Pei Xuan

Pei Xuan (裴宣) is a character in the epic Chinese tale, the "Water Margin".

Pei Xuan was from Jingzhaofu, and served as a judge. He was an excellent swordsman, as well as a scholar. He was brave and loyal, and meted out sentences to criminals accordingly, without showing any mercy. He was thus nicknamed the 'Iron-faced judge' (铁面孔目).

The government was corrupt at that time, and was afraid that Pei Xuan might meddle in their affairs, thus they framed Pei Xuan and sentenced him to be exiled to Shamen Island. On the way, Pei Xuan passed by Yinma River. Deng Fei, Meng Kang and the bandits killed the guards and set Pei free. They invited Pei Xuan to join their bandit gang, and Pei agreed. As Pei was the oldest among the three men, he became the chief bandit.

Once, Dai Zong passed by Yinma River and met the three heroes. Dai invited them to join the Liangshan band, and they agreed. They disguised themselves as government soldiers and went to Liangshan. Pei Xuan became the chief military judge, and was in charge of giving rewards and meting out punishments.

After Song Jiang had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Pei Xuan followed the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. During the Wang Qing campaign, Pei Xuan, Xiao Rang and Jin Da-jian were caught by Liang Yong. Despite facing severe torture from the enemy, the three heroes refused to surrender. In the end, Liang's surbordinate killed him and released the heroes.

Pei Xuan was one of the lucky heroes to have survived the campaigns but he refused to take up any official post. Then, he went back to Yinma River with Yang Lin.