The Moment when Lu Zhi Shen Converted to Buddhism

(Lu Zhi Shen chu jia)

Volumes 1 and 2 of 5Volumes 3 and 4 of 5Volume 5 of 5 (side B is blank)



This play is an adaptation of the popular novel The Water Margin (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers or The Marshes of Mount Liang), which was written in the late fourteenth century A.D. It is the most famous collection of outlaw stories in China.

The novel features 108 fugitives who take refuge in the marshes at Mount Liang, in the northern province of Shandong. All are victims of corruption, oppression and injustice. Like England's Robin Hood, these outlaws are famous among the common folk, who regard them as heroes. They generally have excellent martial arts skills, challenge authority, take pity on the helpless, and show great bravery against evil, rich and powerful officials. Audiences of these plays enjoy outstanding martial arts performances and dramatic stories of injustice, betrayal and revenge.

Plays featuring outlaws are not at all rare in Chinese opera, and are in fact quite popular. In most cases, Chinese stories about outlaws make a point of suggesting that the real criminals are the officials and warlords who manipulate the law to their own advantage. To be declared outside the law by the corrupt is an act of courage rather than dishonour.

Lu Zhi Shen, the thirteenth fugitive in the Mount Liang marshes, is among the best leaders of the Liangshanpo infantry. His real name is Lu Da, and he was originally a captain in the army of Shanxi Province. He is outraged when he sees a butcher who calls himself Zhen Guanxi ('The mighty in the west gate') bully a girl and her father, who sing on the street for living. He kills the butcher with only three blows, thus making himself a fugitive. He runs away to Wutai Mountain, where he shaves his head to disguise himself as a monk. He also takes the Buddhist name, Lu Zhi Shen. While at the temple, he finds the restrictions of Buddhism and a religious life too difficult for a man of his habits and temperament. He is often drunk, blocking the temple entrance, and at one point even destroys the temple's gilded images of Buddha. The temple elders can no longer abide his behaviour, and send him to Xiangguo Temple in the capital city to guard that temple's farm. Once there, he kicks a vegetable-stealing hooligan into a manure pit, and uproots a weeping willow with his bare hands. His fame soon spreads far and wide. After rescuing the famous outlaw Lin Chong in the Wild Boar Forest, he becomes an outlaw on Mount Erlong, and later joins the Water Margin gang as a leader. He eventually converts to Buddhism at the Liuhe Temple in the city of Hangzhou, where he lives out the rest of his days.