Yang Chun

Yang Chun (杨春) is a character in the "Water Margin".

Yang Chun was from Jieliang Prefecture in Puzhou. He had long and skinny arms and lean frame, but he possessed great strength and used a long sabre in combat, thus earning him the nickname 'White-spotted snake' (白花蛇).

Yang Chun was one of the bandit leaders of the stronghold on Shaohua Mountain along with Zhu Wu and Chen Da. Once, Yang and Zhu advised Chen not to get into Shi Jin's way but Chen refused to listen and fought with Shi. In the end, Chen was not match for Shi Jin and captured. Zhu Wu and Yang Chun immediately went to Shi and knelt down before him, begging him to release Chen. Shi Jin was touched by their strong sense of brotherhood and immediately released Chen. Since then, Shi Jin became fast friends with the Shaohua bandit leaders.

Unfortunately, Shi Jin was betrayed by the hunter Li Ji and forced to abandon his home and flee to Shaohua Mountain for refuge. Once, Shi Jin tried to assassinate Prefect He but failed and was captured. The Shaohua bandits went to Liangshan to seek help. In the end, with the combined forces of Shaohua and Liangshan, Shi Jin was rescued. The Shaohua bandits then agreed to join the Liangshan band and went back to Liangshan with the heroes.

Yang Chun became one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry and one of the 72 Earthly Warriors. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Yang followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels, making great contributions to the imperial court. During the Fang La campaign, Yang Chun was assigned to attack Yuling Pass. He was shocked to see Shi Jin being shot down by Pang Wanchun and tried to avenge Shi but he died under dozens of enemy arrows along with another four heroes.