Gu Dasao

Gu Dasao (顾大嫂) is a character in the "Water Margin".

Gu Dasao was one of the three female characters among the Liangshan heroes and was married to Sun Xin. She was the cousin of Xie Zhen and Xie Bao. Gu had thick eyebrows and large eyes, along with a plump face and thick waist, and wore several decorative ornaments on her head and wrists. She was different from normal women of her time as she did not know how to handle common household affairs, and was only interested in martial arts. She was quite good in her skill with the cudgel and spear, and could take on twenty to thirty men at the same time. She was so fearsome (almost for comedic effect) that she often took great initiative in violent plannings and killings. Sometimes, she even beat up her husband when angered, thus earning her the nickname 'Female tiger'(母大虫).

Gu Dasao ran a tavern in Dengzhou and once, she heard from Yue He that the Xie brothers had been arrested and sentenced to death. She discussed with her husband and they came up with a plan to rescue the Xie brothers. With the combined efforts of Gu Dasao, Sun Xin, Sun Li, Zou Run, Zou Yuan and Yue He, they succeeded in raiding the prison and rescuing the Xie brothers. Then, they fled to Liangshan for refuge.

Gu Dasao made her first contribution to Liangshan when she followed her husband and brother-in-law to become conspirators from within the Zhu Family Village, aiding the Liangshan heroes in conquering the Zhu Family Village. Along with her husband, Gu Dasao became in charge of hearing about news from customers in a tavern which they ran near Liangshan, and they played an important role in receiving imperial envoys and guests-of-honour to Liangshan.

After the heroes had been granted amnesty, Gu Dasao followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels, making great contributions to the imperial court. She was one of the few lucky survivors after the campaigns and was offered an official post for her contributions. She then went back to Dengzhou to take up her official post together with her husband and brother-in-law.

Films and TV adaptations

In the 1997 TV serial from Mainland China based on the novel, Gu Daosao was played by Zhang Xiuyan. In the serial, she threatened to fight to the death with Sun Li when the latter refused to join Liangshan after she told him that she had raided the prison to rescue the Xie brothers. It was then when Song Jiang appeared and managed to persuade Sun Li to join Liangshan. She was killed during the Fang La campaign, but in the novel she survived and took up her official post.