together to fight against the deteriorating government and the society. The second half rationalized their behavior by diverting them from being against the establishment to protecting it. To the sia, Jhong and yi really are opposites under some circumstances. Because of yi, the sia fight against the law and the custom. Jhong, the merit, which the government values most, examines the conscience of the government itself. The government expects its people to be loyal, but all the political struggles and reconciliation taking place in the court are unbearable to the sia, who are straightforward and impulsive. So the lives of the Liangshanbo heroes ended miserably.