The Tiger Killers: Part Two of The Marshes of Mount Liang

Very little is known about Lo the man, and even the extent of his participation in the works bearing his name is in some doubt. All we can say for certain is that he lived during the transition from Yuan to Ming dynasties, hailed from T'ai-yuan (in Shansi Province), and spent at least part of his adult life in Hangchow. There, he authored three show more dramas, one of which survives, and worked on two historical narratives that eventually became the famous fiction masterpieces "Outlaws of the Marsh" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Traditionally, Lo is given as the first author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", whereas he is listed as secondary author after Shih Nai-an for "Outlaws of the Marsh". However, it seems probable that he was actually the primary writer of both. He based the first on the historical work "Account of the Three Kingdoms", about events following the breakup of the Han empire (168--265), and based the second on storyteller's material compiled by Shih about a legendary band of outlaws active during the reign of Hui-tsung in the Northern Sung (1101-1125). Nevertheless, in deference to tradition, "Outlaws of the Marsh" will be discussed under the entry for Shih Nai-an. Lo's main contribution to Chinese literature in the Three Kingdoms epic is in taking incidents recorded in history and long borrowed by the storytelling tradition, and molding them into a coherent chronological narrative. In the process, he attempts to sift out the patently false or exaggerated elements while maintaining liveliness and artistic interest. His goal seems to have been to reach a wide reading audience with his lessons, while not pandering to vulgar cravings for Taoist magicians' stunts or Buddhist popular proofs of retribution in the workings of history. Instead, he invites his readers to reflect on how ambition affects different human characters at a time when the stakes are very high---a dynastic title is the prize. Lo's is a complex vision of reality; his heroes are not rigidly black or white, and virtue is not necessarily rewarded. But his universe is not without laws, and his portrayal of events illustrates the Confucian belief that one's actions determine the outcome of events. According to a younger contemporary, Lo was a shy and retiring man. Perhaps his personal modesty is mirrored by the style of his great narrative, which is generally lacking in rhetorical flourish, but yet not highly colloquial---a kind of simplified classical Chinese. With his plain style and sober attention to historical fact, the result could have been a dry chronicle; but such was Lo's passion for his subject, and his ability to achieve character that generations of Chinese readers have seen the Three Kingdoms period through his eyes and even today admire his heroes and hate his villains. (Bowker Author Biography) show less