Section Two It Is as Natural to Die as to Be Born
正如人人都不能选择自己的父母或家庭一样，无人能选择何时何地和如何去死亡（除根据自己的意愿自杀外）。人类的生命当然是地球生物界的一部分。人类以较高级的智力发展，表达清楚的言语能力和直立的姿势区别于其他动物或生物。因此，人类自生存以来一直把我们自己认为是中心，是宇宙中最重要的独立存在实体，或者说，是通过人类独有的视角对现实进行评价，这种观念可叫做人类至高无上或人类中心主义。人类中心主义是环境伦理学和环境哲学领域的主要观念，常常被认为是人类与环境相互作用产生的环境污染问题的根本原因。换句话说，我们人类应该避免仅仅是人类中心主义的环境保护主义——那是只关心被人类利用和为人类的目的而进行的环境保护，排除了深层生态学的基本哲学。深层生态学是一种当代生态哲学，强调人类生命与非人类生命的互相依存性以及生态系统与自然变化过程的重要性。我们人类应该改恶向善，改掉乱吃其他动物的恶习。没有生物的多样化，我们人类怎能单独生存？因此，我们主张人类与自然友好相处，而人类之间需要和谐相处并努力构建和谐社会，以便我们人类能活得比以往任何时候更长久一些。
Just as everybody cannot choose his or her parents or family， then nobody can choose when， where andhow to die (except the suicide of one’s own free will). Human life， naturally， is a part of the biosphere of theearth. Human being is distinguished from other animals or living things by superior mental development，power of articulate speech， and upright stance. Consequently， since our human beings existence， wehave regarded ourselves as the central and most significant entities in the universe， or the assessment ofreality through an exclusively human perspective. This concept can be referred to as human supremacy oranthropocentrism which is a major concept in the field of environmental ethics and environmental philosophy，where it is often considered to be the root cause of the environmental problems of pollution created by humaninteraction with the environment. In other words， we human beings should avoid merely anthropocentricenvironmentalism， which is concerned with conservation of the environment only for exploitation by andfor human’s purposes， which excludes the fundamental philosophy of deep ecology. Deep ecology is acontemporary ecological philosophy that emphasizes the interdependent nature of human and non-humanlife as well as the importance of the ecosystem and natural processes. We humans should mend our waysand drop the bad habits of eating other animals indiscriminately. Without the biological diversity， how canwe humans survive alone？ That’s why we maintain that Humans and Nature should coexist friendly while wehumans live in harmony and strive to build a harmonious society so that we humans can live longer than everbefore.
自然环境与社会环境同时共存并互相影响。社会环境包括地理区域和受人类强大影响的各种组成成分，如历史、政治、宗教、文化、风俗、习惯、民族、社会、全球差异和生态环境保护、持续发展和改善人类贫困生活条件等等。由于人类的不同信仰、不同思想感情和不同生活条件，人们对死亡有不同的态度。正如弗兰西斯·培根在他《论死亡》一文中所写：“复仇之心可征服死亡，爱恋之心会蔑视死亡，荣誉之心会渴求死亡，悲痛之心会扑向死亡，连恐惧之心亦会预期死亡，而且我们还读到，在罗马皇帝奥托自杀之后，哀怜之心（这种最脆弱的感情）使许多士兵也自杀身亡，他们的死纯粹是出于对其君王的同情和耿耿忠心。此外塞内加还补充了苛求之心和厌倦之心，他说：“思及长年累月劳于一事之单调，欲撒手弃世的不仅是勇者和悲者，还有厌腻了无聊的人。即使一个人并不勇敢亦非不幸，可他仅为厌倦没完没了地做同一事情也会轻生。”同样值得注意的是，罗马帝国那些皇帝们面对死亡是如何面不改色，因为他们在生命的最后一瞬仍显得依然故我。罗马第一位皇帝奥古斯都在弥留之时还赞美其皇后，‘永别了，莉维亚，勿忘我俩婚后共度的时光。’；皇帝台比留在危笃之际仍掩饰其病情，正如历史学家泰西塔斯所说：‘他体力以耗尽，但奸诈犹存’；皇帝维斯佩基安在大限临头时兀自坐在凳子上戏言：‘看来我正在变成地神’；皇帝伽尔巴的临终遗言是‘你们砍吧，倘若这有益于罗马人民’，一边喊一边引颈就戮；皇帝塞佛留行将离世时照旧发号施令：‘若还有什么我该做之事，速速取来’。”在古代的中国，伟大的思想家庄子的妻子死了，他鼓盆而歌，庆祝辩证法的胜利，因为他已明白人类生死的天性；我国当代大学者季羡林含笑而死。此类视死如归之例，举不胜举。“在执着追求中死亡者不觉痛苦就像在浴血鏖战中受伤者暂时不觉伤痛一样；由此可见，于坚定执着且一心向善的有才有智之士，死亡之痛苦的确可以避免。”
Natural environment and social environment coexist and interact each other. Social environmentcomprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans， such as history， politics， religion，culture， custom， habit， races， societies， global inequalities and eco-environmental protection， sustainabledevelopment and improving the living conditions for human beings in poverty， etc. Because of humans’
different beliefs or different ways of thinking or different passions or emotions or living conditions， peoplehave different attitudes toward their deaths. Just as Francis Bacon writes in his essay Of Death：“Revengetriumphs over death； love slights it； honor aspires to it； grief flocks to it； fear preoccupates it； nay， we read，after otho the Emperor had slain himself， pity (which is the tenderest of affections) provoked many to dieout of mere compassion to their sovereign， and as the truest sort of followers. Nay Seneca adds nicenessand satiety： Consider how long you have done the same thing； a man may wish to die not only because he isbrave or miserable， but because he is discriminating. A man would die， though he were neither valiant normiserable， only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe howlittle alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make， for they appear to be the same men till the lastinstant. Augustus Caesar died in a compliment： Farewell， Livia， forget not the days of our marriage； Tiberiusin dissimulation， as Tacitus saith of him， His bodily strength was gone， but not his duplicity； Vespasian ina jest， sitting upon the stool， It seems I am becoming a god； Galba with a sentence， Strike， if it be for thegood of the Roman people， holding forth his neck， Septimus Severus in dispatch， Hurry， if there is anythingmore.”In ancient China， when the great thinker Zhuangzi’s wife passed away， he banged on a pot and sangto himself， celebrating the victory of dialectics， for he had already seen the nature of human life and death.
Ji Xianlin， a great contemporary scholar in China， died a smiling death. Such instances are too numerous tomention.“Anyone that dies in an earnest pursuit is like one that is wounded in hot blood who， for the time，scarce feels the hurt； and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good doth avert the pain ofdeaths.”
江文通《恨赋》中说：“自古皆有死，莫不饮恨而吞声。”这是人之常情，情有可原。
人们眷恋人生，舍不得家人和亲友，特别是孩子。但是，我们应该明白儿孙自有儿孙福。众所周知，孩子是我们自己的延续或我们自己生命的更新——不仅是我们种族的延续，而且还是我们事业的继续。既然我们有接班人来接替我们，我们为什么不该休息呢？告诫已经成人的孩子别犯错误是没有用的，因为一来他们不会相信我们，二来错误原来就是教育所必不可少的要素之一。我们必须明白：虽然我们还能为孩子们提供物质上的帮助，譬如支援他们一笔钱或者为他们编织毛线外套，但绝不要期望他们会因为有我们相伴而感到快乐。我们为什么不愿离去呢？人们还可见，最伟大的功业历来都是由一些无后嗣者所始创，这些人因没有后嗣再现他们的肉体，便努力实现其精神的再现，所以无后嗣者往往最关心后世。既然“他们已努力实现其精神的再现”，还有什么饮恨呢？即使他们既没有孩子又没有“最伟大的功业”，他们享受了美好的人生，又有什么值得“饮恨而吞声”呢？
In his Ode to Regret， Jiang Wentong writes：“Death has existed since time immemorial. Everyonehas to swallow it and harbor regret at heart.”This is the feelings common to all ordinary people， and it isunderstandable. People are attached to their lives and loath to part with their families or their relatives andfriends， particularly their children. But we should understand that our children can take care of themselveswhen they grow up. Just as everybody knows， our children are the continuance of our own or the recycle ofour own lives—not only of our kind， but of our work. Since we have our successors succeed us， why shouldwe not take a rest？ It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes， both because they will notbelieve us， and because mistakes are an essential part of education. We must realize that while we can stillrender our children material services， such as making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers， we mustnot expect that they will enjoy our company. Why should we be loath to part with them？ People may also seethe noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless humans， which have sought to express theimages of their minds where those of their bodies have failed； so the care of posterity is most in them that haveno posterity. Since“they have sought to express the images of their minds”， what else should they regret？
Even if they have neither children nor“the noblest works and foundations”， they have enjoyed their nicelives， and what else are worth their while“to swallow it and harbor regret at heart”？
社会生态学认为，现存的生态问题是根深蒂固的社会问题，特别是占支配地位的分等级的政治和社会制度问题，这些问题就导致了一种不加批判地接受的过度竞争的生死哲学。现在所有的社会都面临着不断增长的全球环境问题，为了找到切实可行的解决办法，需要国际合作。当今世界，越来越多的人死于自杀或他杀或各种社会灾难，如第二次世界大战以来发生在朝鲜、越南、科威特、伊拉克、阿富汗、利比亚等的一系列战争；如基因实验、核弹试验、化学武器试验等各种科学实验，还有许多人死于各种人祸或天灾，如宗教迫害、种族歧视、冤假错案、暴力犯罪，艾滋病、吸毒、核辐射等等。这一切都与严重的社会环境污染有关。
Social ecology holds that the present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems，particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncriticalacceptance of an overly competitive grow-or-die philosophy. Now all societies are faced by increasinglyglobal environmental problems and international cooperation is needed in order to find workable solutions.
Nowadays in the world， more and more people die from suicide or being killed or unnatural social disasters，for instance， a list of wars， since the World War Ⅱ， have taken place in Korea， Vietnam， Kuwait， Iraq，Afghanistan， Libya， etc. all sorts of scientific experiments， such as experiments in genetics， nuclear bombtests， experiments with chemical weapons， etc. Furthermore， a large number of people die from all sorts ofman-made disasters or disasters of natural， such as religious persecution， racial discrimination， cases ofwrongly， falsely and unjustly repudiated， violent crimes， AIDS， drug abuse， nuclear radiation， etc. All thesementioned here are concerned with the serious pollution of the social environment.
咱们去读一读施耐庵和罗贯中的《水浒传》吧！我们就能明白作者和作品中的男女主人公们是如何面对他们的人生和他们的死亡的。
Let’s read Shi Nai’an and Luo Guangzhong’s Outlaws of the Marsh！ We can understand how the writersand their heroes and heroines are facing their lives and their deaths.
2.1 内容介绍
2.1 Introduction
《水浒传》是中国历史上第一部白话长篇小说，它所开创的这一类小说通常被称为英雄传奇。同注重史实、搬演帝王将相和军国大事的《三国演义》不同，《水浒传》所写的宋江起义故事虽然也源于历史事实，但整部小说以塑造被“逼上梁山”的诸位英雄为重点，构筑了一个充满冒险与传奇的世界。虽然《水浒传》中的“梁山泊”作为现实世界的对立面，具有乌托邦意味，但它所反映的“四海之内皆兄弟”的精神以及平等、公道的原则，在某种程度上却反映了民间文化精神，特别是英雄好汉向往“大块吃肉、大碗喝酒，大盘分金银”，追求自由与快活的理想，正是普通人最朴素的生活愿望的表达。这正是为什么《水浒传》流传了几百年仍是最着名、最受热爱的中国古典小说之一的原因。几年前，随着电视连续剧《水浒传》的播放，其《好汉歌》：“路见不平一声吼，该出手时就出手，风风火火闯九州……”也唱红了大江南北，《水浒传》中的人物和故事成为人们街谈巷议的材料。
Outlaws of the Marsh is the first full-length vernacular novel in Chinese history， the originator of thegenre popularly known as the heroic romance. Compared with The Romance of the Three kingdoms， whichstresses historical facts in reproducing the lives of emperors and ministers and military events， Outlaws of theMarsh also relates a historical tale of the Song Jiang Uprising， but focuses on the shaping of each characterforced up to the Mount Liangshan and depicts a world full of adventure and legend. Although the novel’sLiangshan Marsh conveys a sense of utopia as opposed to reality， its ethos of“all men under heaven arebrothers”and principles of equality and fairness reflect to a certain degree the spirit of the folk culture of thetime. In particular， the heroes’ pursuit of freedom and pleasure， vividly represented by“eating of big chunksof meat， drinking of large bowls of wine， and sharing gold and silver equally，”happens to reflect what thecommon people pursue in their lives. This is just why Outlaws of the Marsh is one of the best known and bestloved of the ancient Chinese novels which have come down through the ages. A few years ago when the TVserials the Tale of the Marshes were broadcast on television， its A Song of Heroes， the first few lines of whichare“Shout a stop to something unjust in your way， lend a hand while you may and wander through the wholecountry all the way...”， made a hit with the audiences all over the country and at the same time its charactersand stories became a town talk.
《水浒传》是以北宋末年宋江起义的史实为基础创作的，他的成书经历了两百多年的时间。宋江起义的故事在南宋就开始在社会上流传开来，并且成为民间说书艺人讲说的题材，宋元讲史平话《大宋宣和遗事》中就保留了《水浒传》的不少故事。早期的水浒故事中只有宋江等三十六人，到了元代的“水浒戏”中，梁山好汉已经从三十六人发展为一百零八人。
元末明初，施耐庵在流传的水浒故事的基础上加以整理创造，写成了长篇小说《水浒传》。
《水浒传》在收集整理来自民间各种传说和宋、元时期的各种戏剧故事过程中，实质上也带有作者个人创作的特征。不管是小说整体结构或情节安排，还是人物个性化或语言的艺术的使用，都获得了以前流传的各种宋江故事中未曾达到过的艺术性真实。《水浒传》所写的既不是元朝档案所描绘的一群杀人、抢劫的不法之徒，也不是元朝杂剧中所描述的一伙灭邪复正的报仇者。事实上，它是一种对人民反抗封建主义社会和政治条件下的官方压迫的生动而尖锐的评论。
Based on the historical facts of Song Jiang’s Uprising at Mount Liangshan in the last years of theNorthern Song dynasty， Outlaws of the Marsh evolved into its present shape for over two hundred years.
As far back as the Southern Song dynasty the story of Song Jiang’s Uprising circulated widely in the societyand became the materials for folk story-tellers. In the story-tellers’ of the Song and Yuan dynastiesAnecdotes of Xuan He Period there existed quite a few stories from Outlaws of the Marsh. In the earlierstories of the Marsh there were only Song Jiang and other thirty-five bandit-heroes and in the Yuan dynastydrama of the Marsh the number of the Liangshan Outlaws increased to one hundred and eight. Between thelate Yuan dynasty and the early Ming dynasty Shi Nai’an improved upon the stories of the Marsh and recastthem into a long novel Outlaws of the Marsh. While Outlaws of the Marsh is a collection of stories from folklegends and dramas of the Song and Yuan dynasties， it also in essence bears the mark of the creativity of theindividual author. Whether it is the overall structure of the novel or the plot， or the characterization or artisticuse of language， it attains a real of artistry never before reached in the Song Jiang stories. What Outlawsof the Marsh is all about is not a group of murderous and plundering wilderness outlaws， as Yuan Dynastyrecords describe them； nor is it about a band of avengers extirpating evil and restoring order， as depicted inthe Yuan Zaju. It is in fact a lively and acute critique of the people’s revolt against official oppression in thesocial and political conditions of feudalism.
小说《水浒传》可分为前后两部分。前部分从小说开始到“梁山泊英雄排座次”，描述的是一百零八员大小头领如何被逼到梁山。故事开头写的是一个一向被人厌弃的破落户子弟高俅，靠踢球被端王看中，后来这位端王当了皇帝（徽宗），高俅一直被提拔到殿帅府太尉，成为一个大奸臣，与骄横一世的蔡京、童贯和杨戬等，构成了一个最高统治集团。他们有自己的亲属门客为党羽心腹，如蔡九知府、慕容知府、高廉、贺太守之流，在他们的下面，则是一些贪官污吏、土豪恶霸。他们从上到下狼狈为奸、残害忠良，对人民进行残酷的剥削和压迫，形成了一个统治网。小说首先叙述了高俅迫害王进的故事，又写了高俅为了让儿子霸占林冲的妻子，千方百计谋害林冲的经过。此外，《水浒传》中还写了地主恶霸的种种作恶行为，如郑屠霸占金翠莲，西门庆害死武大，毛太公勾结官府陷害猎户解珍、解宝，真是官逼民反。后部分从宋江在忠义堂作《满江红》一词，“望天王降诏，早招安，心方足”到小说结尾，描写了宋江全伙受招安并受命去征辽国、打方腊，利用完后，朝廷命令把他们消灭。这是多么不义啊！真是个悲剧性的讽刺！
The novel Outlaws of the Marsh， may be divided into two parts. The first half from the beginning to theepisode that“The Heroes of Liangshan Marsh Take Seats in Order of Rank”describes how one hundredand eight chieftains are forced to Liangshan. At the start of the story， it is told Gao Qiu， a street urchin who hasimpressed Prince Duan with his football skills. Since Prince Duan ascended the throne to become EmperorHuizong， Gao Qiu has been promoted to the rank of marshal commanding the Imperial Guards. Corrupt high-ranking officials Gao Qiu， Cai Jing， Tong Guan and Yang Jian have manipulated the administration， with thesupport of their cronies， such as Magistrate Caijiu， Magistrate Murong and Magistrate He， under whom thereare minor corrupt officials， local tyrants and villains. All of them have formed the entire ruling class who haveconspired against loyal and virtuous officials and oppressed and exploited the people. The novel begins withGao Qiu’s persecution of Wang Jin， then recounts his framing of Ling Chong， whose wife caught the lasciviouseyes of Gao’s son. Apart from these， Outlaws of the Marsh describes various evils done by landlords andlocal tyrants， such as Zheng Tu’s seizure of Jin Cuilian， Ximen Qing’s murder of Wuda and Mao Taigong’sconspiracy against the hunters Xie Zhen and Xie Bao. It is true that the misgovernment drives the peopleto revolt. The second half from the episode that Song Jiang writes a ci poem in the Hall of Loyalty， whichreads，“Only when the emperor condescends to grant us an amnesty will my heart be full”， to the end ofthe novel portrays that Song Jiang and all of his men are amnestied and given a mission to campaign againstthe rival Liao Dynasty and the uprising led by Fang La， but at the end of their usefulness they are eliminatedupon orders from the court. What an injustice！ What a real tragic irony！
《水浒传》是什么时候首次以书的形式出现的？作者又是谁？这些问题在学者中仍有争论。到目前为止，一致的看法是《水浒传》是元末明初的作品，其作者是施耐庵，这是根据有关《水浒传》最早的参考材料所说，是罗贯中和施耐庵所写。明朝的高儒在其《百川书志》嘉靖十九年（1541年）版的作者前言中写道：“《忠义水浒传》一百卷。钱塘施耐庵的本，罗贯中编次。”明朝郎瑛编的《七修类稿》中有如下记载：“《三国》、《宋江》（《水浒传》的别名）二书，乃杭人罗贯中所编。予意旧必有本，故曰编。《宋江》又曰钱塘施耐庵的本。”这些文献记载写明了施耐庵为小说题材着者，罗贯中为编者。明朝出现的一些版本，有印上两人的名字为作者的，有署两人中不论哪一个的，也有没印上作者的。明末《金圣叹批评第五才子书施耐庵水浒传》七十回版，只署名“施耐庵撰”。从此以后，罗贯中的名字逐渐消失了，只留下了施耐庵。
When did Outlaws of the Marsh first appear in book form， and who was the author？ These questionsare still matters of debate among scholars. So far， the consensus is that Outlaws of the Marsh is a productof the period which saw the closing of the Yuan and opening of the Ming dynasties， and that the author wasShi Nai’an. This is based on the fact that the earliest reference to the novel says that it was written by LuoGuanzhong and Shi Nai’an. The Hundred Rivers Bibliographical Notes by Gao Ru says， in the author’spreface to the 1541 (19th year of the Jiajing reign period of the Ming Dynasty) edition：“The Patrioticand Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh is in one hundred chapters. Originally written by Shi Nai’an ofQiantang， and arranged by Luo Guanzhong.”And a bibliography compiled by Lang Ying has the followingentry：“Both the novels known as The Three Kingdoms and Song Jiang (another name for Outlaws of theMarsh) cite the editor as Luo Guanzhong of Hangzhou. Therefore， the author must have been someone else.
Moreover， the author of the Song Jiang is named as Shi Nai’an of Qiantang.”These documents records nameShi Nai’an as the author of the material in the novel， and Luo Guanzhong as the editor or compiler. Some ofthe editions of the novel which appeared in the Ming Dynasty bear the names of both men as the authors，some one or the other， and some bear the name of no author. The 70-chapter edition of the novel by JinShengtan of the late Ming Dynasty gives Shi Nai’an as the sole author， and thereafter Luo Guanzhong’s namegradually disappears， leaving only that of Shi Nai’an.
《水浒传》在明清时期几次遭禁，因为它赞美反抗压迫，歌颂“绿林好汉”。诸如此类的活动，当然被封建统治者认为是盗匪活动。然而，《水浒传》的各种版本以不同的章回和扩大或压缩的语言形式从未失于流传，这正说明《水浒传》几百年来得到了高度地普及。那么，什么是《水浒传》的真正吸引力呢？正是《水浒传》中各种栩栩如生的人物形象，强烈地表现出反抗压迫的坚定精神。当你读到鲁智深为何用他的铁拳打倒当地恶霸，或高俅为何残忍地逼迫林冲至绝境，而林冲又是怎样通过反抗逃离了山神庙时会不禁感到特别痛快！鲁智深和林冲只是被“逼上梁山”的一百零八将中的两个。小说讲述了他们中的二十个反抗悲惨的生存环境和贪官污吏对他们无恶不作的非正义行为。客观地看，在那荒无人烟的山区避难是封建时期阶级敌对的反映，并清楚地揭示了普通人民大众举行起义反抗压迫的真实社会环境。
Outlaws of the Marsh was banned several times under the Ming and Qing dynasties， because itlauds acts of resistance to oppression and sings the praises of the“greenwood outlaws.”Such activities， ofcourse， were regarded by the feudal rulers as“banditry.”Nevertheless， the novel never failed to circulatein editions with varied numbers of chapters and in language expanded or condensed， which explains its highdegree of popularity over several centuries. But what is the real attraction of Outlaws of the Marsh？ It isprecisely its fiercely robust spirit of resistance to oppression， expressed in vivid images. When you read howSagacious Lu batters down a local bully with his iron fist， or how Gao Qiu relentlessly drives Lin Chong intoa corner， and how the latter fights back and escapes from the Mountain God’s shrine you cannot help feelingan extraordinary sense of elation. Sagacious Lu and Lin Chong are but two of the 108， desperadoes who havesought refuge in Liangshan. The novel relates a score of them fight back against tragic circumstances， and theinjustices perpetrated against them by corrupt officials and evil gentry， until they are forced， one by one， toseek refuge on Liangshan. Viewed objectively， seeking shelter on this wild mountain is a reflection of classantagonism in those feudal days and clearly reveals the true circumstances in which the common people rosein revolt against oppression.
《水浒传》的影响极其深远，它为后代的小说创作提供了艺术经验，也为后来人文学科的学者们提供了材料来源。除许多戏剧从《水浒传》中吸取题材外，很多小说也追踪溯源到《水浒传》。例如，《金瓶梅》就来自《水浒传》的第二十三回至第二十六回，并且，继续讲述其故事的续编也在清朝初期就出现了。此外，小说《说岳全传》中的一些人物也被认为是梁山主人公们的翼状扩生代。从抗金的观点看，这部作品是梁山故事的延续。同时，《水浒传》的影响并不局限于文学领域，它也影响了农民造反和秘密社团。明末领导农民起义的李自成，建立太平天国的洪秀全，都提出“替天卫道”的口号，秘密计划反清的各种社团称他们开会的地点是“忠义堂”，所有这些都明显地是从《水浒传》中吸取的灵感。众所周知，一些农民反叛的头领都学习梁山好汉的战略战术，因此，可以说在这方面，小说的影响既有正面的也有反面的含义。此外，《水浒传》中侠义精神和不义必遭报复感非常突出，还有对妇女根深蒂固的偏见，都在一定程度上反映了中国当时的社会现实，不能轻易忽略。
The influence of Outlaws of the Marsh has been extremely far-reaching. It provided a wealth of artisticexperience for the creation of novels by later generations as well as material sources for later literary scholars.
Apart from a host of dramas which drew their subject matter from Outlaws of the Marsh， many novels tracetheir line of descent back to it. For instance， the Golden Lotus springs from chapters 23 to 26 of Outlaws ofthe Marsh； and a sequal to it appeared in the early Qing Dynasty， carrying on the story. In addition， someof the characters in the novel The Complete Tale of the Yue Family are supposed to be a later generationof Liangshan heroes， and this work can be viewed as a continuation of the Liangshan story from the point ofview of the anti-Jin resistance. But the influence of Outlaws of the Marsh is not confined to the sphere ofliterature； it also influenced peasant rebels and secret societies. Li Zicheng， who led the peasant uprising atthe end of the Ming Dynasty， Hong Xiuquan， who set up the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom， all raised the sloganof“defending justice on behalf of Heaven”.Secret societies plotting against the Qing Dynasty called theirmeeting places“Halls of Loyalty”.All these obviously drew their inspiration from Outlaws of the Marsh.
It is also known that some leaders of peasant rebellions studied the strategies and tactics of the Liangshanoutlaws. So the influence of the novel in this respect had both positive and negative connotations. Besides， thechivalric spirit and sense that injustice must be avenged which are prominent in Outlaws of the Marsh， aswell as its deep-seated prejudice against women， have permeated Chinese society to an extent that cannot belightly passed over.