- Liu Tang
Liu Tang (刘唐) is a character in the epic Chinese novel the "
Water Margin ".Liu Tang was from
Dongluzhou . He had a dark complexion, a wide face, with a red birthmark on the side of his face, with strands of yellow hair growing out from the birthmark. Thus he was nicknamed the 'Red-Haired Devil' (赤发鬼). He had a muscular body, and excelled in using thesabre .Liu Tang was the first person to hear about the convoy of birthday gifts for
Cai Jing , which was being escorted byYang Zhi and his soldiers. He rushed off immediately to tell his friend,Chao Gai , but got too drunk on the way and fell asleep inside a temple. The constableLei Heng arrested Liu Tang, mistaking him for a wanted bandit. Luckily, Chao Gai lied to Lei Heng that Liu Tang was his nephew, asking for Liu Tang's release. Lei Heng kindly obliged.Liu Tang, Chao Gai,
Wu Yong ,Gongsun Sheng and the three Ruan brothers disguised themselves as traveling traders and at Huangni Ridge, they drugged Yang Zhi and his soldiers with wine fromBai Sheng . Then, they escaped with the birthday gifts worth a huge sum.He Tao led government troops with him to arrest the seven men, but was defeated by them. Chao Gai and his friends sought refuge onLiangshan after that.On Liangshan,
Wang Lun refused to allow the seven men join his band.Lin Chong killed the weak and incompetent Wang Lun after Wu Yong's urging. Chao Gai then became the chief of the Liangshan heroes, with Liu Tang in the 5th position.Chao Gai wanted to thank
Song Jiang for informing them about the danger, and sent Liu Tang with a hundred gold pieces to thank him. However, the gold pieces became the cause for Song Jiang killingYan Poxi . Song Jiang was arrested and exiled toJiangzhou , where he got into deeper trouble by writing a poem urging rebellion against the government. The Liangshan heroes stormed the execution ground and rescued Song Jiang, who was about to be executed.In the battle of
Dongchangfu , Liu Tang fought with Zhang Qing, the 'Featherless Arrow' but was stunned by Zhang's stones and fell off his horse. Liu Tang was captured by Zhang Qing and thrown into prison. Later, the Liangshan heroes conquered Dongchangfu and rescued Liu Tang.Liu Tang became one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry and
36 Heavenly Spirits and followed the heroes as they went on expeditions against theLiao Tartars and southern rebels. During theFang La campaign, Liu Tang was assigned to attack the Houchao Gate ofHangzhou . He saw that the gates were wide open, and so he charged in, not knowing it was a trap. Liu Tang was killed by a falling beam from the gate.
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